DIY Craftsman Style Door Trim

Since I have taken over the design of our basement redo, I decided to throw my husband and two sons a bone by trying to masculine things up a tad, I chose to paint the doors black. Originally, they were painted with off white oil based paint, I’m going to stick with the oil based paint, it’s not as scary as it once was.

First I removed the doors and lay them flat to paint, wipe clean as needed and dry (mine needed a lot of cleaning) When painting with an oil based paint I found that several thin coats are far better than one or two thick coats. Unfortunately, the oil based paint does take additional time to dry before applying another coat. So I worked on this over the course of several days. The hardware in the basement is just like the hardware in the rest of the house, nothing matches. So I am changing the shiny gold hinges as well as the antique gold doorknobs for a dark, almost black hinge and doorknob. I removed the hinges and doorknob before painting.

1. Remove door and lay flat

2. Remove hinges

3. Remove doorknob

4, Use a razor blade to gently lift off any paint drip marks from original paint job.

5. Clean door with soap and water and dry well with shop towel or washcloth, not a paper towel.

6. If using oil based paint softly stir or fold, do not shake the paint.

7. Load paint brush keeping several thin coats in mind as well as painting vertically whenever possible

8. Let dry until completely dry to the touch before applying second coat (read label of your paint for estimated drying time)

9. Painting this door black over white took three coats but when I painted bright white over off white it only required two coats to achieve really good coverage.

10. Once completely dry install hinges and doorknob

11. Hang door

YouTube Channel video includes changing hardware, painting and hanging your door tips.

For step by step instruction be sure to check out my blog.