WOW, you guys! I am so appreciative of all the feedback we got on painting the front door. HH and I read every. single. comment. and were blown away by the range of suggestions. In a good way. Here we were thinking that choosing a color for the *finally functioning* front door was a completely objective decision when, lo and behold, I think it’s much more subjective. What makes one person smile might make another cringe. Thank goodness we are free to paint our doors whatever color makes us happy, right?
At any rate, I could NOT make a decision. I left it up to HH and the kids. It was unanimous. They had no problem quickly choosing the inky gray. {Mabrey said “moon” and I took that to mean gray since gold is closer to the color of the sun. Obviously.}
So gray it is and we are all smitten with it. It’s a deep gray with a hint of navy – Behr evening hush. It feels cohesive {the french doors at the back of the house are painted the same color}, modern and masculine. Depending on the light, the trio of windows contrasts as black or a reflective gloss. I think we’ll live with them as is for a nice long while and if we feel they are getting lost, then I might try some window film.
Some of you asked if painting the red brick was an option. Sadly, it’s not an option for us. Due to how our house is constructed and the climate here, paint would likely result in mold or mildew. Staining or liming the brick are options. {This transformation is especially convincing!} In fact, lime washing / lime painting the brick has been on the table since day one of this renovation. But it’s a huge project that we’re happily placing on the back burner while we tackle more pressing ones. While we don’t love the red brick, we don’t completely hate it either.
The gray door picks up on the newly slatted window planter and looks handsome with the satin nickel hardware. Normally, when I paint doors I use a small angle brush to cut in and then switch to a foam roller for the larger sections. The end result is void of brush marks. This time, I was without my trusty foam roller. Long story short, I was stranded at home with no working vehicle {#lovehousesloathecars} and decided it was time to paint the door. After trimming in, I realized we were out of foam rollers but I was already in the “painting zone” and didn’t want to wait. I ended up brushing the entire door and it shows. It isn’t horrible but there are noticeable brush marks that I plan to roll over with a foam roller as soon as I get back to the hardware store. What’s that saying? Done is better than perfect? I’m down with that.
We’re currently on the hunt for modern house numbers. If you look closely, you can see where the previous house numbers were mounted on a teeny plaque just to the left of the door at the same height as the top square window. They were basically useless unless you tote around binoculars in your glovebox in which case, rock those binoculars. We’re looking for larger numbers but not too large. I think they could take on a “commercial” look if we aren’t careful. Also, we want a simple modern font. It’s barely noticeable above but there is a recessed can light in the eave above this stretch of brick that will illuminate the house numbers at night.
The hard part here is determining how exactly to share an after picture of the house numbers. You know, for safety and privacy reasons. Do we show our actual house number? We have a security system and I’m pretty sure that if someone really wanted to, they could find our house – house numbers on the blog or not. I’m always thankful and inspired when other people share images of their curb appeal online so I’d like to share ours, too.
I’m itching to add a planter under the not-there-yet house numbers. Something to add color and texture. But that will have to wait as the weatherman is calling for snow this week. I like winter and all but why does it have to last so long?
Bonus: spot the crazy kid making faces in the window.
P.S. – 10 DIY holiday wreath ideas!
images: Dana Miller for House*Tweaking
budget decor, DIY, renovation