Monday, August 8, 2011

{before & after: my front door}

Finally got one of the smaller projects around my home all done! My front door got a nice fresh coat of paint; it was already black on the outside but was left white on the inside when we bought the house. I had wanted to paint the door black inside since day one, but was warned by others that it may make our little entry way dark and dreary. But I finally threw caution to the wind and followed my heart and I am loving the results! A small makeover indeed, but it's funny how the little things can make you smile :)

We used an interior/exterior paint on both sides in a black semi-gloss latex {from Dulux}, the shine definitely added a glamorous effect:


So .. did you spot my new best friend?? The lovely bronze lion head door knocker is my favorite recent addition ... Hollywood glam or what? And for a mere $39.99 from Lee Valley Tools, I am in love!


This may look like it was a tiny job, but a fair bit of elbow grease went into it, what with the sanding, and taping, and painting etc etc ...  uughh. Another detail we wanted to address was the hardware currently on the door. Though it was all bronze, it was dingy and quite oxidized and we needed it to have a similar finish to the lion head knocker. We contemplated replacing the handle with something shiny and new, but then thought, ugh, an additional cost we didn't anticipate ... total "reno snow-ball effect" as I call it, one thing always leads to another!

But here's where the real elbow grease came in: instead of going out and buying something new, we brought our bronze hardware to life with simple metal polish!! This stuff works miracles, check it out! You can see on the left we just began to put on the cream polish, and on the right, ALL NEW!


Can you see that around the handle above was left white by the previous owners? And believe it or not I'm pretty sure a Sharpie marker was used to conceal that as much as possible {oh dear}. The polish makes a bit of mess, so it may be wise to take the hardware off the door, but since we were painting it didn't really matter.


I had never tried this stuff before, but if you've got exposed bronze that has tarnished I would definitely give it a try! {Autosol Metal Polish, approx. $8.00}.


So here is a view of the interior of the door before and after getting a coat of fabulous black:


I love the peek of black I get in the mirror across in the entry way, although I have to admit that for a few days the darkness would startle me as it looked like the door had been left open, ha ha!


YUM! All in all, I am quite happy with the results :) And the grand total for all supplies was: $40 black paint + $40 for the lion head knocker + $8 for the bronze polish + some sweat = $88 for a brand new glam door! You can't beat that!!


Any summer projects you have been working on lately? I've got more up my sleeve that I'll be sharing with you soon!

43 comments:

Crazy Wonderful said...

That lion head knocker is TO. DIE. FOR. What a great transformation, looks amazing! And, the way it ties in with your entry way decor inside is perfection. I too painted my door black and love the change. Yay for black doors!

Designwali said...

your door looks absolutely fantastic!

David Toms said...

It looks brilliant and your hard work has payed off! Pity your house number is not 10, then you would like like that other famous blck door you have shown.

Unknown said...

Looks AMAZING! You can never go wrong with black - ever:)

Katie*Belle said...

It's stunning! And I love the lion!

Meesh@idreamofchairs said...

ROWR! Looks gorgeous Nancy, inside and out!

Rashon Carraway said...

It's always good to get a glimpse of your home and all of the wonderful projects you complete.

BTW, Hows the family?


Rashon aka Mr. Goodwill Hunting

Tammy@InStitches said...

Love your painted black door, that's on my to do list too !

Kimmy said...

Beautiful. I love black doors. So classy. Loving the lion head knocker as well.

I haven't had any door painting excitement, but I am working on finishing up some custom striped drapes for my dining room. One more panel to line, and then my window won't be so bare.

Vanessa@decor happy said...

Looks great Nancy! Can't go wrong with black and the lion head just adds that extra touch of glam.

Annabelle Vandorn said...

I never knew that painting a door with a new color could create such a wonderful result. And that bronze lion head on your door makes it look lovely.

Lisa said...

Beautiful! And I'm totally jealous about your very cool lion knocker! I love black doors and painted all my interior doors black this winter, after having done the front door first. I suspect you may do the same. ;-)

Anonymous said...

Looks amazing Nancy, great job, very classy, and I love the Lion Knocker.
Margo

Unknown said...

SWOON SWOON FAINT! LOVE your new door, the paint and oh my that hardware is tdf!

Kathysue said...

Nancy, I have always loved a black door and then you add a brass lion's head and I am so there!!! It looks great sweetie. So nice to get a project like that done. Yes, I have lots of unfinished projects around her. WE are chipping away at them, but not great shakes yet!! xo Kathysue

The Simply Inspired Home said...

It looks great Nancy! So much better. I love the black!!

OR DESIGN glassworks. Distinctive Custom Architectural glasswork said...

