Chris and I took to the outdoors on Saturday for some much needed TLC to the ol' casa. Unfortunately we were only able to tackle three of the things on the to-do list instead of all of them due to weather and time constraints. Turns out I am a pretty slow worker and have the strength of a two year old, so when it came time for things with muscle I had to wait for Chris to help me...womp, womp :(

I started with the front door first thinking that it would be simple to remove all the hardware and slap a couple coats of paint on it and call it a day. Apparently I am a pro at removing locks, handles, and the like...just look at my pile of brass.

 Most of it still had a pretty good shine to it with the exception of the storm door handle. Le yikes.
I am a bad blogger because I didn't snap any pics of the process with my knobs and handles until they were back on the door. So you'll just after to wait about 4 more pictures to see the oil rubbed bronze spray paint I used on them.
Here is the door pre-paint, sans hardware. I wiped it down with a cloth, cleaning off the dirt and other what not. Then sanded the area around the door knob holes and couple other spots that were a little rough. Lastly, I used a liquid deglosser that I picked up from Home Depot to remove a little bit of the sheen from the previous paint job (All the great tips I got from Sherry @ Young House Love)  From what I can tell this door has been through more costume changes than Lady Gaga. I have seen evidence of dark red, hunter green, seafoam green, and a Pepto Bismal pink.

The latest shade is a striking shade of navy blue. It doesn't have a name besides navy blue because I had it color matched to the spray paint I will be using on the shutters and metal bannister. It is Behr exterior primer and paint in one.
I tried my best for thin, even coats of paint using a two inch angled brush and small foam roller. After coat #1 I was a little nervous about the coverage with how much red was still showing through.
 Coat #2.
Surely after coat #3 I would be finished or so I thought but I could still see brush marks and some red near the bottom of the door. So on I went to coat #4 and that is when I finally called it a night.
Notice it is now dark outside in the picture above. I mentioned that I am an ace when taking door knobs apart but apparently I am not so hot when those knobs and locks have to be re-assembled. May have taken the better part of an hour to get everything back into working order. But now you can see the ORB hardware. I love it! However I wish that I could make the inset glass into the center of the door match. I am thinking that I am going to try some frosted window film to try and cover it up.

It is rainy today so I haven't got to take any pictures from the exterior yet. It is amazing how sore I am today just from a little afternoon painting, these old bones just can't take too much manual labor. This week we are supposed to have some good weather so hopefully I will be able to finish up the shutter and bannister to make everything match.

Yay for being a weekend warrior!