What started out being a dull project turned out to be a fun and easy upgrade. A few days ago, we spent some time painting the two back exterior doors. We went with Valspar‘s Fired Earth (6011-1). This is the same color we chose for the shutters on the front of the house. After the paint was dry, we easily removed the window panes in order to scrape the excess paint (aka “boo-boos”) off the windows. I kept scraping tiny lines in the glass so my dad stepped in to help me out. He’s a pro.
Once he finished removing the “boo-boos”, we stepped back to look at his handy work. And then it hit me… “I kinda like the doors without the window panes. Is that weird?”
By removing the panes, it gives the door a two-panel, vintage appeal. I also think it gives it a “cleaner” updated look. And you can’t go wrong there! We wish every door in our house were two-panel doors and I’m obsessed with pretty much anything vintage yet we love updated, clean design — so, this seemed like a good fit for the style our house is headed. Here’s a quick iPhone photo of how it looks from the outside:
With just 10 minutes, a little bit of elbow grease and some help from my dad (thanks dad!), we now have two updated exterior doors. And it didn’t cost us a cent! Now I’m even more excited to get back porch(es) all prettied up for our “new” doors.
**UPDATE**
I was just going through the hundreds of inspiration photos I’ve pulled over the last few years and found this photo. Apparently I had this filed in the back of my head. Hmm…
Inspiration photo courtesy of Remodelista.
Wow! What a difference!
I really like that sliding door in the inspiration photo. Very cool!
I think I’m going to try to talk my husband into doing that. Such a big change for no money – he’ll like that part
I never thought that would look good. Apparently I was wrong! Good job
We did this last year too. And added roman shades for privacy.
LOVE the update! and the inspiration photo…are you going to do that color on the inside? it’s adorable!
I love that color too! I’m not sure at this point. As of right now, it’s white (the same color as the trim). But once we move all of the furniture in the room, we might decide to paint it a cool accent color to change it up a little
Thanks for reading!
Love that look! And very smart:)
Can you remove the panes from any door or window? I have a bathroom window I would love to remove the panes from. I was looking at doing the contact paper thing and found you on Pinterest. Hadn’t thought of removing the panes but now I really want to!!!
Glad you found us! : ) Most panes are just there for looks and connected to the frame rather than the actual window. If yours is this way, the panes can probably be removed. Our panes were connected to the frame with tiny nails, so it was really easy to remove them. Hope that helps + good luck!