Our pretty new patio doors

Well hello and happy Friday! 

I'm back with an "after" of the project I mentioned earlier this week. If you missed that post you can see my tips on picking out the perfect paint color and how I worked with Sherwin-Williams to find a fun new color for our exterior doors: 

(The winner of the giveaway is announced at the end of this post!) That spot was looking a little sad, right? I'm so thrilled with it now! It's beautiful! 

I used a new paint for this project called SnapDry and it was AWESOME: 

This paint is perfect for painting doors because it dries SO fast. You don't have to worry about taking the doors off the hinges or keeping them propped open to dry. There are things to consider when painting with this paint though and I'll cover those in a second. 

Before you do paint any door you'll want to do two things -- first, make sure it's not painted in oil-based paint. I tell you how to determine that in this post -- it's a very simple check but important. You may have paint peeling off of your door if you don't check that first! 

I knew these were painted in latex so I was good to go. Before painting you'll want to either do a light sanding or at least clean the surface well: 

This is especially important outside where things get dirty easier. Let it dry and then start taping off anything you want to avoid painting. I am pretty good at cutting in nowadays but I did tape off some of these doors.

I was a little giddy when I opened the can -- this color (called Refuge) is so pretty!: 

As I mentioned earlier in the week, I picked this color to work with our outdoor rug and accent colors on the deck and patio:

It also works beautifully with the wood stain on the deck and the dark brown trim color. But more than anything I wanted to break up the expanse of beige siding on the back of our house and I'm so glad I did! 

I did NOT paint the plastic mullions on the doors. I've given that up because of the disastrous first time I tried to paint them on a door and then when I painted them on the interior of the doors it was a total pain in the butt. Never again will I attempt that -- they look fine as they are. ;) I am good at cutting in but I did tape these areas off:

Even if you are good at cutting in I recommend taping this off -- you'll need to be able to work somewhat quickly and having the tape there makes that possible. 

Here's a few tips and things I noticed as I used this SnapDry paint: 

• The staff at the Sherwin-Williams store were super helpful and recommended that I brush and then roll right over immediately to avoid brush marks. This helped a ton -- I would brush the areas next to tape or along the sides and then immediately used a sponge roller right after to smooth it all out. 
• You do need to work fairly fast with this paint but not so quick that you can't adequately do the job. I focused on one part at a time and moved on -- no going back over something a few minutes later. 
• It was a SUPER hot and humid day when I painted (and in full sun) and it didn't dry too fast. If it was hot and dry and sunny you may have to work a little bit faster. 
• I did one section at at time -- side, top, side, bottom. Here's a graphic that shows you how I do paneled door: 

What I LOVED about this paint is that it was dry to the touch literally within minutes. I was able to get subsequent coats on much faster than usual because of that. 

When I stood back I was so happy with it, but the sore thumb of a light was looking awful. We went super cheap with the exterior lights when we moved our doors around a couple years ago and they had not held up well. I grabbed a new coach light for by the door: 

It's so much bigger and makes a statement unlike the other one. 

I filled the pots with new flowers and now this spot has been transformed!:

The color on the doors is such a good match to the outdoor rug nearby! 

A few of you asked about brush strokes with this fast dry paint, and as I said, if you brush and then roll you shouldn't have any problems: 

I ended up touching up a bit next to the plastic mullions and you can't see where I brushed there -- the paint still levels out nicely. 

I'm so happy I went with COLOR for these doors!:

I have big plans for the exterior here but it will wait till next year. They will look even better when I get that done! :) 

Here's the new light fixture up -- it's so much better than our little washed out lights: 

We have two more to replace on the bay window but that will have to wait till the budget allows: 

Moving our back door from the bay window to this spot is one of the best changes we've ever made in our house. The flow is SO much better and the amount of light they let in is awesome! 

Here's my favorite part -- where we look back at the before shot: 

And see the difference some color makes!: 

It was totally worth sweating buckets while I painted them! Another good reason to use SnapDry -- if you are painting outside you'll finish up much sooner! ;) 

The winner of the $200 Sherwin-Williams giveaway is Alyssa who will visit the #8147 location in Dublin, CA! Alyssa please email me by the end of the weekend (thriftydecorchick @ gmail dot com)  to receive your prize! :) 

Have a great weekend my friends! 

This post was sponsored by Sherwin-Williams but all experiences and thoughts are my own. I only work with products I use and trust. 

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