What is the hardest part of painting your front door?  If you are like me, it would be picking out the paint color.  Painting the door is the simple part of the job.   I might have a tip to make the task of picking out the color a little easier for you.

Our front door is a metal door and has been painted twice since we built our home.  It has been green and is painted black now.  Do you know the average homeowner changes their exterior front door color every 7 years?   I fit right into the average homeowner’s category.

Today I am going to share 3 things you need to know when picking out the paint color for your front door.  They helped me find the color with ease.

Once you have the three answered you are on your way in picking the perfect color, shade and type of paint for your front door.

1.  Monochromatic or Complementary color

• Monochromatic colors are shade or tint variations of the same hue as your exterior color.
• Complementary are colors across from your exterior color on the color wheel.

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Our exterior brick color is orange.

I decided to go with a complementary color.  The color wheel shows that the complementary color for my brick would be in the blue color scheme.

2.  The right shade of color

• Simple rule of thumb; choose a darker shade if your home’s exterior is light and a light or bright shade if your home’s exterior is dark.

With our dark orange brick I decided to go with a lighter color.

3. What type of paint to use

• I read that the best paint for an exterior door is an exterior acrylic paint, because it is flexible and contains mildewcides designed to protect your door from harsh conditions.

The paint I decided to use is KILZ TRIBUTE, it is a low VOC (volatile organic compound), 100% acrylic advanced technology paint and primer in one formulated for superior stain and coverage with exceptional durability and a mildew-resistant finish.

The paint I am using – Kilz Tribute paint, the color Wind Chime.

Before I get started I thought I would share with you our door before the refresh.

First thing I did was removed all the hardware from the door.

Besides giving our door a fresh coat of paint we are going to replace the hardware as well.

Here are the things I will be using to refresh our front door

• Gate House Bronze Handle set
• Gate House Bronze Kick plate
• Rust-oleum spray paint – Oil Rubbed Bronze
• Kilz Tribute Paint – Wind Chime
• Foam roller and paint pan
• Paint brush
• Plastic drop cloth
• Drill
• Screw driver
• Level
• 120 grit sandpaper
• Degreaser
• Painter’s tape
• Tape measure
•  vinyl word

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Before I prep the door for painting we wanted to test out the new hardware to make sure it fits the existing holes.  Of course it didn’t, we had to drill a new lower hole since this handle is a little shorter than the older one.  Gate House included a paper template to show us where to drill the new hole. We taped the template on the door using the existing hole, made sure it was level and drilled the lower hole.  Simple as that.

After we drilled the hole I lightly hand sanded the door keeping with the direction of the panels.

I cleaned the door with a degreaser.  I used 409 cleaner. Making sure the door is clean and dry I started painting.  Using a brush I painted all the crevices and groove of the door first.

When all the crevices were all painted I used a foam roller to paint all the flat panels.  I paint all the vertical panels first and then the horizontal panels.

When it comes to the edges of the door when your door has two different colors (exterior side different than the interior side) what are the rules?  Here is the standard rule of thumb…stand directly in front of the side of the door you are painting and open your door a tad, the edge you see should be painted the same color as the side you are painting.

For our door, I painted the inside edge (the hinge part) the exterior color and the edge that is opening into your room I only painted the lip of the exterior part.

I did two coats of paint.  I sprayed painted the brass door knocker rubbed oil bronze.  Placed that back onto the door.

Placed the new hardware on the door.

I wanted a kick plate back on my door.  I had one several years ago but removed it.  I put one on the door again. 🙂

I added a welcome vinyl word to the right center of the door.  I found it on Amazon.

I took the hardware off the storm door and gave that a new coat of bronze as well.

So what do you think?  Instant curb appeal!

I am so happy with our new freshly painted front door and look at my summer porch!  Love my DIY MONOGRAM DOOR MAT and the MILK CAN MAKEOVER  so happy my sweet momma-in-law gave it to me.  It all just goes so well together, almost like it was custom made…..oh wait it was! 🙂

How about a BEFORE & AFTER shot?  Yeah, let’s see it!

I hope you remember my little steps on picking out the color and how to paint the door when getting ready to paint your front door.  Hopefully you will enjoy your freshly painted front door like I enjoy ours.

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♥ Terrie