We have successfully moved into our new house! The move was quick and easy but now that I’m here I’m a little overwhelmed with the amount of projects that face me in the upcoming months (probably years). One of the first things I couldn’t live with was our awful mauve front door. It’s red on the outside, which looks great but years ago someone decided it would be a good idea to paint it 80’s mauve.
I was in such a hurry to cover it up that I didn’t get a great before picture but here’s a picture from the listing.
I wanted something different, not just plain ol’ black or white which got me thinking, what would be some unique front door colors that would go with the furniture I already have in my house? AND I was thinking, since there aren’t any walls in our living room (aka nowhere to put cool furniture pieces) what if I made the door LOOK like a piece of furniture!? So here are the colors I came up with.
I was torn between 2 paint colors Cabintetmaker’s Blue by Old Village Paints and Destin Gulf Green by CeCe Caldwell’s Paints (chalk paint) so I decided to mix the two.
I really wanted the teal of the Destin Gulf Green so I did 3/4 chalk paint and 1/4 Cabinetmaker’s Blue, which mellowed out the teal and made it not so bright.
Here’s what the door looked like in the process. My new daughter, we’ll call her B for safety reasons (read the story here), helped me paint the door, we were both happy to see the mauve disappear, in fact we couldn’t paint fast enough!
The next day, I went to a local antique shop and bought some American Paint Company Dark Wax to give the door a little bit of that antiqued look. My goal was to make the front door look like a piece of furniture, rather than just a front door.
I also painted the trim around the door bright white (Valspar paint+primer, semi-gloss, right off the shelf) to frame the door nicely. It was a HUGE improvement from the mauve trim. I think the overall makeover was a huge success and I’m glad I went with the unique colors for the front door because it’s a conversation piece now, not just a front door!
Eventually all the walls will be the gray color but for now I just painted around the door to give me an idea of what it will look like. I cropped this picture down so you can see what the finished project will look like. 🙂
Isn’t it beautiful!? I absolutely love the color, I love the light antiquing and I love the gray! I can’t wait to get back from Atlanta, from the Haven Conference, so I can paint some more!!
Products used for this project:
FrogTape
Old Village Paint
CeCe Caldwell’s Chalkpaint
American Paint Company dark wax
Valspar Paint+Primer
Lauren@ Mom Home Guide says
August 5, 2013 at 8:27 amI love how your newly painted door looks! I might have to convince my spouse that we should paint the white interior side of my home’s front door! BTW, what does the wax do?
Anna says
August 5, 2013 at 1:46 pmI used American Paint Company dark wax. It was my first time using it and I liked it.
Kim says
August 6, 2013 at 9:03 amDoes the wax actually dry? Or does the wax “come off” each time you clean the door? I am thinking about using it too. Thanks.
Anna says
August 6, 2013 at 11:55 amI haven’t cleaned it yet but I’m planning on putting a sealing coat on it, I just haven’t had a chance to yet. I’m sure if I scrubbed it the wax would come off, like any paint, but it dried pretty hard.
Sandi says
August 5, 2013 at 9:07 amI love your door! The color is gorgeous.
Pearl says
August 5, 2013 at 10:12 amLooks AMAZING Anna!! SO fun!! Love that you mixed the 2 paints together. I never would have thought of that! haha
Mary Beth @ Cupcakes and Crinoline says
August 5, 2013 at 1:05 pmWhat a huge difference and wonderful transformation, Anna ~ love it!
Sharon says
August 5, 2013 at 1:16 pmso very pretty! I love the color palette and can’t wait to see all of the walls gray.
Sandra Jackson Bozeman says
August 5, 2013 at 1:34 pmLove the colors. A drastic improvement!
Crystal says
August 5, 2013 at 2:45 pmIt’s looks beautiful!! I love the color with the white trim!! It really looks good with the gray walls (soon to be). Great job!! Glad you have your helper 🙂
Mary M says
August 6, 2013 at 6:34 amHi Anna,
I follow your blog. You gave us lots of information about your beautiful new door, but what is the color of the beautiful gray paint on the wall? It is just right, not too light/not too dark…. Thanks in advance. Mary
Anna says
August 6, 2013 at 12:02 pmMary the color is called Partridge Gray and it’s by Better Homes and Garden. I got the swatch from Walmart but then I had Lowes color match it because I like their paint better. It’s a beautiful gray, I totally recommend it! 🙂
Mary Malone says
August 7, 2013 at 6:14 amThanks for that info. I’m seeing so many gray walls lately = I want some, too!
Vanessa says
August 6, 2013 at 8:55 amI LOVE the new color Anna!! It looks so beautiful but my favorite photo was the one with ‘B’ in it. Gave me chills thinking about the miracle of welcoming your new daughter into your family! 🙂
Vanessa
Scottiev says
August 6, 2013 at 4:09 pmWow! Major improvement! Great color choices and the end result is stunning! It was fantastic to meet you at Haven! Best Wishes in your new home and with expanding your family- I’m so excited for you!
Benita Collins says
August 23, 2013 at 7:19 amLooking forward to the paint giveaway! I have two doors that need painting! 🙂
Lorna says
August 23, 2013 at 7:22 amI’m in love with the sunflower yellow front door makeover. I too want a yellow door. Hope to redo over labor day weekend!
Wanda says
August 24, 2013 at 5:50 amLove, love, love your new door and home, Anna!!
Dori Gray says
August 27, 2013 at 9:12 amLove the red Old Village Paint!
LizzyLoves says
July 5, 2014 at 6:48 amI love the door and the gray paint yo are using for the walls. Yes, this door is definitely a piece of furniture – jewelry for the room.
Gemma says
April 13, 2015 at 9:28 amWe have moved house and the windows and doors are brown upvc. We can’t afford to change the windows yet as I’d like to put wooden windows in and render the house but I can’t live with the brown door! It all just looks too drab.
What would be a good colour to compliment the brown windows?
Thanks!
Bethany Davis says
April 13, 2015 at 10:57 pmHello, Gemma. This is Bethany, Anna’s Assistant. Anna loves to go to Pinterest for ideas and inspiration for all of her decorating and color-coordinating ideas. You may want to try doing a search in Pinterest for “front door colors, brown windows” and see what pops out at you! Anna is visual person so if you decide that you would like her opinion after looking through Pinterest, please feel free to send her a picture of your windows/door and she would be happy to give you her input. Thanks so much!
Tina says
January 29, 2016 at 6:02 pmLove to chalk paint and would really like to do my front door. Can the exterior side of the door be done with chalk paint too? If so, is the wax used ?
Anna says
February 9, 2016 at 2:12 pmI personally wouldn’t recommend using chalk paint on the outside of the door. For the exterior you should use something more durable, like a semi-gloss paint.
Mary says
March 29, 2016 at 10:16 amI have a old metal front door and I would chalk paint it Will it work ?
Thank you
Anna says
March 29, 2016 at 3:51 pmIt probably would but just in case I would do a coat of primer (made to cover metal) first.