8 steps to front door happiness

When we bought the Ugly Duckling it more or less wore this title for a number of valid reasons. Not much had been done to pretty up our now Darling Duckling and as you can see, this was especially true when it came to the entry door situation

[Before: Brown door, dirty broken screen door - no love]

That's a a cropped screenshot made possibly by Google maps' street view. I was obviously too caught up in making things better to snap a Before picture of the door.

[In Progress]

After moving Griswold to his new location, installing outdoor lighting and removing the shoddy good-for-nothing screen door we painted the door

in Valpar's historic red (read about it here).

We also hooked up a vintage door bell button and removed the ...ahem, rusty drawer pull that served as door handle.

Husband did a ton of research and then presented me with a couple of options to choose from and with our newfound love for antique brass we settled on this Kwikset lock set here:

Thanks to the really hard wood, it was a bear to install but husband labored on and in the end he was victorious! This set is one of the few sets with a matching dead bolt and a lock. Most of the time you only get one or have to jerry-rig your own combination.

Of course this wouldn't be the Duckling if it weren't for some touching up. Woodfiller, then primer and finally 5 coats of red paint were needed to blend in the areas around the old lock and ... ahem, pull with the rest of the door.

[After: So much better]

There you have it: "8 steps to front door happiness"

- remove broken screen door
- paint door frame white
- paint door red
- move Griswold, the mailbox
- install door bell knob
- install new door lock and handle set
- add old planter with new plants
- add new door mat
- add door wreath