Young House Love

DIY Home Decorating Projects, Tutorials, & Shenanigans

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Painting The Back Of Your Front Door A Bold Color

Alternate post title: Paint Me Like One Of Your French Girls. Yes, much like Rose once begged Jack, the dusty blue back of our front door was just begging to be painted (ok, so Rose said “draw me like one of your French girls” but it’s close enough).

The new paint color of choice? The same happy teal tone that’s on the front of it.

There’s no hard and fast rule about carrying the color that’s on the front of the door back around to the inside of it (in our last two houses we chose bright colors on the front and plain old white for the back) – but for the first time ever we have sidelights and we want to draw attention to them. So bringing that color into the foyer via the back of the door is a fun way to make that door-and-window-combo into a nice little focal point in an otherwise neutral/classic space. We’re going for something like:

  • this (oh how my heart siiiiiings for that old Domino pic)
  • this (those dark floors, those light walls, oh man)
  • this (this door’s subtler, but there’s more color on the walls/runner than we’ll use)
  • this (there are no words except holy cuteness, batman)

You guys get the idea, right? White sidelights + a colored door = true love. And just as you might have guessed, the painting process was extremely romantic. Picture me and the door, just staring into each others eyes – er, panels? At one point there was steam on the sidelights and I slid my hand down it like this.

Visit website with painting tips for anyone else who’s planning to show their door some love:

  • If your door is super shiny/glossy (either sealed wood or semi-gloss/high gloss paint) you’ll want to use a liquid deglosser to wipe it down before priming and painting, but since our door was chalky and matte to start with, I could skip right to the painting step because we used the same self-priming quart of paint that we used on the front (Benjamin Moore’s MooreGlo paint in Blue Lake with a semi-gloss-like finish called Soft Gloss).
  • Whenever I paint the front or back of exterior doors, my favorite method is to start in the morning so the door can be open (just cracked) all day and has time to dry before you have to close and lock it at night.
  • I like using an angled brush to paint the entire door – although John loves a foam roller, so it’s a different strokes for different folks thing.
  • I have a certain order that I like for painting doors: first I paint the frames of each raised rectangle, then I paint the inside of each one as you see in the photo below. Then I paint the flat planks around and between them, always going in the direction of that plank (I pull my brush from top to bottom to do the vertical plank down the middle, then I go from left to right to get all of the horizontal slats, and at the very end I drag my brush from top to bottom to do those vertical parts on each side of the door).

  • I wait for that to dry about an hour (or two if it’s super humid) and then I do the whole thing again, in the same order. Then I just give it the rest of the day to dry and lock it up at night.
  • I prefer to remove the hardware over taping it off, but Clara was having an off day and I worried it would add more time than I had to spare (I wasn’t sure she’d nap for very long) so that’s why it’s taped off this time, even though we took it off when we painted the front.

When the pheremones cleared paint dried, the back of the door was looking pretty fiiine. Admittedly it looks a little crazy with the yellow walls and the brassy fixture, but we’re just getting started in here, so we’re holding onto some serious faith that the other dozen to-do list items in here will make more sense of things as we go (remember this old saying?).

It’s definitely a more welcome sight than this before picture though. Ah. We can breathe. And weirdly enough the ceilings feel about a foot taller.

This is my favorite after shot, just because there’s a certain man and child that I adore in the background. And those dark doorknobs and hinges aren’t half bad either.

Next up? More painting! We have to pick a color for the walls (we’re sifting through swatches as you read this) and still have to finish painting the vanity in the half bathroom as well as – you guessed it! – paint the blue spindles on the stairs. Among about a million other blue-trimmed-and-wallpapered rooms that are on the list. So our fingers might grow around our paint brushes, but they say beauty is pain, right?

As weird as it sounds, the more sweat we pour into this house, the more it feels like love. It’s sort of like when you go through a harrowing experience with someone and it brings you closer. All of this painting is pain, but it’s bonding us like Jack and Rose.

I’ll never let go. I’ll never let go…

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Comments

  1. I never thought to paint the inside of our door the same pop of color as the outside. I am going to dig through our paint stash today to see if there is any paint left over from when I painted the front of the door!
    Maybe if I turn on the sprinklers in the front lawn the kids will be occupied long enough for me to paint!

