If you were following along on my instagram stories on Australia Day you may have noticed that I painted the front door of my home bright yellow!! I have been wanting to paint it ever since we moved into our house. I had a vision on how beautiful and cheery it would look against the grey exterior of the house.
This is the before photo. You may think it looks perfectly fine, your right it does, but just remember I had a vision and you can’t stop me when I have visions and ideas!!
We moved into our home 2 years ago so I have been putting it off for awhile, purely because the thought of having to sand and prime it before putting on the paint did my my head in. I didn’t have enough time, nor the desire to do that. Then I was flicking through Pinterest a few weeks ago and came across somebody painting something outdoors using Annie Sloan Chalk Paint and I had an epiphany. I had used the Chalk Paint before and loved it because you don’t have to sand or prime what you want to paint…… hallelujah!! My solution.
I picked up some Annie Sloan Chalk Paint from a local stockist (Paint Me White, Sandy has so many beautiful pieces in her store ), you can find local stockist here. There were two yellow shades to choose, one was darker and dusty and the other was bright with a slight lime tinge. I went for the bright of course!!
I popped down to Bunnings the day before and picked up some painters tape and a drop cloth. I actually purchased a cheap plastic drop cloth, but the day I pained it was windy and the plastic was blowing everywhere so I got my hubby to run down and pick up a heavier cloth.
Tapping up the door took forever, as the glass panes in our door are curved. This was tedious but worth it.
I even took off the door handle, as it was all corroded and needed replacing. I replaced it with the same brand that was on there so I didn’t have to drill any more holes into the door.
This little poppet wanted to help me, she painted the top of the door for me (cause I was standing on the ladder on my tippy toes). I gave the door 3 coats, each coat only took about 20 minutes. I waited 1-2 hours in between. It was a long weekend and hot out so I treated myself to a binge session of Netflix between coats!!
It managed to start and complete it all before the afternoon sun hit!! I’m thrilled with the result, it’s so bright, colourful and cheery… exactly what I wanted. As it’s chalk paint is rough, but if you want you can sand it for a smoother finish. There is also the option to wax over chalk paint but this isn’t recommended for outdoor items. I have to laugh because it stands out like a sore thumb in my neighbourhood (waves to any of my neighbours reading this and realising that this is The Organised Housewife’s home… shh, keep it a secret where I live!!).
Here’s some more Colourful Front Door Inspiration for you…
image found via tybecottages.com
find details at katrinaleechambers.com
image found via palettsnquills.com
found via lollyjane.com
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image found via today
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13 comments
Very nice, happy colour Kat. For 27 years, 16 of which we’ve lived in our house, the front door was raw wood. We finally painted it last year a bright glossy red/maroon. We have red brick with cream and maroon trims so kept in with that. I agree that the prep is tedious but it makes the difference. We love it.
Oh that sounds lovely Susan. It makes a huge difference to the look of the house! I love it
Looks great. Did you not sand it first?
Hi Corrine, no, there’s no need to sand or prime with the pain I used!!
Love the yellow front door. I’ve been visualising my front door yellow for sometime so it was great to see your project.
I have a bright red front door. Every time I walk through it I smile. When we renovated our house, it was the first thing I painted… before the inside even 🙂
I totally get that. I smile everytime I drive home because I love the door so much!!
There is a great page on Facebook called Chalk Painters Australia. I’ve been reading lots about chalk painting there lately and according to their advice, you’d need to seal your front door with a poly acrylic or polyurethane to ensure the finish lasts. Otherwise I think the finish will get very chipped and scratched during use.
ooh that’s interesting, I’ll have to look into that I was advised I didn’t need to do anything to it… hmmmmm.
Love it – I am wanting to do ours a beautiful purple! got to convince THE HUS first! I have been researching Annie Sloan paint for another project and I would suggest the same as SARA – you need to seal it with a polyurethane – we always use a marine grade one, so that when we hose down occassionally it is protected from that.
I might look into it, wonder if it changes to finished look too?
I love the yellow door! When we eventually buy a house, I really want a bright door too.
(Just a quick FYI- the pink door with the spotty walls is from A Beautiful Mess
I’m curious … Since chalk paint has a rough, matte finish, does dust tend to stick to it more easily than a satin finish?