That is gorgeous, rich and elegantly stylish! Love your new entrance with the wonderful lion's head. Great decisions! Enjoy your lovely handiwork! Must be so gratifying!

Unknown said...

I just love how your door turned out. I love, love, love a black door!

Diane M. Schuller said...

classy results; always go with your gut!
I've done our indoor front door in our previous home a real dark blue - so dark everyone thought it was black. I love how your door echoes the black frame of the mirror in the foyer. Lovely.

Vanessa Stern said...

Amazing, love your style!

designchic said...

Loving the look of the black door inside and out, and I heading straight to buy 2 of the lion's head door knockers (I have double front doors)...they're fabulous!!

The Vintique Object said...

Yay, yay, yay for black doors! Also, I love Lee Valley -- they have such gems at such affordable prices.
Camille

lisaroy said...

It looks fantastic! I've had black doors on a few of the homes we've had and I've loved them. The hardware really is like jewellery and makes it so glam! :)

Rosa @ flutterflutter said...

Metal polish!! I'm embarrassed to say that I didn't know that existed. I had that SAME door handle and now I wish I'd known that it had potential to shine again.

Unknown said...

Always follow your heart I say - the door is absolutely gorgeous - great job. LOVE the door knocker. Very classy!

Tracey Ayton Photography said...

Georgeous! I love black doors, matter of fact all of our exterior doors are black. Gotta love em! Kick butt job!

Karena said...

Nancy I love the black on the interior of the door and the lion's head brass knocker is perfect. It really makes the door special!!

PS I am going to pick up some of the brass cleaner!

xoxo
Karena

Art by Karena

Karen said...

I LOVE the door knocker, what a perfect finishing touch. Black exterior doors always look so elegant from the road.

Carol@TheDesignPages said...

It looks stunning. Black doors are always winners but yours looks especially great with the new knocker.

Anonymous said...

ASLAN!Look's good!
-rachel

Wendy said...

It looks fabulous! We recently painted our front door black - I wish ours was a solid door as yours is, we have glass throughout.

Vintage Home said...

Fabulous Job....stunning affect!

One of my Hobby Blogs said...

yes I'm a fan of gloss black front doors too, I have double ones here on my house!!!! but not black inside. but now you've got me thinking....

Unknown said...

Squeal...I LOVE it! Your styling behind is bananas too!

Barbara Matson said...

Love the lion's head on the door. It is the icing on the cake!

AnneHH said...

Have read your blog now for months and think this is my first comment--but WOW!!! what a transformation!!! I DIE......
You so inspired me that I have pulled my contractor off of the kitchen remodel and said--I MUST have my front door painted--inside and out--black. He fancies himself to have quite the "eye" and even he said to me--"that is such a great idea, it is going to look fantastic! How did you think of that?" Of course, I gave you all of the credit!!!
I am deviating very slightly from your approach and hope I don't regret it. I am doing the outside of the door Benjamin Moore's Black Forest Green (since it is now a hunter green and I thought it would tie into the landscaping with the green cast to the black). The inside is just classic black to go with my cream, black and gold foyer and living room color scheme.
Thank you for your wonderful blog!!

K&B by the Sea said...

Great idea to paint the inside of the door black as well. It looks so much better than the white door :-) Now the question is... are you going to paint ALL your interior doors black? :-) It's a great look!

Thanks for the tip about the metal polish. Another way you can clean up tarnished bronze or brass is to sand it with fine sandpaper. You'll lose the shiny finish, but if you like the look of brushed metal, it's a great solution.

Have you named your door knocker? :-)

Marcus Design said...

Kelly - yep, you know me too well!!

His name is Aslan in honor of the Lion, the Witch & the Wardrobe!!

Nancy xo

Linda @ theLENNOXX said...

It looks sooooo gorgeous!! Ever since the first time a saw the EK designed black doors with the lion head knockers, I knew that's what I wanted for my dream home. I'm so jealous of your door Nancy!!

PS: I have hardly had time to blog at all lately, but I will try to write that post for you this week =)

Enjoy the rest of your weekend my friend =)

xox Linda

Splendid Willow said...

Fantastic, girlfriend!!!!!! And the styling is magazine worthy! 5 stars my friend!!!!

Proud of you!

ox, Mon

My Interior Life said...

I recently painted the outside and inside of my front door black too! I love it. Yours looks fabulous! I also have a very similar brass lion door knocker which I need to install to kick it up a notch. You can check out my door here:
http://myinteriorlife.blogspot.com/2011/02/quick-reveal.html

Lauren | Myers Maison said...

The knocker is so cute! Your door looks great. Mine is black on the outside as well, but I have a narrow entrance hallway, so black on the inside may not work as well for me :(

Renée Finberg said...

i love this post.
thank you.

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