Painting Doors

Doors are overlooked in the typical house painting job. That's a mistake. The door is the first thing you see when you approach a room, and the last thing you see when you leave it. Doors are likely to be what you see most of when you walk through a house or office building, in the hall, or glimpsed from the room you're visiting.

They should be as much a part of your decorating plan as the walls. 

One approach to doors is to paint them all alike, even if the rooms of the house are painted or papered quite differently. Stained wood or fresh white paint can give a uniformity to the doors of a home that serves as punctuation for the look of your house.

Another option is to use the doors to make individual statements. A hallway filled with doors of different, harmonizing colours can have a saucy look. Use stencils or vinyl wall stickers to add the names of the occupants, or have a professional add nameplates to the doors for timeless elegance. 

Contrasting colours on doors can give a dramatic look. A door gets more handling, scuffing, and random abuse than any other part of the room, so your door may need repainting more often than your walls. Take advantage of this to update the overall look of the room with a trendy colour, and you'll have a less pricey version of the focal wall idea.

Doors also lend themselves to fancy finishes. Outlining the panels of the door with contrasting or toning colours, adding a pattern, or even using a trompe l'oeil effect can spice up the whole room.

To paint your own doors, you should remove the door from the frame, remove all hardware, paint the door with a brush or spray, and rehang it when it's completely dry. It's possible to paint a door while it's still in place, but you'll need a steady hand and good quality brushes. Be sure, if you choose to paint a door while it's still in place, that you mask the hinges and other hardware.