Fingerprints, dirt, and food likely surround doors in your home. You scrub and scour and it still looks dirty and worn. What can you do to make your doors look new again? Sometimes homeowners overlook the fact that a little paint can do wonders for the appearance of their homes. Painting interior doors can lighten, brighten or drastically change an entire room. Updating your doors will take a little hard work, but the results will be a welcome change in your home.
Instructions
1. Take the door off the hinges, and remove the screws and hardware. You can remove the door handle, or you can use painter's tape to protect it from the paint.
2. Prepare a cleaning solution of 1 tbsp. mild dish detergent and 1 qt. of warm water to clean each side of the door. If you are painting over a door in the kitchen, use a liquid deglosser. Deglosser removes grease and wax build up on wood, metal and plastic, leaving a clean surface.
3. Use120-grit sandpaper to sand the entire door. Sand the outside corners and edges as well. After sanding, wipe the door with tack cloth to remove the dust made by the sandpaper.
4. Apply painter's tape to sections that are not to be painted.
5. Maintain a clean floor by laying down a drop cloth in the area you are working to protect it from paint splash or accidental spills.
6. Determine if you need to use an indoor/outdoor primer by painting an inconspicuous area on the door-- maybe a corner--to see if it bonds properly. If the paint adheres to the door in a even coat, you don't need to use a primer. If it looks watery when you apply the paint, apply a primer base. You can use primer on the doors. Spray with a left to right sweeping motion over the entire door to achieve an even coat. Let the primer dry before painting.
7. Administer the first coat of interior latex paint on one side of the door. It may be easier to set the door against a wall rather than laying it down to paint. Use the brushes to paint the corners and outside edges and the rollers to paint the flat front and back of the door. Once the first coat dries, examine it for thin areas of paint. Apply a second coat if needed.
Tags: entire door, even coat, first coat, from paint, laying down, painter tape
