Old Blue, meet New Blue

This is the current project happening in our house, along with a few others that just aren't as far along. We ordered a new front door and the last 5 windows for our house. The windows probably won't be in till this weekend but the door was ready for us to pick up yesterday.

We went to Riley's, the local hardware store, so I could pick the paint color and get a paint brush. Usually I'm not allowed to use nice paint brushes because when I'm the last one to use them they get mysteriously ruined. I blame the dog. Anyway, after getting the perfect blue, we drove a minute down the road to the factory where the doors and windows are made. They loaded up our lovely door, we drove home, pulled it out of the truck, then realized they had only cut a hole for the door knob, not for the dead bolt, so Matt and I loaded the door back up, and he drove to the factory, got them to drill another hole and then we were ready to start.

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First, here are a few pictures from Pinterest that were the inspiration for our front door.

This picture was the main inspiration for the front of our house. I love the glass door with the frosted look and the number left clear. I love the bright pop of color, the cool lights, patterned door mat, and greenery welcoming you in. Also, you can barely see it, but I'm sure that knocker is pretty sweet too.

This door is great, just missing the glass pane. I like the topiaries, the awesome shade of blue and the fun wreath, which is obviously for a holiday, but I once had a roommate (Lydia) who kept updating the wreath on our door for all seasons, holidays, and special occasions. She was a clever cat.

I also pinned this one for the blue door, grey siding, and the stone entry. I've been thinking the last few days that our cracked, cady-whompus sidewalk slab is a bit of a buzz-kill when it comes to the future beauty of our house. I would like to lay some natural stones or something similar as the sidewalk.


So this is the new front door for our house, sitting in the entry/dining room. I wanted to paint it before my husband installed it and put on the new hardware. You can also see the old front door through the window. It's white on the inside but the outside was a deep, somber shade of blue.

Here is the paint I used to paint the door. I barely even made a dent in that little can, but I guess I'll be able to do touch-ups for years. The color comes out strange on my screen but it is lovely. The name of the paint is Sleepy Seaside. Great name right? Sounds like the name of a beach house. Also, it's Valspar Medallion if anyone is curious.

Here is the door after getting the first coat of paint. It looks less purple in real life.


Before we could put in the new door, Matt had to remove the old one. Ended up being a tad more of a hassle than he thought. This picture is him using some tool or another to cut the nails holding the door to the house.


Here is the Old Blue front door after Matt pried, pulled, and hammered it out of place. I still like that door so we may store it in the garden shed till I figure out something to do with it.

This is my test of the frosted spray paint on an extra piece of glass we had lying around. I didn't spray it very evenly because I am rather impatient when it comes to home renovation. The top strip of clear was where I put frog tape, and the bottom two sections are from contact paper, which is probably what we'll have to use since the house number will be kind of big.

Here is our rediculously messy, moldy, over-grown front yard. The door, windows, and roof are the only things that have even been given a second look. Someday, oh someday, it will be lovely and I'll post a before and after picture.

So there is a discussion going on in my house as to whether the numbers should be in the middle of the glass pane or at the bottom. I prefer the bottom, but Matt says it should be higher up so you can see who is at the door. I know, I know. That does make more since, but I have a hard time looking at things from a practical point-of-view. I prefer to choose things based on their aesthetics. So here are the two options, middle or bottom. I also think I want to do the two thin stripes like I have taped off in these pictures. All of this is just a sample, the real spray day will be much more precise.

House number located in the middle for all those practical people.

But again, the numbers at the bottom, looking oh so nice.