Hand painted cottage chic upvc door.

Hiya!

I am pinning this popular post to the top as I had a lot of requests about my painted front door. 

One year on its is doing amazing and I haven’t had any chips and it has survived the Irish winter and summer. 

Have a peep below and let me know what you think. 

The post was originally written back in August of last year.

Chat soon,

Catherine. 

Hi everyone, 

So today I have a diy post for ya. This week I ( I say I, I mean we, as I am still on thumb rest after my operation so I was the gaffer giving the orders but not allowed paint), anyway We painted the upvc door from its original white color to this warm greeny/grey shade.

My inspiration.

As we are coming into Autumn I wanted a nice warm inviting cottage style entrance, searching through pinterest I kept coming across this color, now don’t get me wrong I would LOVE a pink door but I don’t think the Mr would come home, I think a pink door could be the straw that breaks the camels back. 

Images sourced on pinterest.

The before.

So my door was just plane white, its in great condition and to buy a new door in a fancy color is really expensive. I had seen a few posts online about painting upvc doors and a lovely lady called Ursula who stocks Autentico paint in her shop called Nook in Trim had painted her pvc window surrounds. This was a job I had been meaning to tackle for ages, Its best to do this in summer when the weather is warmer and your paint will dry quicker, I wouldn’t recommend painting in winter.

The entrance to my home is at the side, I have a semi detatched dormer style bungalow so wanted to give it a face lift. Also your front door is the first thing guests and people see so I wanted to make a statement and give it a little wow. 

Disclaimer. 

So before you read onto the how to I just want to give a little disclaimer as I am not a qualified decorator I just love updating my home and sharing how I done it, always research products and techniques before tackling your diy jobs and consult with a professional if you are unsure. 

The how to.

I used Autentico superior eggshell paint and primer as I had this left over from when I painted my kitchen cabinets.

There is lots of special primers on the market for painting upvc, there was one from Sandtex but I couldnt source it locally, The trick is to prime the upvc and then you can paint it with a color of your choice in whichever finish you like, gloss/eggshell etc.

Prep.

Scrub your door with sugar soap and get it lovely and clean.

Lightly sand your door to key it so the paint will adhere to it. You will have loads of tiny scratches.

Prime.

Follow the instructions on your primer, I only used one coat of Autentico primer but some primers require two.

Really important to let your door fully dry before adding your next coat. 

We painted our door really early in the morning so it had all day to dry before we closed the door in evening, this might not be practical for everyone so when you plan on painting your door make sure you give yourself lots of time. 

If you can do one coat a day then great, I know not everyone can do that so allow as much time as possible between coats.

Paint.

I applied two coats of shade ‘frozen fountain’ to the door, this color gives fantastic coverage so don’t worry if you need to do a third coat, id say cream and white shades would need a third coat. 

This paint does not need a varnish to seal as it seals itself so once your paint is dry then your done. 

Tools.

I don’t recommend using a normal bristly paint brush, its gives too thick stroke marks, I recommend using an art brush. I used a really soft brush that I got in Tiger for 4euro, it was almost like a makeup foundation brush. 

I also recommend using a little roller brush.

I used a roller and then the soft brush for the nooks and details. 

You will see that I left the surround white, that because I couldn’t paint the white strips on the glass as thye were inside the glass.

I also painted the surrounding wall and step in Sandtex brilliant white masonry paint to freshen it up, I would love to paint the pebble wall to make it real cottage looking but just like the pink door I think the Mr will kill me.

The entrance.

The reason I went with this color is because it flows throughout my home, I have this same color on my kitchen presses and on some small pieces of furniture.

As you can see I have a side entrance so my hall lacks natural light, Last year I painted all my pine doors and skirts white and it looks so much brighter and bigger.

Love heart mat 4.99 Aldi. 

Below is a little cheap 3 euro pot that I painted in the same paint I used on the door, this took two coats of paint. I just wanted to pick up on the door color.

Ceramic welly 15 euro Heatons. 

This stone love heart is from Dunnes Stores for 2euro.

So now that I seen how easy it was to paint my door I will probably be changing it every few months and who knows I might get my wish of a pink door for spring. 

Let me know if you tackle this job in your home, if something is not how you want it then change it, Life is too short to live in an ugly house so get out the paint brush and put in some elbow grease. 

This job cost me less than 50 euro, only buy 1 liter of paint as I only used roughly a quarter of a can so you will have tons of paint left over to do another project.

Tag me in your projects over on instagram or send me your diy/interior dilemmas over on Snapchat. 

My Snapchat user name is daintydiaries let me know what type of snaps you would like to see?

Chat soon,

Catherine.