how to update your home with a new front door

You’ve probably heard it said that, “Eyes are the windows to the soul.” Well, if that’s true, then you can probably also say that the front door is the window to to the soul of a house! If you’ve ever driven around looking at houses, you know that a front door can make or BREAK the look of a house! You may have already seen where our team member, Mel, is updating her 1990’s home (HERE is her guest bathroom makeover!) and next on the update list is the FRONT DOOR!

As you can see, the front door that was on the home was a beautiful, solid oak door. Mel really contemplated whether she should just keep it! What really sealed the deal for changing from the wood door to a fiberglass option was that the house faces east, and the wood door required A LOT of maintenance to keep it from looking weathered from effects of the morning sun!!! You can even see some damage at the bottom of the door and sidelights in this photo!

After MUCH searching and deliberation, she finally settled on THIS inspiration from Kelsey Hargens! She loved the look of the stained door with the painted sidelights! Such a classic look!!!

Here is the door first installed without any paint or stain. She also added a crosshead to the top of the door from Architectural Depot for interest. The burgundy shutters that were on the house were painted Gauntlet Gray by Sherwin Williams for a little refresh!

Next, she painted the sidelights white. She considered painting the door white as well (just because it was so much easier!), but decided to keep going to get the look she loved! If you’re looking for more front door inspiration, be sure to check out Brooke’s front door makover HERE!

Since the door is fiberglass, a gel stain had to be used to get the look she was after. She hadn’t done that before (and who in the world wants to mess up their front door?!?!), so she decided to let someone with more experience tackle it! Billiejo Byars from Angela’s Uniques used carbon gray gel stain with a leather undertone to get the “brownish-gray” look that Mel wanted. She wanted the finish to blend with the shutters, but not match it exactly and we think it’s MISSION ACCOMPLISHED!