    Reply

  2. It looks great! And the ceilings really do look so much taller! You guys are doing such a great job making that place your home! :)

    We just went under contract on our townhome yesterday!! So I’m super excited to be able to love on a new house soon, too!! :)

    Shannon

    Reply

  3. The ceilings do look much higher! I LOVE all of the chunky moldings in your house. If I could have one carpentry skill (you know, without actually having to LEARN it), it would be trimwork.

    The door color looks great too!

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  4. Love the color. Looking great!

    Question for you about painting doors — If you hadn’t painted the front and back the same color, what color would you have painted the sides? This always throws me for a loop. Where does one color end and the other begin?

    Thanks!

    Reply

    • I just look at what’s done there before, so for example in our second house, the front and side were wood but the back was white, so when I painted the front I did the side as well so I covered all the wood :)

      xo
      s

    • I had this problem when I painted my front door. The outside was dark green and the inside was a creamy white.

      I honestly just picked the dark green for the insides simply because it hid dirt better.

    • I painted a lot of frontdoors (moved a lot) and every time I was undecidive about this.

      My uncle, who was a carpenter, learned me the following: if you’re inside the house and the door is open, the side you’re looking at, belongs to the inside of the house. And so is painted in the same color as the inside of your door is. If you’re standing outside and the door is open, the side you’re looking at, belongs tot the outside of the house. And so is painted the same as the outside of your door.

      This sounded ok with me, so since then I Always use this little rule.

  5. Okay after seeing the inspiration pic with the aqua door I kind of want you to have full glass sidelights! ;)

    It looks awesome! I like how you’re working on the entry way first (I know you’ve done other things in other rooms but it seems like your making it “yours” first by adding paint and stuff). Seems like the perfect place to start and then work from there.

    Reply

  7. Looks great and it does make the ceilings look a lot higher! Can’t wait to see some of your paint color choices in the new house… I need to paint my two story foyer and I am in desperate need of some additional paint color inspiration!

    Reply

  8. Now that you guys have painted the trim and the door, I have to say, I really like the way the yellowish color looks on the walls. Have you guys thought about doing a shade of yellow for that area?

    Reply

    • We are considering just about everything (in a soft tone since we don’t want anything too bright/dark in here). It connects to four rooms as well as leading upstairs to that hallway (which connects to six rooms) so we think something neutral will win just so we don’t have to worry about any color that doesn’t go with something else we choose.

      xo
      s

    • I was thinking the same thing Traci! I’m not sure how it looks in person, but at least on the computer, that light buttery wall color really looks great! :)

    • I’m so glad someone said this! I have creamy yellow walls in my house and LOVE them–looks very similar to the pictures here–light yellow with crisp white trim. It makes everything fell light and bright and clean and warm…the best. It seems you guys go more for gray tones–more modern and look good–but I love me some yellowy warmth :) Though I imagine your issue with these “yellowed walls” is not so much the color, but more the fact that they are “aged yellow”? Old, splotchy and yellowed with age = not good no matter how much you like yellow!

  9. That is a much nicer blue than the old tone. We have to paint our doors and we used a roller last time but it left a funky texture even though it was foam. I think we’re going to try a nice big brush this time and go with your tips!

    Reply

  10. Oh my gosh it looks so pretty! I need to use this colour on something in my apartment … I just don’t know on what though.

    Reply

  11. When we replaced our front door we went with the same color on both sides. It’s a deep red, and I love it! Our old door was very similar to yours but the new one is wider and has sidelights that have a glass pattern so you can’t peek in. ;)
    However, we chose to have the sidelights also be the same color inside and out.

    While I love the teal on the door (it makes it so bright and cheerful) I think the sidelights would look nice in the same teal. Maybe you’ll convince me otherwise once you pick a paint color. ;)

    Reply

  12. In your last house, you kind of patterned colors after Sue the Napkin. Do you have a color inspiration with the new house or are you continuing on with Sue the Napkin colors? Just curious…

    Reply

    • We’re hoping to write up a post all about our color inspiration for you tomorrow with a bunch of swatches that have caught our eye. We don’t have an object like Sue, just some tones that keep sticking out at us and screaming “use us for this house!”

      xo
      s

  13. It’s amazing to me that the walls haven’t been painted, just changing the trim made such a difference! Love the teal door :-)

    Reply

  14. What about orbing the light fixture? Or is it too ornate (can’t really tell from these pictures), or do you have a new fixture picked out already?

