THE MAGIC OF A PAINTED FRONT DOOR

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This is what The Mad House looked like before we got started.  We had already made several improvements to the house’s curb appeal since we moved in two years ago.   The biggest change so far was the addition of a new roof and seamless gutters, which were a costly but worthwhile investment.  We also replaced a dead spiral shrub with the wine and roses weigela to the left of the walkway.  Last summer my parents and I worked to give the porch a facelift with new paint on the railings (that my father-in-law had reinforced).  I added in some red, white, and blue porch decorations and refinished seating.  The final touch was to add a bracket for our American flag.

From this distance, things looked pretty good.

Heck, even from this close, things weren’t too bad.  The door color was slightly dated, but it was not terrible.  Plus, it went well with my patriotic porch decor and Fourth of July wreath!

On closer inspection, though, there were some obvious issues.  There was a gap between the door frame and the housing around it that the previous owners had haphazardly filled with spray insulation, some caulk, and sloppy paint.  Pretty.

If you actually looked at the shutters, you would have seen that some of the paint had begun to peel off and reveal the previous shutter color (teal?!).  It was time for a new coat of paint on the door and shutters.  I figured that if we were going to go to the trouble of climbing on the roof to remove the shutters and repaint them, we might as well use the opportunity to go with a whole new color.

That’s where Modern Masters Front Door Paint comes in.  I browsed over all of MM’s color choices but kept coming back to this gorgeous blue called Peaceful (affiliate link).  It’s somewhere between royal blue and navy, and it complements our reddish brick and tan siding wonderfully.  Selected Lowe’s and Ace Hardware stores are now carrying the paint as well.  The closest store for me is in Cincinatti, so check the Modern Masters website for a store locator or order from amazon.com.

My dad and I spent a humid morning removing, cleaning, and prepping two doors and eight shutters.  I got a good lesson on what kinds of critters make homes behind shutters.  Let’s just say that after scrubbing everything down thoroughly, I went inside and changed my clothes to alleviate the heebie jeebies I had going on.

Our house looked so naked without the shutters!  It was like when a tabloid shows a movie star without her makeup.  Not necessarily bad, but not recognizable either.

Dad and I spent the rest of the afternoon painting louvers and door panels, turning the doors and shutters from berry red to peaceful blue. 

I want to be very clear when I say this:  Modern Masters Front Door Paint is fantastic paint.  Not just good or passable, but seriously fantastic.  It has a beautiful viscosity and covers impressively well.  Usually painting over red is a pain in the kiester, but the MM paint covered in just one coat plus touch-ups.  And the brushstrokes were barely visible.  I would 100% recommend this paint to anyone else looking to repaint their front door.

My dad added some quarter round molding to cover up the ridiculous gap in the front door frame, and I gave the frames a fresh coat of paint as well.  Instead of painting the door frames the same color as the doors, I chose to make them a crisp white to make the blue of the doors stand out even further. 

Now that the doors are up and the shutters are hanging again, I understand why some home bloggers repaint their front doors so often.  It makes a HUGE difference in the look of the house.  I was astounded how different the house looked just by changing one color. 

Removing, prepping, painting, drying, and replacing the doors and shutters took my dad and me one day to accomplish.  I had Modern Masters send me 4 quarts of Front Door Paint to make sure I had enough to cover everything (I was anticipating multiple coats on each piece).  I think we used the equivalent of one quart for everything.  Basically, for one day’s work and $35-70 (depending on how many shutters you have) you can completely refresh the look of your home.

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Thanks,  Jessica