Painting a door

YIYUAN
by YIYUAN
Hello everyone! I am new here and I'm a completely new hand in home DIY.
I would like to make some change to my door while I kind of don't know where to start. I wish I could get your help! Thanks!
Basically, my door is in the first photo. I guess it's a fail copy of the first door type on the second photo. Also, I don't like it's painting and finishing.
I got three questions:
1. The finishing of my door is called "open" I guess, the patterns of wood can be seen on the paint. I would like to make the finishing perfectly flat and smooth, should I just sand it and give it a new coat of paint?
2. On the third photo, the orange line is the new outline I would like to do, so the green part should be rid off. What should I do with it?
3. Around the inner edge of the original panel like the blue line on photo 3, there is a small decoration trim. What can I do to get rid off this thing to have a nice simple 90 degree angle edge.
Much appreciations!
  9 answers
  • Elana Walton Elana Walton on Aug 17, 2016
    The first thing I would do is sit back and think how you want the door to look. Maybe even look on line to seen different styles of painted doors. Then I would pick a color.
    • YIYUAN YIYUAN on Aug 17, 2016
      Hello, the door i want is the first type on photo 2...
  • Deanna Nassar Deanna Nassar on Aug 17, 2016
    Most interior doors are hollow; just a frame with a thin sheet of plywood on each side. As such you may not be able to make it completely smooth. Too much sanding could destroy the door. As to the stripes. Use the blue painters tape to either side of where you want the stripe and paint. Don't remove the tape until paint is dry.
  • I think I do not understand what you want. But it looks like the changes you want are so minor that it may not be worth the work requires to do them. Try doing the rest of the room and furnishing it first. Then wait a couple of months and see if you still want to redo the door project. I know this is not what you want to hear but sometimes a room looks beautiful after it is furnished and you decide living with it is a better option. Moldings are not hard to add to a door but it seems more like you want to change the edge on the present molding. If the door is a hollow door it would be so damaged in the process that you would need to replace the door after removing the current molding. After living in and selling a few homes, I now approach projects with the perspective of whether or not I will be able to get money back or sell a place faster before I start projects. Putting money where it does the most good in the long run makes sense.
  • Looking at the desired door, I wonder if you just painted the present molding one or two shades darker than the rest of the door would give a look similar to what you want. Buying the paint sample size of paint would provide more than enough paint to do this and is cheaper than altering an existing molding.
  • Leslie Leslie on Aug 17, 2016
    YiYuan it sounds like you want a 3 panel door. Is your door solid or is it a hollow core. Is that moulding or is it an indentation in the wood. If the trim is moulding see if you can pry it up without ruining the door itself . Try using a putty knife and a hammer. If it will come off slowly continue to pry the moulding off until it is completely off. If it is wood moulding you can try to match it at your local hardware store to save money. If not pick out a new moulding and have it cut to your specifications. You can then paint the door the color you want and then paint the moulding the color of your trim in the room or a different color, and attach with a constructionction grade glue. If there is no moulding and the indentation is in the woodand you want to make separations buy moulding that you like and cut to size at the store and attach as previously stated hope I understood your question and I hope you understand my reply , good luck
    • See 3 previous
    • YIYUAN YIYUAN on Aug 17, 2016
      *you and others reply
  • Susan Susan on Aug 17, 2016
    You might try cutting an inch (sorry, I don't know the metric conversion) off the top and rehang the door higher. That will get you close to the proportions you like. If the gap is too big under the door, buy a small piece of lumber close to the size you need and have it trimmed to the exact measurement as the bottom of the door. Glue and screw to the bottom of the door. Fill any gaps around that piece with caulk, just get it very smooth). This will require some basic tool knowledge, but maybe you can find a friend to help? I can also envision using joint compound to fill in over the details of the angled moulding. Just apply with a putty knife, sand and paint. It won't give you the 90 degree angle you want - but it will give you a more contemporary look at 45 degrees.
    • YIYUAN YIYUAN on Aug 17, 2016
      Thanks I'll take your idea and try with the joint compound first. About cutting the door, maybe it's just too hard for me, see if I can get someone pro.
  • Jennie Lee Jennie Lee on Aug 17, 2016
    As for making the door smooth, with no wood grain showing; people on this site have mentioned "self-leveling" paint. I've never used it, but perhaps if you took down your door and laid it horizontally and used such a paint, it would be truly smooth--what do you other readers think?
    • YIYUAN YIYUAN on Aug 17, 2016
      Hello, Jennie, I never heard about the paint before and couldn't find much information about it online. Thanks anyway.
  • Jennie Lee Jennie Lee on Aug 18, 2016
    If you go to Pinterest and search for "self-levelling paint", there will be a number of pins about it. I was hoping someone on Hometalk who has used it would comment about whether they thought it would work, because, as I said, I haven't used it, myself.
  • Carole Carole on Aug 31, 2016
    Self leveling paint will NOT fill in any deviations. When it dries it just won't show any brush or roller marks.