    Reply

    • Oh yes, we’ve mentioned wanting to spray paint that for the time being and then possibly replacing it down the line if we see something we LOVE and want to upgrade later.

      xo
      s

    • What about something from your YHL lighting line!? If I designed something I’d have it out for display everywhere! Seems like an obvious solution to me!

  15. I love it! Not that you’re asking, but my vote is to paint the light bright red, like someone said in a past post. Your foyer is already so happy and bright – keep up the great work! (And go get a hand massage – your fingers must need it!)

    Reply

  16. Very nice, you are right it does look so much taller. For some reason I can see the pendant light getting a coat of ORB before too long *smiles*

    Manda Wolf @ Our Wolf Den

    Reply

  20. Much like yesterday’s post was my favorite house crashing post, this is my favorite post title EVER. I cried laughing.

    Reply

  21. It is looking so great! I love your before and afters, you have really brightened it up in there!

    When you paint the doors, does it get sticky between the door and the jam? That’s my only worry about painting our bedroom doors which I’m longing to do…

    Reply

    • Ours is a little swelly since it’s so humid but we hope as it continues to cure up and stops being so sweltering it’ll be ok. Otherwise we’ll sand down the side to get is skinnier again!

      xo
      s

  22. That last picture (the one with John and Clara in the background) made me feel so sad for that smaller white door next to the fresh blue door – it looks so lonely and plain. Do you plan on giving that door a pop of color as well?

    Reply

    • We actually love the closets and the door to the bathroom (there are three doors in the foyer as well as the front door) being white so the front door with the sidelights can be the star instead of competing with color on every other door :)

      xo
      s

    • I agree! That door is the star. And can I just say, that tile floor is looking marvelous. Weirdly enough, this new color blue makes the tile look even MORE gray. Keeper.

  23. You guys. Your entryway is looking so good. After reading about your complete front door paint job, of course it makes me want to fake sick at work to go home and get my paint on (of course I won’t do that, but it’s tempting), so instead of following through on that desired action, I visited my Pinterest boards. I thought you’d like my #1 favorite inspiration that I can’t stop whispering sweet somethings to. So, I’ll share it with you just because I want to (it’s the fourth image down): http://designindulgences.com/2012/03/06/what-an-entrance/

    We aren’t blessed with the light surround, but I’m planning on using all of these colors (or close to) with the creamy white on our shutters (ranch-style home). Eek! I cannot wait. But this isn’t a right-now project for us. Boo.

    Reply

  26. You’ve inspired me to final tackle painting the front door a new color. I’ve been eyeing aqua doors on pinterest for months. My favorite color at the moment is Woodlawn Valley Haze by Valspar. But imagine my surprise when I also put up olive-ish swatches and fell in love with those too. Our house is stone, not brick though. Not sure I have the guts to paint the inside too, but it would be a nice change of pace. The aqua, sadly, would clash with the pumpkin/mustard color dining room DH loves so much.

    What do you look for in door paint? And did you use the same paint on the inside or an indoor version of that color?

    Reply

    • For us the goal was just whatever swatches looked the best from the outside with the brick and only after we painted it did we think about bringing it inside and said “Why not?! Everything else is going to be neutral in there so it’s nice to have some color somewhere!”

      xo
      s

  28. Wow – you and John have done beautiful work to this home. It looks spectacular! And, I really actually like the slate floors in the foyer now. They don’t look so bad now that the rest of the room is bright and light. Beautiful job! I can’t wait to see more :)

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  29. Love the door color even more on the inside than I did on the outside. The before and after pictures are so different it’s hard to believe it’s all because of paint. You guys make it look so easy!

    Reply

    • No way! Lots of people seem to love that color! Since this room connects to a bunch of other spaces (five rooms downstairs and 6 upstairs since it leads up the steps) we want to be sure whatever we go with is neutral enough not to fight with any of our other choices :)

      xo
      s

  32. I’m totally on board with the ORB for the light fixture. Have you thought about using some window film to ‘frost’ the glass in it?

