Prep

1. Preparation Makes Perfect
We started by cleaning the existing door with a power washer, but you could just as easily use a soft scrubbing sponge and a cleaning mixture made from Tri-Sodium Phosphate (or TSP) and water. Rinse the door thoroughly and make sure it's dry.

2. Remove decorative items
Remove any window inserts, hardware, or decorative elements that might get painted by a careless brush or roller.

 3. Mask off the perimeter
Then mask off any adjacent walls as well as handles, trim, locks or flooring that you want to protect using blue painter's tape and masking paper. Be sure to spread an ample sized drop cloth on the driveway to protect your workspace and tape down the edges to secure it.

Prime Time

Depending on the type of door you have, you may need to sand the surface first to give the paint the best chance of adhering to the surface. Lana's pre-painted aluminum door was fairly new and therefore didn't need much sanding or scuffing. Like any painting project, preparation is essential to a long-lasting, good-looking job. In particular, if your door is wood, take care to remove any loose or flaking paint, fill in minor dings or holes, give it a thorough sanding, and wipe down with a damp rag to remove any dust.

For our aluminum door project, our next step was to apply a deep tint primer in light brown. "Deep tint" primer is simply a standard white primer that has color added to it. Have the folks at the home improvement store do this for you when you are buying your paint. Tinting the primer helps to minimize the number of coats necessary to complete the job. Our final color was a deep brown, so our primer came out just a bit lighter, and gave us a better foundation to start with for the new paint.

A base to build on

We applied a base coat in a medium brown using both rollers and brushes because Lana's door has plenty of nooks and crannies. In particular, we used a sponge roller which manages to get into those grooves without spraying paint everywhere like long-nap "furry" rollers often do.

Aim to make the coat even, with no buildups or drips. If your door has stiles or other decorative elements, paint from the inside and work your way outward. Let the base coat dry fully before moving on to the next step.

Glad to Glaze

Because we're going to be applying the paint by hand with a set of rags, we needed to make sure to dilute it with glaze. Glaze is a milky substance that helps thin the paint and make it easier to work with. We also add a time extender because we don't want the glaze drying too rapidly.

Aim to make the coat even, with no buildups or drips. If your door has stiles or other decorative elements, paint from the inside and work your way outward. Let the base coat dry fully before moving on to the next step.

If you haven't already, put on some disposable gloves. If you're allergic to latex, try the blue nitrile gloves that we used in the video. They're latex-free and quite durable. You'll find them at most home improvement stores. We mixed our glaze and paint together in a new bucket, following a traditional mixture of 4 parts glaze to 1 part paint. Now onto the fun stuff!

The Ultimate Faux

Have a bucket of clean water and a big bunch of clean rags handy. Don't use paper towels for this process as they'll break up in the paint and ruin your finish.

Dip two rags in the bucket and wring them out well; you want them damp, not dripping. Next, dip one rag in the paint/glaze mixture and begin wiping color onto the door, working a small area (no more than 3 feet across) at a time. Rub the paint into whatever grain or crevices you find; be careful to avoid any drips or streaks.

Wipe on, Wipe off

Now, immediately take the other clean, wet rag and begin gently wiping off the paint you just wiped on. The trick is to remove most of the paint/glaze layer, but leave a thin patina of color—just enough to permeate the cracks, crevices, and grain. You want a "wax on, wax off" motion (with apologies to the Karate Kid).

Step back and have a look; keep experimenting until you find a combination that works. You'll quickly appreciate the value of the glaze—it gives you more time to work the mixture until you get just the right look. Move on to the next 3X3-foot section; changing rags often. The secret to solid faux work is to work subtly and you can't be subtle with rags that are completely saturated. Again, be especially vigilant and immediately deal with drips or streaks the moment they occur.

Admire; Repeat as Necessary

After you've covered the whole door, let it dry. Step back, admire, and reconsider. Does it need another coat? Some accents? Faux painting is a pretty subjective process; let your artist's eye make the final call. We found that Lana's door needed some selected accents to bring out the stiles and corners of her door. We used a 3-inch brush and dappled on the paint full strength to bring out the details.

All told, it took us less than a day. We'd transformed a bleak white aluminum eyesore into a luxurious "wooden" door that had the neighbors wondering how we did it. The fact is that it's easier than it looks. So, feel like giving it a try? You can do it!

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