I recently painted our interior doors in the upstairs hallway and I am so happy with how they turned out! We are still working on the floors (hence the lack of baseboards in these photos) but I can already see my vision coming to life. I also painted the walls and ceiling in my favorite white paint– Polar Bear by Behr and even though the doors are dark now, it has really brightened up this space.
I’ve had so many of you asking about the painting process and really, it’s fairly simple! I was even able to paint them while they were hanging, so the prep work was very minimal. For this project I used Wrought Iron by Benjamin Moore.
The first thing you will need to do (if you aren’t already aware) is to determine what kind of paint is currently on your doors. You want to make sure that it was a latex paint because if you paint over an oil based paint then the new latex paint will peel right off — and ain’t nobody got time for that! A simple way to test this is to take a cotton ball with the alcohol and rub the paint from your door. If it rubs off, it is latex. If it doesn’t, it’s oil. Don’t skip this step! I’d hate for all your hard work to just peel right off!
Next, gather your supplies. You will need:
– Paint of choice
– 2inch paint brush
– Small (smooth surface) paint roller
– Tape (to tape off hardware, unless you’re a rebel like me)
Above you can see the original paint color, compared to the new color in the hallway!
**Make sure your doors are clean and free of dust and grime before painting**
First step: using the paint brush, outline the inside detail pieces of your door like so:
You can also do the space around the doorknob at this time.
Then using the roller, roll paint onto those same cut outs to help blend in the detail work. It will look something like this:
After this is done, roll paint onto the ‘t’ zone like below, working in an up and down motion for the center line and a left to right motion for the middle (by the handle).
Then you will do the same along the sides and the top!
After the first coat has completely tried (I waited about an hour), then you can apply the second coat of paint. And voila! All done. See, not too complicated, is it?!
Have a question? Drop it in the comments section below!
Great content! Super high-quality! Keep it up! 🙂
Hi did you paint the inside part of the door too?
Hi! Yes I painted both sides of the doors.
Are both sides of the doors painted black?
Yes!
What finish did you use on the doors? Beautiful!
I used the Pearl finish.
What do you do about the sides of the door, particularly, the hinged side?
I painted them as well. It’s just a little trickier with kiddos since the doors need to be kept open when doing that area!
Are you painting both sides of the door?
Did you paint the interior of all the doors as well??
Looks fabulous! Thank you!
I saw your supplies said a small roller; would you be able to post a picture of it? I want to make sure to get the right size roller.
I may have a photo over on my Instagram page in my saved story highlights section! It’s about 4-5in long, just handy for smaller surface areas.
Hi
What is a pearl finish? In Australia our painter is recommending we use acrylic base as it’s washable and durable?? Beautiful doors
It’s just what Benjamin Moore calls their more shiny finish, its not matte finish. But chat with your local rep and see what would be best for yours!
What if your doors have oil based paint on them now, my whole home is painted with oil?. I don’t know what to do, but I do know that I would rather use latex!
I think you can prime them??? I’m going to look this up because mine are oil also.
You will need to prime them!
What is the paint color of the walls? Such a great combo!
It is Polar Bear by Behr. My favorite white paint color!
Thanks for blogging this subject. Do you intend to continue?
Hey! We are currently remodeling our bedroom and have the most beautiful doors and trim. However, they put a sealer over top of the stain they used on the trim and doors. I spent the time taking it all off the trim but dread doing it for the doors. Do you think I can just paint over with these tips, or should I strip it all?
You will probably need to apply primer, like zinnser. What color are you painting the doors? If it’s a light color I’d definitely recommend primer but if it’s dark you could probably get away with not using one.
We are painting our doors Black magic BM..
Question: .satin finish or semi gloss?
What color is the trim? Love this!
Did you paint the inside of the doors? Thank you for this tutorial, we are about to take on this project!!
Yes! But I waited between doing the fronts and backs.. mostly because they were the kids rooms and I needed to paint while they weren’t running around and trying to touch them lol!
Question about painting both sides of the door- are all the other rooms/spaces off the hallway white as well? I’m dying to try this but my kids bedrooms are different colors from the hallway- can I do two different paint colors so the inside of their bedroom door matches their room? For example, revere pewter on the outside/hall and white dove inside their room? Thanks!
I think you could definitely paint the insides of the doors a different color as long as everything in the hallway is cohesive!
How many doors could you do with one gallon of paint?
I did 6, front and back with one gallon and had some left!
I love these tips! I always struggle to paint doors when they’re still on the hinges, Thanks for sharing this!
Our house is trimmed with Maple with neutral beige walls. I really don’t want to take on painting all the woodwork and all the cupboards. But I would really like to update our interior doors by adding molding and new door knobs. Should I paint the doors black leaving the maple woodwork or go with a white to match a couple of our shiplap accent walls? Would love your opinion!
If you don’t plan on painting the wood right away I would suggest going with white. It’ll freshen it up a lot and make it feel so much brighter!
Could a washable Matte finish paint work on doors? I painted 2 smaller bathroom vanity doors an espresso color, washable matte and really like it.
Definitely! It just might show dirt/finger prints more easily. But if its washable and you don’t mind that, then go for it!
I am from Portugal (Oporto). I have a 86m2 flat. I am going to try to paint the doors at home. They are wood colour. I would like to paint them white. The walls are light yellow (vanilla). Which white colour do you suggest me?
I will do the latex/oil test first.
Thanks a lot
Maria
My favorite white is Polar Bear by Behr!
Does Polar Bear look good for kitchen cabinets as well? Trying to decide on a white for those.
It’s a very neutral white so I think it would work great on cabinets!
What color of black did you use for your doors from BM? Gorgeous!
This was Wrought Iron!
Did you use the polar bear for the trim as well? If so, is it a different base than pearl? It looks a bit shinier.
I would do a semi-gloss for trim and then eggshell is what I have been doing for my walls. However in our old house it was flat (just harder to keep clean with kiddos)