painted interior front door

I’ve always loved the look of a painted interior front door.  I tend to prefer something other than white……probably mostly because white doors in my house of dogs and kids tend to look dirty all the time.  I toyed around with the idea of painting the interior of our front door the same color pink as it is on the exterior, but ultimately I chose to paint it the same dark charcoal grey as the bookcases in our living room.  I really love the way this deep grey looks with the wallpaper.

I knew with our crazy dogs incessant jumping on the door that I’d need a really good primer.  This Valspar primer from Lowe’s is great and can be tinted to match your chosen paint color.

Painting a door is a fairly simple diy project, but it can be a bit tedious if you have any glass grids that will need to be taped.  However my new favorite painter’s tape from 3M makes taping off a breeze as this tape tears off in perfect 90 degree angles eliminating the need for scissors. I also highly recommend using a short angled brush for painting doors and trim work.  (Check out all my painting tips and favorite tools here.)

Lastly, in an attempt to protect the door from the dogs, once I had painted one coat of primer and two coats of paint, I went over the door with two coats of polycrylic in a satin finish.  So far, the door seems to be holding up well, but we’re also trying to train the dogs not to jump up……..you can see how well that’s going.

At any rate, I think the dark charcoal grey color will at least camouflage the dirt.  Only time will tell how the paint holds up to the dogs jumping.  Painting the door was the last thing on my to-do list for the entry foyer, which means I’ll have the final reveal of the space on the blog this week!   Here’s a little preview.