Lipstick Chic

"I believe in manicures. I believe in overdressing.
I believe in primping at leisure and wearing lipstick."

Audrey Hepburn

Florida's early spring weather is fantastic and this past weekend I went on strike: no projects inside. Instead, I took my painting outside enjoying the beautiful weather while sprucing up the outside of our Ugly Duckling a bit.

The exterior color isn't that bad - a light blue-ish grey - but what brings it down is the combination with even drabber - more drab? - dark blue-grey as accent color. I was itching to paint the window and door trim outside a crisp clean white and decided to test my theory on the big original door on the front left of our house (stay tuned for pictures of this project).

Dear husband came back from a quick trip to the blue box loaded with paint and presented a can of Valspar's National Historic Preservation color line with a flourish: red for our entry door. He couldn't wait to get started. We scrubbed, patched with woodfiller, sanded and de-glossed the door before priming it.

Then we broke out the paint

[First daring brush strokes]

Holy Guacamole! What a COLOR!

The first coat turned our door smoking hot pink. Our little man screeched with horror "It's a girl door!!!" but fortunately, when I added coat 2 and 3, thanks to a sunny Monday things started to look up and a bit more like the paint chip.

[Much better!]

And here's our Darling Duckling with her freshly painted door.

Painting it red was a no-brainer for us - we simply like a red door and the color goes with the current color scheme - but of course I poked around online for a bit more info on why red is such a traditional color for an entry door.

Early American - American settlers would paint their doors red as sign that travelers were welcome.
Feng Shui - A red door supposedly draws positive energy into your house
Scotland - A red door signalizes a paid-off mortgage
Christianity - A red door symbolizes hallowed ground and is free from evil
Ireland - A red door would ward off evil spirits.

And on top of that, it's like lipstick for your house - look at the Duckling! What a babe!