I finally got around to painting the doors in the downstairs hallway (remember when I asked about painting them an entire year ago?).  All the doors and trim in the house need a fresh coat of paint and very slowly I am moving down the list.

For us, I’ve found that it makes sense to paint some doors white, as in the office and the master bath and bedroom, with it’s abundant white molding and trim.

But white doesn’t have to be the default best choice for every door.  In the living room, we have a lot of molding and trim but it’s all finished in a stain, not a paint. There’s no white trim to be found. Painting the french doors white would’ve caused them to stick out like a sore thumb.   So, instead, I painted them the same color as the (top) wall color.

In the kitchen, I painted the door to the laundry room black.  It ties in with the black window sash above the sink.

This small hallway is right off the kitchen, so I went ahead and painted this door black too.  The other two doors went black by association.  They were all in such close proximity, it just made sense for all three to be the same color.

These doors were painted with Behr’s Paint & Primer in Black (regular old black) in a satin finish. I like how darker paint colors seem to give a regular, old door a high end look.   I also like how darker doors don’t seem to look dirty.  Of course, the white trim also makes quite a difference.  You can really see the difference between the door trim and the crown molding above it that has yet to be painted.  Pardon the blue tape. Now that doors and door trim are done, baseboards and crown molding are next in the foyer.   I break it up into sections to make it easier to tackle.

Here’s that same door before:

Our house is stocked with basic, six panel doors and I’ve found a method that works well when painting them.  I don’t usually remove the handles (although I did remove one on one door to spray paint the handle to see how that stands up to usage).  I either tape around the handles or paint around it and scrape off any excess. Then, I clean the doors with a damp rag and a liquid deglosser. I used a deglosser because the old paint had a glossy finish.

1.  Paint the panels first, working in order from the top down.
2. Paint the middle vertical section.
3. Paint the middle horizontal section
4. Finish the two outer edges of the door
5. If necessary, paint the two side edges of the door.

As I progress across the sections, I try to check the last section for any drips and runs and brush them out before they dry.

What do you think of the difference? Do you have a method for painting doors?   Have you veered from white with doors in your home?
-J

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