Upgrading the Front Door w/o Buying a New One

Happy Tuesday!!! Hope everyone enjoyed their Memorial Day weekend. This is one of my favorite weekends - because it's a sign that warm weather is here to stay. And it makes you want to get started or finished with any outdoor projects, so that you can enjoy them all Summer long. 👌

OK, so I know I am not the first to jump on this bandwagon of adding some color to the front door. I love making up cool stories by the color of the front door to a home. You know - if the door is white. I assume they are pretty simple people, OK with the standards. If the color is pastel, I imagine they are whimsical. I know, you are thinking - Kimberley, really? I can't help it. I feel the front door to a home is really a reflection of who the homeowners are that live there. I mean there is a really pretty blue door that I drive by everyday. The guy drives a challenger the same color and has a jeep too. It seems the door really fits his personality. Well at least I think so. 

So I really wanted the same for us. I wanted the door to compliment us and the way we want our home to be. Pretty much a cross between modern and comfy. We like being different but enjoy just chilling around the house. We have a good cross between modern elements and vintage elements in our home. I know your thinking - what is that? I don't know, we are just different. 😁

Ok back to the door. I had always knew from the first day we moved in that the boring white door that was filthy had to go. I mean I liked nothing about it. If I had it my way I would have gotten a new one. But with so many other projects, the door had to stay white. But I knew eventually it could be updated with some paint. 👍

After the snafu with the back door, I knew I needed to find a better product than just exterior paint.  Oh wait, I should tell you about the snafu. The back door was even more boring than the front. It had a large pain of glass in it and needed some love. Since I was painting the interior doors black, you know going bold, I decided to paint the inside of the door black to match the rest of the doors in the home. It all seemed to be going to so well, until I took the painters tape off. The paint was just peeling it looked awful. 😩 DIHer nightmare for sure. I was sooo disappointed. It was actually what haulted my progress with finishing up painting our interior doors black. I left it sitting that way for almost 2 years. I know, pick your mouth up off the ground. Don't worry, I felt terrible about it. Jay asked me only a dozen or so times, when was I going to fix it. 

Moving back to this project, I knew there had to be a better product. After researching exterior door paints, I came across a product called Front Door by Modern Masters. This stuff is AH-MAZING!! I will admit it's on the pricier side. So I was a little hesitant. I had a gift card so it didn't kill my budget. The coolest thing about this product is the app they have. It lets you take a pic of your door and play with all of the  available colors, and there are 24 of them, to find the right one for your home. 

Obviously, I settled on black. I mean I had already settled on the color when we first moved in but I had fun playing with some of the other colors. And who knows, I may change the color again. Some other good things - quick drying time, you can use it to paint in almost any temperature, and it's a one day project.

So What You Need:

• 1 Container of Modern Masters Front Door Paint

• 1 Paint Brush or Roller - really doesn't matter

• 1 Wet & Soapy Rag
• Painters Tape
• Contact Paper - If you decide to frost some of your glass
• Sand Paper

I started by cleaning the door thoroughly. I like using vinegar to clean doors because it does an excellent job and isn't so smelly. Once done, I dried the door with a paper towel and began taping the door. Our door has a ton of glass in it, so I had to take my time and tape it. I used an exacto knife to get the tape exactly in the panes. Once all the prep was done, I got started. I decided to prime my door due to the issue I had with the back door. I let the primer dry for an hour and half.

I finished at 10:30am with the first coat of paint. The paint dries to the touch within an hour. I mean actually, it was pretty dry by the time I got done with one side. Follow the normal steps to paint a door. At 12:30pm, I was able to apply a second coat. According the product, it is ready for a second coat in 2 hours. It was true to its word.

First Coat

The second coat went on and the door really started to look good. I knew after the second coat, that I did not have to apply a third coat. I was so excited, my vision was started to come true for the front of the house. The house finally a pop of attitude. By 3pm, I was able to start taking off the painters tape and at 4pm, I was able to shut the door. So what do you think, looking good right??

When Jay got home that afternoon, he was all smiles. He said we finally had some curb appeal. This was the final piece to our weekend front porch makeover. We both stood in the driveway for 30 minutes in awe of how much our home had spiffed up.

I completed the front door look by adding some faux frosting to our windows to create a bit more privacy. Can't tell you the number of people that ring the bell and then stand there and look into the home to see when we are coming to the door. That drives me crazy!! I am so thrilled with the way it looks. I think the door looks very modern now. And of course, I had to throw a wreath on it. Just so it wasn't looking too modern. 👀

The door has held up all week and still looks good. I ❤ this stuff so much now, that I finally stripped the back door, cleaned it, and taped it up and gave it a new paint job. It's looking pretty stanking good too! Yay! I completed the door makeovers by painting the interiors of the back door,  garage door and the front door. All with one jar of this stuff. And I still have a little bit left. I probably could paint the exterior of the garage door. To be on the safe side, I am just going to order some more and paint the exterior of both the garage door and the back door. Heck, I should probably paint my outside garage door. Okay, I may be getting ahead of myself. I have a few more interior things to do before I venture out to do more doors.

