The Evolution Of Our Front Door
BEFORE
AFTER
I’ve learned so much about restoring doors and windows through this renovation process. It seems like just yesterday I was unhinging all the doors and hauling them to the workshop to be restored and then reimaged back into the house! I can’t believe we’re finally at this stage where all the restoration work we’ve been putting in is impacting the look of the exterior. I knew our front door and surrounding sidelights would be a huge project as I wanted to strip all of the paint and stain the wood…
Bye Turquoise…
I couldn’t wait for the day that the turquoise trim was part of our home’s history! Looking back at the historical photos of the house we know that the turquoise trim was a later color decision in the 70s and the trim was originally white.
My mom helped sand down all the trim boards and then we primed and painted the trim Grey Mist by Benjamin Moore. This color is going to be a subtle contrast to the siding once we get it painted in White Dove by Benjamin Moore.
Since we wanted the sidelights stained the same color as the door we had to strip and sand all the turquoise paint off to get it ready for staining.
Patience Is Key
One of the elements of this renovation I’ve been looking forward to is rebuilding the front porch. We, unfortunately, had to tear down the original front porch as it had lots of damage, but our plan is to rebuild it very similar to its original design. We color-matched the stain for the front door and sidelights to the sample of decking we will be using for the porch. I want our home to give off a luxurious feel while also radiating warmth with a wooden door.
Stripping the paint off a door requires patience and about 3 days! I scraped every last bit of paint I could before conditioning and staining it in the new color. I’m so happy with the finish and how it adds so much warmth to the exterior.
Stain Color: Valise by Behr (at 150%)
AFTER
Check out the videos below to see the entire restoration process! Comment below and let me know if you’d ever tackle a door restoration.
XO, MaCenna