The spring of 2020 has been a strange but important time in our lives. We've all spent more time at home than we ever have and it's given us the chance to reflect on what's most important. A lot of industries have been slow to get up and running either for safety or economic reasons but the home renovation sector has been flourishing. All of this time at home has given people the initiative to finally complete those unfinished interior and exterior projects so they can finally have the space they've always wanted.
The first project I tacked after opening for business again was painting an exterior door. My client had done some major interior renovations to her 1930s home and had her windows changed throughout the previous year. The last thing left to update was the original oak door. The new window frames were light grey so they chose to paint the door surround with a matching color and then I was going to tackle staining the door a darker grey that would complement both the light grey trim and the terra-cotta colored bricks. Along with the finish on the door, the vintage hardware would also get an update by painting it black.
I started by stripping the old finish and applying a dark grey semi-transparent stain. The result was nice enough, we could still see the wood grain but not as nice as it could be. The outdoor semi-transparent stains came in a limited number of colours and the grey was just looking too blue and clashing with the bricks. In order to give this entrance more of an impact it needed to all be the same color and one that was darker charcoal but with no blue undertone. I choose Benjamin Moore Aura low lustre in 1596 Nightfall and had my paint supplier add a touch more black to get an even darker tone.
And voila!...the final result creates a much grander entrance both in scale and in depth. And now as an unexpected bonus, the beautiful red antique rug stands out more than ever as soon as you open the door!