We previously shared our screened in porch makeover which highlighted what a dramatic difference a little shiplap, paint, and stain made to our existing building. But, we were still left with the challenge of the front door – how should we finish it? Should we paint it? Antique it? What seemed like such a simple decision turned out to be more complicated than we originally thought. All these decisions are getting exhausting! We wanted to learn how to antique a door.
So, here’s how our door looked prior to painting.
We wanted the front door to “pop” and add a little character. But, remember that we also wanted the entire screened in porch to blend in with the natural surroundings. I am personally really drawn to all shades of the color blue. So, my first thought was to paint the door blue. After all, blue is the color of water, right? And our screened in porch faces the lake – It would be Perfect!!
I had already been playing around with different shades of blue because I really hope to incorporate blue in the kitchen cabinets when we get around to renovating our lake house kitchen. I’m still trying to convince my husband that blue kitchen cabinets are “in”, so I’ve been inundating him with Pinterest pictures showing him how right I am – ha! ha!
Before committing to a color in the kitchen, I thought it would be a good idea to try out “blues” at any opportunity before our kitchen remodel. Some of the darker, richer blues have become quite a trend recently and I’ve even heard that Navy is “the new neutral”. YES!!!!!!
I had already been experimenting with Sherwin Williams 2020 color of the year – Naval (SW 6244). I can’t tell you how much I LOVE, LOVE, LOVE this color. Naval was the color I used to repurpose some furniture. I’ll show you that another time. But, since I had already used this wonderful color and already knew that I was a big fan, I decided to try another color that I had been eyeing – Salty Dog (SW 9177). Salty Dog has some green in it, whereas Naval is much more of a true navy blue. Salty Dog is also quite a bit lighter than Naval.
I could hardly wait to try out Salty Dog. The anticipation was killing me as I waited for the Sherwin Williams employee to mix up my paint. It looked so gorgeous in the can. Does anyone else get really excited to see the paint color when the paint can lid is removed? (Surely, it’s not just me!)
The day finally arrived for me to paint the door. However, from the minute I put it on the door, I was disappointed. I didn’t hate it, but I also didn’t love it. And I sooooo wanted to love it. Don’t get me wrong, the actual color was beautiful. It just didn’t give me the “pop” and the “personality” that I had hoped for. So, I decided to go back to the drawing board.
(On another note, I later ended up using my Salty Dog on a bedroom furniture redo, and I’m happy to report that it turned out FABULOUS! So, my faith in this beautiful color was once again restored. I plan to write about that in a future post.)
One of the things that I love about paint is that if you don’t like it, you can just paint over it. And, that’s exactly what I planned to do.
Although I thought that I was somewhat on the right track with the blue door, I knew that I wanted something brighter. After researching other paint options, I fell in love (once again) with turquoise doors. I was especially a fan of the ones that had a glaze or some sort of antiquing on them. So, I only needed to choose a color and determine what method I wanted to use for antiquing.
After much deliberation and searching through my paint fan decks, I ultimately decided on Sherwin Williams Briny (SW 6775). I expected that this would seem really bright after the Salty Dog that was on it. Boy, was I right. For a short time, I almost had painter’s remorse, but I forged ahead because I knew that the glazing would tone the door down. I know that the door may not seem particularly bright in the pic below, but trust me, when the sun was shining, it stuck out like a sore thumb.
There are many different techniques that can be used to glaze or antique a door. One recommended method is to use a Benjamin Moore product called Latex Glaze Extender and mix it with a Benjamin Moore paint called DTM Acrylic #HP25 in Bronzetone in a 4 to 1 ratio (4 parts glaze to 1 part paint). However, when I went to my local store that sells Benjamin Moore products, they didn’t have any on hand and would have to order it. So, that was going to delay my project by at least another week – What? A week!!!! Can you say “impatient”? Plus, a quart of the Glaze Extender was around $50 and the DTM Acrylic Paint was another $55 – so a rather pricey investment for a technique that I had never tried before.
An alternate method for achieving a similar look was to use a MinWax Gel stain. My local hardware store had this in stock (woo-hoo! No waiting!!) for only $17 for a quart. So, I obviously chose this less expensive option to antique my turquoise door – and remember, this was just going on a door to an outside building. It wasn’t like it was the front door of my home. I purchased the Minwax gel stain in the color Coffee.
I applied the gel stain directly over the paint in small sections. Then, I immediately took a non-lint rag and wiped off a majority of the stain. Since my door was made of cedar, it naturally had lots of grooves in it that picked up the stain well – actually too well. This is what it looked like on a small section after I had brushed the stain on and before any wiping.
The day that I applied the gel stain, it was really hot – I mean, Oklahoma hot, 100 degrees hot!! Due to the combination of the heat and the already worn Cedar door, I wasn’t able to remove as much stain as I wanted. So, I ended up using paint thinner on a rag to wipe off the remainder. This process worked really well for me and I was able to get the look that I desired by continuing to work in small sections. The more I wiped, the better the color got. It turned from a bright blue to more of a turquoise color.
I’m not gonna lie – this was a pretty laborious process. It took me an entire day to apply the gel stain and wipe it. However, at the end of the day the effort was worth it when I had my perfect antiqued turquoise door.
It had the pop of color that I wanted, and the application of the gel stain gave it a rustic and antiqued look. I was so glad that I didn’t give up when my first attempt at painting the door failed. If at first you don’t succeed, try, try again!!
What do you think? Is this the perfect antiqued turquoise door?
