Most of my summer was spent on maintenance, and home maintenance is time consuming and not super sexy, but it isn’t a bad thing. I’ve always kind of loved how a home “needs” it’s owners, and the sometimes the big-money or mundane tasks get overlooked in favor of the new fluffy carpet. I painted our front door Edamame green as part of a tutorial series for DIY Network and loved it so much that I picked up an extra quart to have enough for our side entryway too.

This entry itself isn’t one we use too regularly. In fact, if we’re talking about lingering maintenance, that light up top needs to be replaced entirely, and damned if I didn’t just remember while looking at these photos that I intended to stain and seal the threshold before fall. Put on your blinders to all of that, and agree that a coat of paint would boost its appeal (mostly for the family next door whose windows face it, they see it daily).

The last coat of paint that had been on the door has been just starting to show signs of chipping, so I scraped any loose areas by hand before running the power sander over it quickly to prep the surface. A coat of primer on top of that was all it needed to re-seal the areas with exposed wood, and man it was warm that day. I miss summer.

Edamame is still a wonderful color for our house; I love its contrast with the gray siding and the way it pulls in the color of nature that practically engulfs our home. When you’re painting a door, best to cut into the detailed areas with a brush (this is a flat door but there were still panes). Loosen the doorknob if you can manage, it’s always better to cut in around the knob by painting just beneath it. Same concept as removing the switch plates when you’re painting a wall in your house.

If I’m commenting about people who are so lazy they can’t take the switch plates off the walls before they paint, allow me to also rip on myself for not bothering to open the door completely as I rolled paint on it; yes, I finally got un-lazy and moved the garbage can 3-inches so it wasn’t blocking the door from swinging open, just not until right after this “look at my progress!” picture was taken (biggest eye roll ever).

If I’m not painting walls, I gravitate towards small rollers for most every job. Easier to maneuver, capable of an exceptionally smooth finish, less clean-up. Use that little roller to paint over the flat surfaces of the door, and edge-to-edge.

Two coats of paint was enough, and the door is looking totally spiff in green.

As it would be, I didn’t get around to taking the “after” photo of the door until yesterday, and in the time since I painted the door during the summer, we’ve had a lot of electrical work done. So, in addition to celebrating that pretty green door, we can also enjoy our brand new panel and subpanel, and rewired basement… buh bye breakers! Hello, updated home.