Some COLOR in the mud room

November 06, 2013

I’ve been making progress on the mud room lately and I’m getting SO excited about this space. Remember when I painted the room white a few weeks ago? Still love it – but I have started craving just a BIT of color. I haven’t decided on the exact color for the beadboard just yet but I know the direction I’m going.

My plan all along has been to add some color to the door to the garage so I started with that. I may kick myself for it later for doing it before the other color but it came together so well I just couldn’t resist.

And with the trim taken off around the door it was much easier to paint – I could make a little bit of a mess and it would be covered. :)

A year or so ago I started using the back of our door as a command center of sorts – but honestly, it hasn’t worked that great:

command center on back of door

I have a small calendar on here that I used to put all our appointments on, but we haven’t used it in a year. I clip coupons on the door thinking I’ll grab them on the way out and I don’t – I ignore them and remember I need them when I’m actually at the store. So there’s that.

I have a smaller version of this in mind down the road for this room, but for now I just took it all down.

Before the smaller calendar I had a larger one and it left a mess on the door:

Priming a door for paint

SO pretty. :)

I started by scrubbing off what I could (most of it didn’t budge) and then cleaned the door really well.

Now, if you’re going to paint a door you want to do one of two things first. Either check to see if it’s oil or latex paint that’s already on there (I explain how to do that here) or you can just prime it.

I usually just prime because it gives you a nice clean surface to start off with anyway. This door is a slick steel door so I knew the paint would do better over a primed surface.

You’ll want a heavy duty primer for the job. I use the little quart sizes:

Priming a door for paint

This stuff is great and is truly odorless – I really don’t smell anything, which is huge for this type of primer! It’s usually really stinky.

I usually have this tinted, just because I’m typically painting a color when I use it. In the past I’ve had it tinted gray and it works great, but I forgot to do that this time.

I did one coat but went over a few spots more than once:

Priming a door for paint

And then it was time to figure out what color to use! I raided my paint stash first to see if I had anything that would work. And I’ll BE, guess what I found? It was (nearly) PERFECT.

I pulled out the rug I’m planning on using in the room (but not as a rug, more on that later) and realized this blue color I already had was just lovely with it:

ticker tape blue

It’s called Ticker Tape, how cute is that? 

You may recognize it from the samples I had painted on my walls for months years:

OK, you probably don’t recognize it because it was painted over the blinding yellow. But it was the color on the left. Or the right? Not sure. I think the left. I was considering it as a color for the whole room years back.

I knew when I started painting it on that it was going to be so pretty:

how to paint a door

I would call it a very saturated aqua I guess? Not sure. The more I look at it completed the more it leans blue.

To paint both the primer and the paint on the door I used foam rollers and a small, angled brush:

how to paint a door

And I use a specific system I told you about here:

how to paint a door

It works great!

I was so happy with the paint too, it went on SO well. I even used the brush to paint the raised panels in the door, which I never do (because I can see the paint strokes). I always use the foam roller for those areas.

After the first coat I gave it a quick sanding, just to knock down any texture from the roller. And when I say quick sanding, I mean like two minutes and done. I hate sanding. I only had to do one more coat after that, so two total, which is impressive for a color over white.

I wanted the door to be fun and colorful and it is!:  blue door mud room

Oh yeah, there’s the spray painted knob I told you about. :)

It’s not an exact match to that rug but it’s close enough, and they won’t be right next to each other anyway:

blue door

I was going to wait until the new floors are installed to do the door trim, but that got pushed back to later this month so my zero patience won out and I installed it all:

DIY craftsman trim around door

I made a few minor changes to how I do the DIY craftsman trim around the doors which I’ll tell you more about soon. OHHHMG. Love them.

Here’s the before and after over the utility closet:

DIY craftsman trim

It all needs about four coats of paint (oh happy day!) but it’s a step in the right direction.

I also started continuing the beadboard on that door wall:

DIY craftsman door trim

I didn’t go too far with it because I’m deciding on the bench dimensions first.

The room still looks like a bit of hot mess right now but it’s getting there – I always like to share the process along the way because man, it takes time to do this stuff! It sure doesn’t happen overnight.

I should just make a to do list for this room and knock them off on here, right? But so far I’ve pulled down all the trim and installed new stuff, painted the walls and now the door. Next up will be the flooring, finishing the beadboard, more trim, then the part I’m most excited about – building a wall of built ins and a bench! It won’t be done till next year but it’s coming along.

