WIFE 101: How to paint a door

I love my husband. More than anything in the world. But sometimes, you just have to do stuff yourself, because your husband is too busy/you've asked him many times, and its been months. And often times the tasks that we think we can't do, are actually super easy! So here is a Wife 101 (or just independent woman) guide on how to paint a door!

To start with go to the hardware store and choose out some paint samples to take home, also while you are there, purchase a paintbrush that will work best for your door. Using some painters tape, cover up any bits that you don't wanna paint, such as glass or metal embellishments. Before you paint, use a stick of some sort to stir the paint. Then paint some of the different colors of paint onto the door so that you can see what the colors will look like.

After the paint has dried, choose which color is your favorite, and then head back to the hardware store to buy a pot of the paint. Ask the person at the hardware store to make sure that you are buying the right sort of paint for your environment, such as getting a paint that works well outdoors as opposed to an indoor paint etc.

Set up

Before you do anything else, lay down some drop cloths, or old sheets that you can use to catch any paint that falls, or anything else that might damage your floor. 

To begin painting your door, you need to start with essentially a blank canvas, or as close to it as possible. So use sand paper to get as much of the original paint of as possible. This will help your new paint to go on well. Using sand paper roughs up the door a bit as well, but for the best look, try to sand the door in one direction, as opposed to going crazy in all directions, but if you are using a finer sand paper, you can go crazy!

After the door is all sanded down, there is another preparation step. This involves taping up the door, so that you get paint only where you want it. Try to get the paint as close to whatever you are trying to protect, as well as trying to get it as neat as possible, so that you end up with clean lines, and not too much clean up work to do. If you do get paint where you don't want it, you can always use a paint scraper to help tidy it up.

Now that your door is all ready, its time to get the paint all ready. Carefully open the tin up (on your drop cloth) as sometimes paint can go all over the place when you open a tin. Then, using a paint stirrer, or a stick, stir the paint really well. You will notice the color change, and perhaps the consistency. And this is why you need to stir it well!

And begin!

So now you are completely ready to start painting your door. Dip your paint brush in to the paint tin, and then wipe of a little bit of the paint by dragging the brush against the lip of the paint tin. This means that you won't have too much paint on your brush at one time. Then, moving the brush in one direction, begin painting the door. It is important to move the brush in one direction, as this creates the best finish. Get more paint on your brush whenever you need it, and then keep painting the door until it is covered with one even coat.

When painting around the door handles or glass, go nice and slowly, as even though you've used tape to protect these details, some paint could still get on these things!

Apply a second coat!
Once you have done a full coat of paint, wait two hours (or follow the directions on tin), and then apply a second coat. Make sure that all the coats are even and that there are no drips in the paint.

And after the paint has completely dried, carefully remove the tape! And voila! You just painted your first door! The world is now yours! Go and conquer it!