Our Front Door Makeover

One of my favorite features of our 1927 tudor house is the arched front door. When we first moved into our little castle the front door had a few areas where the protective varnish had worn away, but overall it was in pretty decent shape. Since the inside of the house needed so much work, the front door was a long way down on our list of projects.

Last year it looked like this. A little more damage, and I could definitely see it was time to repair it.

For some reason, I didn’t want to attempt this project myself. It’s not that it was overly complicated, I had just never repaired an exterior door like this before, and I wanted to make sure it was done right. When I mentioned to my husband that the front door was in need of repair, he casually commented that he knew how to fix it and would get it done soon.

A whole year went by, and the door still wasn’t fixed.

It occurred to me that my incredibly hard-working husband, who tackles a tremendous amount of home improvement projects without so much as a complaint, didn’t actually want to sand, stain, and varnish our front door. Instead of nagging him, I casually mentioned that I was planning to call our painter in the next few days to ask him for a price quote for repairing the front door.

Now, if my husband truly planned to fix the door himself, he would have immediately assured me that I didn’t need to bother calling the painter. But he didn’t. Instead, He readily agreed that calling our painter was a good idea! I already had my phone in my hand, looking up our painter’s number. I’m telling you, friends, good reliable painters save marriages!

I watched carefully to see how our amazing painter completed the project. He removed the decorative hinges and kickplate, lightly sanded the door by hand, and stained it a darker color (he matched the new stain to the color that was already on the protected area underneath the hinges).

Then he varnished the door, frame, and threshold using a marine varnish. I like that the marine varnish will hold up better to the effects of the weather since it is designed to be used on wooden boats in the water.

Doesn’t it look amazing? I’m so pleased with the results. It is wonderful to see the front door restored to its former glory as part of the grand entrance to our little castle!

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Have a beautiful day!
Sandy