Front Door Makeover.

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Whilst I had been busy renovating the interior of Number 69, the outside had been looking rather… sad. With the lovely weather we’d been having during April, and with me being on a fortnights holiday, I decided to take a break from the living room and enjoy some of the sunshine.

As much as I love the style of the old front door, it was in dire need of a revamp. It’s original to the house and has had a few coats of paint over the years and also a few different locks it seems. Also, the wee ceramic number on the glass, was cracked and falling to bits and the doorbell wasn’t working. Sad times for Mister Door.

Scabby, huh?

Luckily, inspiration is never far away with me, and I had already saved an image of a door colour that I loved…

Image from Stylish Patina via Pinterest

I’m a big fan of ‘questionable colours’. By that, I don’t mean dodgy awful ones (at least, I don’t think?!) but colours that border on the verge of others. Colours that are very much affected by the time of day and by varied lighting conditions.

Is it green/blue/black??

I love deep, inky hues and this door ticked all the boxes for me. If only this was my front door. *sigh*

Stripping the Front Door

Initially I thought I would try cutting through the many thick layers of paint with a chemical stripper. I had read about Peel Away 7, a low-odour paint removal system that consists of a poultice, that is applied to a painted surface and then covered with a plastic sheet (supplied with the kit). I tried a small area first and left it for the recommended time.

Shite. It did nothing. It was supposed to remove up to twenty layers but it barely dented one.

Now, it may not have worked on the door, but I can DEFINITELY recommend it for removing paint from metalwork. More on that soon!

So, armed with my trusty heat gun and paint scraper, I set about what I thought would be the laborious task of hand-stripping the front door.

I was so wrong.

The bottom bit in the photo is where I tested out more of the chemical stuff. The main part is where I used the heat gun.

The paint peeled away like the skin on a banana… it was so pleasing. Within about half an hour, I had stripped half of the front door.

The wood beneath was in good shape, mostly, give or take small areas of moulding that would need filled. Also, I’m quite kack-handed sometimes and I may or may not have caused a few gouges myself. Oopsie! All good though, until I got down to the door knob.

Bugger! Not a difficult thing to sort, but still, a thing to sort. I quite enjoy the demolition stage, and of course I enjoy the prettifying stage, but I hate the ”make good’ stage. It’s the important part for a good end result, but it’s the bit that nobody can see, nor appreciate.

Take a long good look people! Appreciate.

Have you spotted it? The fancy new number above the door? I love how the old ’69’ is still visible. Like a ghost from the past. At this stage I decided to try polishing up the old letterbox and doorknob. With a little effort (and some Brasso) they started to come up like new! I know that raw brass will need continual maintenance but I really don’t mind. I take weird pleasure in polishing up brass.

Revealing The Past

Whilst stripping the door, layer by layer, all of the colours of the past were revealed. Red, faded to pink, on top, seemed to cover various shades of cream or white, with a soft bluey-green in between. The base colour, which was clearly the first paint application, was a beautiful shade of  chartreuse. Not everyones cup of tea but I love it. Prior to this, the door looked like it had been stained dark.

It wasn’t until I started stripping the frame, that I discovered that originally, it hadn’t just been stained, but in fact the Pitch Pine woodwork had been painted to look like stained oak. How cool! I love it when a little investigating starts to tell a story.

This house seems to have lots of stories so far.

Front Door Reveal

With the inspiration pic in mind, choosing the door colour was simple. Once again, both Brian and I were drawn to the same shade out of all the bluey-blacky-greens..

Image via Valspar Pick-a-Paint app.

With it’s new traditional style bell-push in place and a shiny new lock to match the rest of the door furniture, the front door makeover is complete. A couple of simple pots with lavender creates a welcoming entrance to the absolute midden that lays beyond. I absolutely love the new colour and the way it works with the polished brass. And I especially love that I did the whole thing, including the new sign, accessories and pots, for under £100!

I can’t wait to get the front garden finished now, but that’ll be a while away. Unless someone wants to buy me a cast iron railing and gate?…