Want to know how paint a door like a pro? Painting interior doors with my simple step by step tips is a breeze and will get you the professional finish you're looking for!
1. Choose an Interior Door Paint Color
If you're painting your door white and have white trim around it, I recommend using the same paint color and finish as the trim. Some of my favorite whites for trimwork and doors are Benjamin Moore's Cloud White and Dove White in either semi-gloss or satin. You might also want to consider painting your doors a color other than white – interior doors in dark black or gray are a beautiful choice!
2. Gather Your Painting Tools
Other than your paint, there are just a few things you'll need to knock out your door painting job including:
Wood filler
Sandpaper
Tack cloth
Canvas or plastic drop cloth to protect your floor
Utility knife
etc
3. Prep Your Door for Painting
The success of any paint job always starts with good prep work. You can either paint your doors in place or take them down and paint them on sawhorses. If your door already has knobs on it, I recommend removing them – it's easier than painting around them. If you want to leave the knobs on, cover your knobs and your hinges with painter's tape. For the door hinges, I use a utility knife to gently trace the outside of the hinge, cutting the tape as I go:
To prep your door for painting, cover hinges with painter's tape and use a razor cut away extra tape by tracing around them!
If you're repainting an older door, the first step is to fill in any gouges or imperfections with wood filler and sand those areas until smooth (I use 150 grit for this) and then lightly sand the entire door with fine grit (220) sandpaper. Use a cloth to remove most of the sanding dust and then go back over the entire door with a tack cloth to get the rest of it. Note: If your door was previously painted prior to the '80s, it could be lead paint which you wouldn't want to sand without appropriate precautions so be sure to test for lead paint if that's a possibility
4. Paint Your Paneled Door in This Order
Now it's time to paint! Many people have success painting doors using just a brush, but I like to use a combination of a brush and a small roller because it gets the job done faster and results in a much smoother finish. Rather than simply painting the door from top to the bottom, you can get the best paint job by painting paneled doors in a certain order.
5. Sand & Recoat
Once you're done, allow the paint to dry (if you're using Benjamin Moore Advance note that it has a longer than typical dry time), give your door a quick, very light sanding with with 320 grit sandpaper, remove the sanding residue with a tack cloth, and then apply a second coat of paint. If you're using sawhorses and painting one side at a time, allow the paint to dry at least 24 hours before flipping the door over on the sawhorses and repeating for the second side. Cover your sawhorses with a cloth to prevent the newly painted door from sticking to them (and make sure that the cloth you use is smooth with no texture to it, or you could end up with a textured pattern in your door once it comes of the sawhorses). Once your second side is dry, simply rehang your doors and reinstall your door hardware. Done!
Post time: Oct-15-2021