DIY: Painting our front door RED

I've been wanting to give our front door a fresh coat of paint for the longest time, and it's finally done!

Just a background, we bought our house almost 8 years ago and everything was as is when we moved in. So we didn't really have a choice in the layout or materials used. And since we had already spent almost all our savings in buying the house, that didn't leave us with any more money to change things.

So that included our front door, which I probably wouldn't have chosen in the first place. But we just let it be and after all those years, the wear and tear from the elements have become really noticeable.

the lower half of the door is so faded already

Since it was just a door, I figured I'll just DIY it as usual. So off I went to ACE Hardware and asked what paint I should get for a wooden front door. The guy told me to get these paints - a primer, then I chose a semi-gloss finish for the color.

I also bought a couple of assorted brushes (1", 1.5", 2") and a small roller.

For the color, hubby and I were choosing between red, dark blue, and even a turquoise green. But in the end we decided to go with RED for that ultimate bold statement.

this paint was a bit expensive, but good thing there was a further 20% discount on the price that time

the white primer was a lot cheaper at just P164.75

I did some research first on how to paint an exterior door. You can find a lot of tutorials on different home improvement blogs and also on YouTube.

First thing I did was clean the door by wiping it with a wet rag. You can also lightly sand the surface to remove any rough spots or dirt, but I didn't do that anymore.

Then I taped the metal hardware and the edges of the door, since I only painted the front part.

I applied the white primer using only a brush. I worked in sections, first horizontally and then vertically.

I let it dry for a day then I went on to apply the red paint. I also worked in sections, first using a brush to paint the inset details in the door.

Then I used my roller brush horizontally on the flat panels...

and then vertically...

I believe I did 3 coats overall, and I also used a small brush to apply paint on the areas the roller brush didn't reach that well.

Final step was to removed all the tape I placed on the door. Since I waited until the paint was already dry to do this, some of the paint came off with the masking tape. I just used a small paintbrush to retouch these areas.

And now here's our red door, all shiny and brand new! I love how vibrant the color is and what an impact it makes when you walk in our house.

Here's some before and after shots. I just keep thinking I should have done this years ago!

I'm super in love with the red! And the fact that for less than P1,500, I was able to update and make our door look new again. But now that I know how easy this project is, maybe I'll change the color sooner rather than later. What do you think of royal blue next time? ;p