What do you think, do front doors tell the personality of the owners or the home? Have you added a punch of color to your front door. Share with me, I love to hear what other DIYers are doing.

Check out the entire front porch makeover. 

Until next time, Kimberley!

p.s. Modern Masters is not a sponsor of my blog, nor did they supply me the product. This is just my opinion of the product. 

Finally Freshened Up: Front Porch Makeover

HAPPY THURSDAY!!! I am so excited to share with you my weekend warrior project. I know you are thinking, really you are just now sharing this with us. I promise, I have been meaning to share this with you guys since Monday. Nonetheless, Jay and I have finally gotten to getting our front porch ready for Spring. Lol! Just in time to enjoy it for the Summer. Yay! 

When we first visited our home, the porch was soooo inviting. It's the first thing you notice when you pull up at our home. I have to admit, I wasn't exactly sure how we would fill it but after being in the home a few weeks I knew it was going to be a great place to watch the sun go down and relax with guests. Don't get me wrong, the back deck is just as enjoyable but it's not what you see when you pull into our driveway. Ya know that thing called - Curb Appeal. 😁 

Never knew how important curb appeal was until I bought this home. We live in a private development and the one thing that is pretty awesome about this development is that all the yards and homes have great curb appeal. The grass is green, the flowers look beautiful, and the trees are planted ever so carefully in the front yards. It's these things that actually draw your eye, when you are driving. How pretty is that yard? Wow that tree is pretty awesome, wonder what it is? Ok, maybe not you. But I definitely pay attention to these details. 

Ok back to this post, the first thing I knew right away was the door had to be updated. While we couldn't afford a brand new door. At least not one that we would like to have - I knew we could afford paint and a brush. So we painted the front door. You remember I liked bold, right? The black door really looks nice on our very earth toned home.  

It's bold, right!!!

I absolutely ❤ how this turned out. It just adds so much personality to our home.  And the door got another new treat with the addition of a nice clean Summer wreath. It just breathes Spring/Summer and welcomes everyone. I will post a article about the door and the special treat I will add soon. Next up, we need to get a screen door. I know, don't get ahead of yourself. Enjoy the update you already did. By now, you know me. I am always thinking of the next project. I think every DIHer does. It's just in our DNA. But that will come soon enough. Probably put that on the list for next Spring.  Here's a question - do you think the light fixtures need to go black? I know, I just said I would stop. But that could be an easy fix. 

Moving on from the door was the piece to resistance ( I've always wanted to say that) - my beloved loveseat. Why is it my beloved, you ask? My wonderful FIL made it for us. It's one of those treasures that will be with us forever. I found the plans online and he made it. Isn't he the bestest!!! And you have to love Ana White. She makes things so easy for us DIYers. Our loveseat got a new coat of paint. Some carpenter bees weren't so nice to it last summer, so it needed some wood filler, a good coat of primer, and good coat of paint. I opted to spray paint this piece. More about that coming soon. Oh I need to add some more pillows. The hubs thought it was fine with just one set of pillows. Me - nah. So I going to make another set in a complimenting print. And I think it needs one little décor pillow in the middle. But it looks pretty as it stands. 

And to complete our porch makeover, we added these lovely over the rail planters. I will be honest - I don't have a green thumb at all. But I have always loved these planters. I had wanted some when we were in the apartment but we never even got patio furniture there - so it seemed a bit unnecessary.  The time is right now - I mean come on  the rails look lonely without something on them. And I mean finally, I feel our home fits in with the rest of the awesome homes in our neighborhood.  

So back to my green thumb. I had to complete a ton of research to even know what to put in these lovely planters. I find this really nice post from 3 Little Greenwoods, where she talks all about these planters. Thanks, Ashley!!! I am absolutely in love with them. They bring me great joy when I pull into our driveway. 😍

I finally feel as though our home has made a complete upgrade in just a weekend. Shout out to the hubs, for getting the grass together. And a joint 30 minute clean up of our overgrown flower bed. Not sure what we will fill in then front bed with, but that's a problem for another day. I can live with it as it for this Summer. 

Have you tackled a Spring refresh project? Or have a great porch makeover? Share them with me. I love to hear what others are doing. 

Until next time, Kimberley