BLACK INTERIOR DOORS

As promised, here's a look at my freshly painted interior doors. Well over a year ago when toying with the idea of using black, I painted the interior of my front and back doors only, as well as the french doors that lead to the office.  I immediately loved the difference!

I apologize in advance for some shadows and less than great photos.  My hallways have ZERO natural light so they are a real challenge to photograph!  I have so much to learn....and apparently there's a mysterious spot on my lens showing up!

My master bedroom...an open door to my next project!

I don't even mind the brassy knobs so much anymore.  In fact, I kind of like them now with the black doors and am no hurry to switch them out like I was before painting.

As far as procedure goes, I started with Sherwin Williams Solo paint (said to be the same as the "ProClassic" line, they just had to use Solo because the base was so dark) in Tricorn Black Semi-Gloss.  I wanted to try this paint because I've read rave reviews of how well it goes on furniture and leaves a smooth finish.   I ran out of the SW paint and had a gallon of Behr mixed in the same Tricorn black, and I honestly couldn't tell a difference between the quality of the two. 

The white doors were painted with a sprayer when the house was built, so they were super smooth and slick.  I'm not necessarily recommending this, but I did not prime them or prep in any way other than wiping them down good.  Once they cure well I really haven't had trouble with scratching, and if one does show up here and there it's a quick and easy touch-up.  I've found the Behr paint to be nice and durable.

Also, I started with a brush and foam roller, but after 2 doors thought it would be much faster to spray them.  I removed 4 other doors from the hinges and took them outside to use my paint sprayer.  I'm never sure what's faster because it still was quite a process to remove the doors, lug them outside, tape off the hardware, spray them, flip them, and then re-install them.  And, the day I was spraying they decided to trim trees along the power lines outside of our back fence, so as they mulched away I'm pretty sure some of that dusty debris flying through the air stuck to my doors. They look good, but just aren't quite as smooth as the rolled doors.  I'm basically just as happy with the rolled on finish as I am the sprayed finish.  I'm sure I should have sanded between coats or something....but I was too impatient for that! 

For now, I've only done all of the hallway doors.  I may paint some doors inside the bedrooms in the future but haven't decided yet.  I'll probably just stick to rolling those if and when I paint them.

We all love a great before and after shot, so here's a little side by side for you:

Powder Bath:

Kids' Rooms:

My favorite change is this wall with the laundry room door.  I love how the black door makes my mirror wall look so much more dramatic.

Linking up with:

Uncommon