DIY Painted Yellow Door
Remember a little while ago when I walked you through the gruelling 1-step instructions for this DIY Graphic Tape Door here at #AustinSuite? Well, I got busy this weekend and changed it up fairly dramatically. The sneak peek video is on my Insta (which you can see on the right column on this page.) Here's the inspo:
As I mentioned in the previous DIY post, I had been mulling over many colours. This was one of the images I had been keeping on my secret Pinterest board for #AustinSuite. Our space is a bit to tight to do the black outline detail AND the yellow door — would be overkill for us. As it happened I had some leftover Annie Sloan Chalk Paint from my projects for the recent Marilyn Denis Show appearance, and one of the cans happened to be a bright yellow called English Yellow.
As soon as I opened the can after reading the name I was transported to a train journey I took once upon a time between London to Oxford. The view was fields and fields of yellow blooms. I remember a little girl beside me saying in her wee English accent, "Mama look, are those buttahcups?" "No sweetie," said the Mum, "They are rapeseed flowers." True story. Ask my friend Susan Mackenzie, for the rest of the trip we kept saying "Are those buttahcups?" in tiny put-on accents. But I digress.
English Yellow was meant to be.
I taped down some kraft paper in front of the door, gathered my tools and got to work.
DIY Yellow Painted Door How-To
- Sand surface of door using medium grit sanding sponge. Apparently one doesn't normally need to sand before painting with Annie Sloan Chalk Paint, but I thought it best as a way of clearing any possible residue from the tape that had covered the door.
- Wipe away any sanding dust with a damp cloth.
- Use painter's tape to protect any adjacent surfaces that you don't want to paint.
- Paint door using a foam roller (I used an Annie Sloan one, which was also leftover from the Marilyn Denis segment), plus a small angled brush for edges or hard to reach areas.
- Apply 2-4 coats, allowing to dry approx. 40 minutes between coats. Annie Sloan Chalk Paint often requires only one coat, but I actually applied 4 coats to get a good depth of colour.
- Remove painter's tape.
- Clean and style the area, then and take a photo of your excellent work!
This project took less than one afternoon and easily passes My DIY Bullsh*t Test. Et voilà, the results:
I had installed those black hooks after the Tape DIY (in that photo I totally faked it with 3M hooks). I must say this about the hooks — I LOVE them. It's funny because I had shopped around for cool "designer" hooks, and was about to order the Muuto Dots, then I just happened to be in The Home Depot one day and thought I'd check one last time for something decent. These. These are decent. And even more so for being $7 each. Another occasion when simple was best. Our existing IKEA Hodde runner is also simple and best. It's an indoor/outdoor rug, wears like iron, hides grit, and the strong charcoal colour holds its own against that yellow.
I thought painting the door and the change of season would be the perfect time to lighten things up with a new runner. I chose a woven natural fibre one and a cotton rag rug to try, since I liked the beach-house vibe of each. But as you can see they are both totally ZZZZZZ. Boring and a bit skimpy. I'm taking them back. But I did take a spin around some of my favourite online sources to find a few runners that could work if I do decide to get a new one.
1. Tatersall woven cotton, 2.5 x 8ft, $120, Dash & Albert. 2. Wild Side recycled nylon tiles, 3 x12 ft, $279, Flor. 3. Lennox Charcoal wool woven, 2.5 x 8ft, $375, Dash & Albert. 4. Reverb wool/cotton, 2.5 x 8ft, $119, CB2. 5. Kite wool, 2.5 x 7ft, $149, West Elm
P.S. I've already pretty much decided this will be the next incarnation of the #AustinSuite door. (But we'll enjoy the sunny yellow for now.)