The Difference Some Color Makes: (and a New Front Door)
24 June 2011
The Difference Some Color Makes: (and a New Front Door)
I thought this submission was timely considering the post I wrote about curb appeal just a few days ago!
Saturday morning, I woke up and decided to paint the front door. I kinda envisioned getting it painted that day, but deciding on a color took an entire day. I have been pinning yellow doors like crazy lately because I think they look so cheerful, but once I got the swatches up, I just wasn't feeling it. And then I told Chris, "I know that I want green." The top one on the right is called Lemongrass by Behr and I thought it looked great with the gray brick, but I started worrying that it would be lost with all of our green shrubs. So, I declared once more that I definitely wanted a red door. Specifically the red right underLemongrass, Bijou Red. Red is classic. Red definitely doesn't blend in, and if you didn't know it--I am a total sucker for red.
Earlier this week, you learned that we bought a new door and Monday night I got to work. I thought I would be done by the time the Bachelorette was over--wrong.
After two coats, it looked like this, and I settled in for the long haul. The long haul being 11 coats of high gloss paint in Bijou Red. And although I got frustrated and shed a few tears along the way, I honestly couldn't be happier with the results. Let's check out some befores and afters:
What a difference, right? Gah! We love it. And an added bonus that we didn't even think about was the extra light we gained indoors:
Speaking of pay, this whole project definitely cost more than we anticipated because we bought a new front door, but here's the rundown just in case you are planning on tackling your own door soon:
Front door: $197
1 quart of high gloss exterior Behr paint in Bijou Red: $12
4 new house numbers: $5.99 each
(these first three items I had a 10% off coupon for--score!)
New doormat: $6.97
Grand total: $200.47 (plus tax)
...and worth every penny in my opinion. What do YOU think?
Check out these posts for more exterior update ideas:
Labels:
Doors,
Entry Doors,
Painting,
Red
Posts
19 comments:
Wow! It really brightened up the whole house! Looks wonderful!
Love red doors! I think it makes house look welcoming and cheerful. I always paint my front door red-except for the current house that's maroon brick.
Wow, nice door - great job! I need to paint mine, but you're right, it's so hard to decide on a color.
I love that you have your house numbers on a piece of art inside. Great idea. And - in my opinion - the lemongrass should not be ruled out in the future. I thought it would have really accented the shrubs. But what do I know? I'm fixing to paint my door stone gray. I am boring. :)
Love the red door! I have been planning on painting my door red for a long time now, just haven't gotten around to it yet! Need to get on that! :) Looks great!
Lovely! It does make a difference and I imagine, if I was passing by the street, I would really take a second look at that red door. It made the previous white one look boring. Great job! :-)
LOVE your red door!!!! It looks beautiful and gives the house such amazing curb appeal....love the picture of all the many colors on it.something I would do. Enjoy it because it looks fabulous!!
Your door looks so fabulous. The reason it took you so many coats, is because red pigment is harder to get a solid color look. You can remedy this by using a red tinted primer first. Then a lot less coats of the red would have been needed.
I, too, am a big fan of red doors. Yours looks great! We've got orange brick around the front door of our present house. I'm still searching for a red that will pull it all together.
I absolutely love your new front door and color! You picked the door I want and red is my favorite so a perfect combo. PS - Ashley, the current Bachelorette, is my daughters' first cousin ;-) (personally, I can't watch those shows, they drive me crazy haha). Btw, I should tell you that with Pinterest, I've noticed I love basically everything you pin and I've been visiting your blog more often and it's quickly becoming one of my top favorites. Keep up the wonderful inspiration :)
Wow! Thanks everyone! We are enjoying it, and sometimes I even find myself making extra trips to the trash can or the mailbox just so I can look at it some more. So glad you have all been so inspired and enjoy reading. Love. Love. Love.
Julia@Chris loves Julia
there is a HUGE difference. I love it!!! Totally adds more personality to your home.
YAY!!!! No one else said this! "SHUT THE FRONT DOOR" No really shut it! This is fantastic! It makes your home look so bright and amazing! I love it! Great job! :)
This door looks great and adds such a punch of color to your front door.
Wooowww... good to see what a little touch of red can do to the exteriors!
Just an opinion, but i would suggest putting your house number on the door itself, center them directly under the window. It will make finding your house easier for everybody - especially delivery people.
Brain + Cheryl B.
We considered that for a long time. When it came down to it, we liked the clean red door already adorned with windows and decided numbers to fill the void to the left of the door would work better. The good news is we also have our house numbers painted on the curb in front of our home with reflective paint--so the delivery people definitely know where we're at--I wouldn't risk not getting my pizza. :)
-Jules
Definitely worth the money, and the painting time. The new door has a cottage look, which adds more character to the exterior, as does the red color. What a pop!
This is a great red for your house. I've always thought that red is a hard color to find the perfect shade. You did it! This totally gives me inspiration to paint my front door. The only problem is I have brown and sand colored brick. Not fun finding a good color for the door.
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