You can completely change the look of your front door without spending hundreds on a new one by using paint! I’ve wanted to change the boring brown front door on this home since we bought it four years ago.  Now that I know how easy it is, I wish I hadn’t waited so long.  My friends over at DecoArt have just released an amazing new line of Front Door Paint called Curb Appeal and it’s magical stuff! Paint is my best friend when it comes to making my home my own.  Seriously, there isn’t much it can’t do!  I’m so excited to share my new bright and happy front door with you.

*This sponsored post contains affiliate links.  The supplies to complete my front door makeover were sent to me by my lovely friends at DecoArt. The project was my own, and all opinions are mine as always. You can read my full disclosure here.*

This is my front door before the makeover.  It’s just a standard, builders grade,  brown metal front door.  Nothing fancy, or exciting.  It’s faded, scratched, and pitted from years of wind and sand storms that come with living in the desert. I recently decided that I don’t need so many brown neutral things in my life, and the front door was certainly brown and neutral.

The brown front door is covered by an old metal screen storm door.   The metal screen door was in need of some TLC too.  It was dirty, pitted, and rusty and such a sad off-white color.

I’ve wanted to paint them both for some time, but I thought it would be such a complicated and difficult project.  I put it off for a long time.  When I learned about this new paint, I thought it would be the perfect opportunity to get brave and try it out.

I can’t even believe how easy it really was to do!  This project can be completed in just one day.  You don’t need to take the door off its hinges and you’ll be done before the end of the day. I’d love to share with you what I learned in the process!

Here’s what you’ll need to complete your own front door makeover:

• DecoArt Curb Appeal Front Door and Shutter Paint ( I used Harbor Blue and Farmhouse White)
• Paint Brush and Paint Roller
• Painters Tape
• Drop Cloth or something to protect the floor under the door.

Step one:

First, you’ll need to clean off the door very well.  I gave my front door a really good scrubbing with soap and water, and then I went over it again.  If your door is shiny and smooth, you may want to rough it up a little with some sand paper.  My door was already pretty rough so I skipped this step.   If you don’t want to remove the door knobs you’ll need to cover them and tape them to keep the paint off.  I removed mine.

Step two:

Use painters tape to cover anything you don’t want to be painted.  I used tape along the inside edge of the door, and around hinges that I didn’t want to get paint on.  Spread a drop cloth under the door to catch any paint drips and save your flooring.

Handy tip:  If the front and back of your door are going to be two different colors, what color should the edges be? There’s an easy way to figure it out: Stand directly in front of the side of the door you are painting and open your door a bit …. the edge you see should be painted the same color as the side you are painting.  Since I am only painting the outside of my front door, that meant that the side with the hinges would get painted, and the side with the doorknob would not get painted.

Step three:

Now you can start painting the door! The first step is to paint the edges and the inside of the panels.   Then the panels themselves.  When all of the panels have been painted, paint the inside of the door.  If your door has a grain on it, make sure you paint in the same direction as the grain.  If your door doesn’t have a grain, and you don’t want it to look like it has a grain, then probably want to use a foam roller instead of a paint brush.  When the panels are finished, paint the edges.  Hopefully, this little door grid I made isn’t too confusing!

 Because I was going from a brown to a pretty aqua blue, my front door needed two coats of paint.  I followed the instructions on the bottle of the Curb Appeal paint and I waited about two hours before I put the second coat of paint on.   Once the second coat of paint has been applied, make sure you don’t wait too long to take the tape off.  The paint should still be slightly wet when you remove the painters’ tape.

I took the screen door off the hinges to paint that because it had a lot of surface area and I wasn’t sure how long it would take to paint it. I just laid it on some saw horses over a drop cloth to paint it after I had cleaned it well. I used two coats of white paint on the screen door as well, and then I painted the little metal detail on the door with some of my leftover Harbor Blue color (two coats again).

I used my Cricut to cut out a fun “Hello” in white outdoor vinyl to put on the Harbor Blue screen door detail. The greeting on my front door makes me smile!

It’s been several months since I painted the door, and so far the paint is holding up perfectly well! It makes me smile every time I come home and see it, and people are always complimenting my pretty blue door now.

 It only took roughly half of a bottle of paint to paint the front door, and almost an entire bottle to paint the screen door.   I love that there are so many colors to choose from.

 I am already planning what my next color will be when I decide that it’s time to update again.

Now that I know how easy it is, there’s never a reason not to LOVE my front door! I will be sharing the fun changes I made to my pretty planter and how I made my custom door mat to match my pretty new door soon.

Follow the Craft Shack Chronicles on Pinterest for more Curb Appeal inspiration!