    Reply

  34. Gosh, your entryway transformation really shows the power of a good paint job! I can’t wait to see the rest of this house once its painted. It already looks more like a home with just a change of paint color.

    Reply

  35. Very awesome door, and definitely envious of the black hardware. We switched from gold/brass to brushed nickel (http://wolvenhouseproject.blogspot.com/2013/01/when-nickel-is-more-precious-than-gold.html)and painted all our interior doors white (http://wolvenhouseproject.blogspot.com/2013/01/the-doors.html), which was a welcome change, but these photos make me wish I would have done black, haha! Currently I’m rehabbing our front door with a solid wood door I got at a salvage place for $80 – one side is painted and the other still has the original wood. I think I want to keep that – a pop of color inside and stain and seal the outside to keep that original wood look. Or I might give up and just paint the whole damn thing since it’s easier!

    Reply

  36. LOVE!! I actually like the yellow walls, now that the trim is painted and love it with the door color. But, I’m a yellow freak =)

    Reply

  37. Love it! I want it! I would love a brightly colored or black door, but have paint-phobia right now. We just have this beautiful hand carved, mid century, natural wood door that I just don’t have the heart to paint. For now it will be in the buff like Kate.

    Reply

  38. It’s amazing how one shade of blue can be SO much better than another. And how just a pop of blue is better than blue everywhere. I also love that picture with John and Clara in the background. Adorable! It’s funny how much work it takes to make your new house more a “blank slate”.

    Reply

  43. Love it! It’s amazing how something like paint can change a whole room and make it seem bigger! I just noticed the closet next to the front door too. Never noticed it before for some reason. Love all the storage this house has for you guys.

    Reply

    • Wahoo! There are two closets in the foyer – which means I want to make one into a toy/game storage closet for Clara with a bunch of built in shelves and stuff! There’s an extra deep one under the stairs that I think will be perfect.

      xo
      s

    • So it is a closet. Why did it get one of the rectangle bases to the doorknobs, then? I thought only rooms got those, and closets got the more simple knobs?

      And why’d the closet get a more grand doorknob than your front door?

    • Downstairs we only have four interior doors (all I’m the foyer) so we thought it was fun to use the plated knobs since we don’t have 4 bedrooms to use them on down there like we do upstairs). It was just a personal preference thing though, so someone else might have gone with the plain knobs.

      xo,
      s

  44. I wish jack and rose had this beautiful blue door to float on in the movie. I still haven’t forgiven Kate Winslet for leaving Leo off that scrap of wood. I swear there was room. #titanicissues

    Reply

    • Haha, agreed! Rose could have totally gotten him up there. Is it weird that every time I watch the movie I half hope he lives in the end? I do the same thing with Romeo & Juliet. Leo must do that to me.

      xo
      s

    • Me too! There was totally room for him. Oh Leo! I was obsessed with him in middle school!

      Love the blue door!

  45. Best. Post. Title. Ever. Haaaa!
    Also the foyer is getting better by leaps and bounds – the house looks a little more like you guys every day! I think the huge amount of work that you guys are doing settling into a new house is translating to huge eye candy for us getting to see the drastic before and afters!! :) That slate floor is looking a little sad in comparison to the light&bright that everything else is going towards. Perhaps some new white or gray grout would help it out?

    Reply

  46. I’ve gone with the whole house color palette item like you have in the past. Thanks bunches for that idea, I share it often. When it comes to specific colors for the paint, I tape all the maybes to the wall & start removing the nope colors. I then ask my hubby to remove his nope colors. After a few days of this we’re usually down to two or three options & I can make a firm decision.

    Reply

  47. You HAVE to paint the spindles next…they are making my eye twitch! It’s amazing how much they stand out now that all the rest of the blue is gone. Love the teal door on the inside!

    Reply

  49. The square-ness of those knob plates looks so boss next to the square-ness of the panels on your interior doors. Symmmmmmetry.

    Reply

  50. I was a little worried for you at first, this house seemed HUGE with all the rooms and stuff and I was like yikes, how would you even start!?

    But with some beautiful new flooring and a few coats of paint, its already starting to feel like you! YAY!

    Can’t wait to see what unfolds, that door just made things so much prettier :)

    Reply

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