Wait Until You See What This Painted Front Door Looks Like Now

Yesterday, I was a busy bee.

I was a busy bee…in a quiet house.

A quiet house…all alone.

It was strange with a twist of wonderful and a slice of self-awareness for my “first days” of a new rhythm.

Across the country, kids have been trickling back to school and this past Wednesday, it was our turn.

Just before the yellow school bus made a swift stop, scoop and snappy exit with our three girls, we took these fun back to school pics.

You can see more back to school pictures in this Instagram Reel I posted earlier this week.

544 days.

It’s been 544 days since I was home alone in our house.

When I tallied the days, I had to make myself re-count to make sure I added correcltly.

Yep my math was shockingly correct.

And so?

It was natural to let out a good cry once I was safely tucked inside my home.

Because?

I feel the intangible tick of the hidden timepieces carved inside my heart twinge every time the “growing up” process is flashed hard in our faces.

Days like this past Wednesday.

On first day of school days and wave goodbye days…

The ticking of the tender timepiece is hard to ignore.

I think it helps not to just think of the weather outside as seasons that change but also that our lives are being shaped into seasons that “grow us up” too.

For me?

That “growing up” season right now is learning to live in the tension of HOLDING HANDS with LETTING GO.

Which brings me to our post today…I will call it Therapy Project #1 of my letting go season.

I can’t wait for you to see what our front door and painted brick mold looks like now.

Oh friends…I am getting super excited to start decorating for Fall.

Especially now that I have hung up my home school teaching hat, am no longer on lunch service duty and might be able to keep a single room clean for more than five minutes.

Because?

I am home alone!

Still not used to saying that!

This year, I made myself wait to decorate for Fall until our girls went back to school. I also decided that I wanted to begin decorating for Fall by actually starting from the outside first and then working my way inside.

So what did I do with myself on day 2 of being home alone?

I painted our front door.

Only, I didn’t just paint our front door.

I painted the storm door and the exterior brick mold trim around our front door along with a few other things.

And now?

The front porch looks completely different.

A little porch polishing goes a LONG way friends.

Painting is always such a BIG bang for your buck when wanting to spruce anything up on a budget.

Do you want to see what this front door and porch look like now?

Follow me friend to see what this front porch looks like now.

Are you ready for some fun before and after pictures?

Here we go!

Ok friend…if you’re raising your hand because you’ve got some questions…

I’ve got answers.

First things first, I made a quick trip to our local Sherwin Williams paint store to pick up these supplies.

The previous state of our front door brick mold and trim around our front door sidelight windows had been bothering me for a long time.

This was a perfect afternoon paint project that paid off in big ways to give us a fresh slate to begin decorating what will soon become our Fall front porch.

This is what our window pane molding looked like yesterday, before I started painting.

It’s a little embarrassing that it was that dirty and disgusting.

But after hosing the entire porch down and painting two coats of Sherwin Williams Tricorn Black paint, those dirty nooks and crannies of the molding are clean & crisp and whispering “thank you” every time I walk through the door.

I am LOVING the fresh & modernized look that our front door entrance now has.

But here is the thing…with any project…there is an opportunity for doubt to creep in and problems to arise.

For instance, yesterday when I first began this little project?

I removed all the porch furniture to prepare the space for a good scrub and wash before I painted.

There was just one problem?

I broke the hose while trying to drag it around to the front yard.

And then?

It started to drizzle.

So?

I walked away from the project for 30 minutes. (highly recommended! 🙂

Then, I called a neighbor to help me with my hose and I started again.

And then?

While I started painting…I started to get nervous I had made a mistake.

But?

I pushed back those pesky self doubt thoughts and kept pushing forward with my project, one stroke at a time.

And as the first coat of paint began to dry?

Those self doubt feelings dried up too and I kept on moving forward with my plan.

Friend, I almost just left that whole process of emotions out of this post but decided you needed to know.

Because?

If you are ever up against anything worthwhile, you will also be up against feelings that are going to try to hold you back.

Heather Krout

I spend too much time second guessing some things.

