spice up your entry way

I love one-day DIY projects. I get the satisfaction of a job well done without having to give up an entire weekend (or more). This project definitely qualifies. 

If you saw the house tour, you may have noticed that our entry is a bit...drab. The double doors open onto a little landing that is at the crossroads of all of the downstairs traffic and our stairs. There is no room for a great console table/mirror combo that would make the space visually interesting. Just the front doors and a closet. No wow factor whatsoever. Oh, go ahead and ignore the super hero capes along the stairs. That's another project.

Enter last week's mini-makeover project. 

Most folks spend a lot of time choosing the paint color for the outside of their front doors, but the interior of the doors are most often plain old white or wood. What a missed opportunity! 

I've had the idea to paint our doors for about a year now since we had our old house photographed in preparation to sell it. We photographed our living room with the door open to let in more light, and look at what that pop of color did for the room:

For some crazy reason, I decided 2 days before my kid's birthday party was the perfect time to take this project on (typical me). I broke the news to my husband last that we (I) were going to paint the front door in my favorite hue - persimmon. I then flinched and waited for the veto...but oddly enough he said OK. Phew. I think he knows my determined face and has found that it's best to just let things run their course.

It took 3 coats to get the coverage I wanted, so with prep time and dry time, the project took 6 hours. Only about 1.5 of those hours involved any actual work. Check it out:

What a difference, right?! We had a boatload of people over this weekend for Henry's birthday party, and nearly everyone who came through commented on how much they loved the new door color. Win. 




Even better, I had the can of paint laying around (Benjamin Moore interior semi-gloss in Flame), so it cost exactly zero dollars.

The only potential downside? The not-so-lovely lone star emblem is a bit more obvious now. I love living in Texas as much as the next gal, but this motif is a bit much for me. Might as well have a longhorn or a cowboy boot or a Shiner up there. But new doors would set us back a couple of grand, so these will definitely have to do for awhile.

Anyone else out there painted the inside of their front door a fun color? If so, please share. Even better, post a photo to Simply Crafted's Facebook page!

Old house photo credit | Selso Garcia

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