Do you love a painted door? You know I love the black doors in our basement and that’s on my to do list elsewhere in the house. I do like having one that’s more fun and playful and the mud room is a great spot for it.

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Comments

  1. I love the color that you choose for sure.. VERY NICE !!! I cant wait to see it all finished. I always wanted a MUD ROOM LOL I saw one in Pottery Barn Magazine years ago and Just fell in love with that space. I think it was pottery barn LOL

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  2. It looks GREAT! I so want to paint an interior door... thanks for the visual tutorial (1,2,3,4)!!!

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  3. Not much of a painter here, but wanting to tackle a door. I noticed that your primer was oil-based. If I prime with an oil-base, do I need to have an oil-based paint, also? That may be a dumb question, but as I said, not much of a painter here..... :-)

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    1. You can use latex paint over oil-based primer. They do make latex primer, but the oil-based primer (in my opinion) has better adhesion, especially over a slick surface such as metal, steel, or laminate.

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    2. Yes, latex will go on fine over oil-based primer. You can paint right over the door without priming, but you'll want to test the paint first (I show how in the link) -- latex paint doesn't go well over oil-based paint. Primer is OK, paint not so much. Confusing I know. :)

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    3. Thanks for the reply! Think I'll tackle that door and see what happens! :-)

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  4. Very cool color for the door - muted but still poppy (is that a word?). And I'm liking the beadboard too - can't wait to see it finished!

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  5. I have a colored door on my front door (inside and out) and on my laundry room door, and I have plans in the works for one in the kitchen - whenever I get to that :). I love them!! And, after all it's just paint! I love the color you chose!!

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  6. your door looks great! I love that color too - and how cool to have dark beadboard, never would have thought of that! We are replacing some trim here in our home...I love the style of your new trim, might be something to think about - thanks for the inspiration!

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  7. I love that shade of blue! And I think it goes perfectly with the rug. I'm going to have to remember that color, blue is my favorite color. So I've noticed that I tend to put a bit of blue into every room of my house usually blues with a bit of gray or green in them especially since Teal is my fave currently. I can't wait to see your Mud room when it's all done.

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  8. OK, that looks great- I love that color! But I NEED your rug!! Wherever did you find it??

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    1. I got that from Target but it was a couple years ago! I'm not sure they still carry it!

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    2. Yeah I just tried to find it online and can't! :(

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  9. Ahh! Your door looks great! Funny thing is I did the same thing in August. I went downstairs, found a light blue I already had on hnad, and came up and painted the inside of our mudroom door! We want to put built-ins and a bench back there also but are saving up the $$ to do that. Seeing the door color every day makes me happy until we finally get to finish the whole room :) We have an adjoining laundry room that I did wide horizontal stripes in in the same color blue and gray :)

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  10. I want that rug!!

    Oh, yes. The door color looks great, too. :)

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  11. I love that blue. Just gorgeous! I actually quite like painting doors. I have only done one in this house but it cheers me up every day. Looking forward to seeing the mud room when it is complete! I think you should put your list up and knock it off here. I think I might do that on my blog too just to motivate myself. :)

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  12. love the new color! ties in with the rug perfectly Sarah! I', also re-doing mine, just need more tweaking before I share it .;-)

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  13. I want that rug so bad. Perfect 4 my colors! Love the blue.

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  14. Oh this is going to look so good. Love that color. Hugs, Marty

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  15. This is looking really good. The color you chose for the door is great!

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  16. Well, I loved your project description even if you are compensated!!

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  17. This post is super inspiring for me! I've been seriously thinking of painting my closet doors in my laundry room/ office space and also the door that goes out to the garage, because frankly, they always look filthy being painted white. I really like the color you chose for your door. I also am digging on the theme you're using. I'm a newbie blogger and I'm trying to make my blog look better. If you have any advice you'd like to share I'd really love to hear from you!

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  18. Wow! What a different already. I love the blue door and the beadboard.

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  19. Well I am LOVING it so far. I am totally intrigued about how you will be using that gorgeous rug. Can't wait to see the final result!

    -Tasha @ Designer Trapped in a Lawyer's Body (www.trappeddesigner.blogspot.com)

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  20. The mud room is starting to really look great! I love blue and black together!

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