Does this little hiccup mean I should just give up?

In short, the answer is…NO.

The process of becoming anything, is not always pretty as you can easily see in the next “in progress” photo.

But with equal parts ease and effort we can hopefully land on the simple recognition that the process produces perspective that we did not have before.

And?

When we have enlightened perspectives on so many situations?

Well…

It makes us better than before people too.

This door is not perfect.

Just take a look at the picture above and you will see the bottom right molding that is missing because it was accidentally ripped off when we had our porch patio put in…years ago.

Do you know what we do?

We just hide that missing part with a big ol’ porch plant.

Problem solved.

Ok now what if you are reading this and thinking…I think I want to paint my front door.

Or, you are considering if you should paint your storm door to match your front door.

(Yes! Such an easy update! Our storm door was white before, while our front door was black. I decided I wanted them to match and blend.)

Here are a few pointers to help you paint your front door.

Use painters tape to tape around the door handles.

You do not have to tape all around the storm door or sidelight windows if you are painting your brick mold trim like I did.

Simply paint as best as you can and after the paint has dried, follow up with a single edged razor blade to scrape off any access that is on the windows.

Also, I did not paint the interior of my front door because I prefer a light and airy feeling inside. The interior side of our front door is still white.

However, I did paint the inside edge of the door black so that when the front door is all the way open and you are standing outside, you see a black edge.

I also left the outter edge of the door white, so that when you are standing on the inside of our home and looking at the front door the outside edge matches the inside color of the door which is white.

You can see this in the picture below.

Yes, our front door was already black but this fresh coat of paint along with painting the brick mold trim around the front door has completely changed the game for this front porch for Fall and beyond.

Also a game changer?

This neutral Fall wreath by Hearth & Hand at Target, you can get it here online.

I have been embracing all things neutral and texture inside our home recently and that goes also for my simple front porch decor right now.

Soon enough, I will raise the bar on this porch decor with pumpkins, mums and more lanterns.

But for now?

I am loving the symmetry of the plain jute rug, neutral throw pillows I moved from the back patio and the addition of this wreath.

Sweet friend, sometimes a good project and working with your hands is just what you need to offer healthy distraction from a changing tide, uncertain tomorrow or a bend in your brain that just won’t quit.

Yesterday, this project was that for me.

No music on during the hours while I painted.

No children interrupting…still so strange.

No emails or texts dinging.

Just me and a project…and Willa pup.

I am so glad Shawn, the girls and I all love how this painted front door project turned out.

But between you and me?

I would be OK either way…(mostly) because the process of quiet minutes even those met with malfunctions, they deepened my rich appreciation for the right now minutes ticking by…ones that I almost let self-doubt cheapskate me out of.

Guess what else?

I painted the shutters and the brick mold trim above our lower double window too.

But…I left the upper shutters for Shawn. 🙂 Love you honey.

Something about a fresh coat of paint just says…a new season has begun, in so many ways.

And…I am ready to hold hands with her and go for a walk.

Process over pressure for perfection wins every time.

(PS – You can watch the entire process of this transformation in this Instagram Reel here.)

One more thing, before I let you go.

Tomorrow, on the 20 year anniversary of September 11th 2001, I hope you will take time to come back here and read this post that I published last year.

The post, “The secret to finding rest in a wobbly world,” was a 9/11 tribute post I wrote last year, after sharing with our 3 daughters a scrapbook that I had made during the weeks that followed the terrorist attacks.

Twenty years ago, I was a senior in college at the University of Delaware…and I vowed then and now…

that I will never forget.

May we never ever forget dear friends.

Dear God,

Thank you that you are the God that sees.

You see us even when we don’t see you. Thank you for all the ways that you draw us near. Help me to pay attention to the ways that you are trying to get my attention. Help us to remember all the ways you have already brought us through.

I pray that you would help me to see anything that is distancing me from You right now and empower me to change whatever I need to change.

God I pray that you would draw each heart close that reads these words today and remind each of us, that you are near.

You are so very near.

Amen.

Living on a prayer,

Heather

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