in paid partnership with B&Q.
August is perfect for DIY paint projects! We recently got a planning permission for our house renovation, to create our dream black house. We have two front doors, which we are hoping to reuse as they are solid wood, but need painting. When B&Q got in touch and asked me to take part in their ‘Do It In A Day challenge’ it couldn’t have happened at better time. End of August is the perfect time to paint your front door, so that it’s ready for the classic back to school photo in front of your home!
B&Q has everything you need to get paint projects done in a day, from paint brushes to dust sheets, and a whole range of colours, as well as tips, advice and how to guides. There’s even a paint mixing service! B&Q makes it easy to get your painting done in a day. So why not give it a go over the Bank Holiday weekend.
Choosing the colour for the door was easy. I already knew I wanted it to be black to match the house once the renovation has been done. The Ronseal black satin wood paint gives your door 10 year weather protection, doesn’t require a primer and dries in just 1h. I wasn’t sure if the 0.75l pot would be enough but the coverage is great so there was some left over too.

The door’s lacquer had started to peel so I also used Erbauer cordless multi-tool to sand the door lightly before painting.
9am: Let’s get the project started

Before I could wash the door down, I had to clear out all sorts of dead leaves and old rotting flower pots. My kids had an impressive stick collection that had to go too. The door itself took a while to clean with an old cloth and soapy water.
10:30am: Time to get sanding
The door sanding was so much easier with the new handheld sander!


12pm: Painting begins


Ok, I’m going to be honest here. I worried about the outcome after the first coat of paint. The door looked patchy and I wasn’t sure if the two coats of paint was going to be enough to cover the original orange…
1pm: Lunch break
As the paint only needed an hour to dry this made a natural break for our lunch (tomato soup and a sandwich)
3pm: Second coat and finished door
Here is the door after second coat of paint, looks great I think, and all done in just one day!

My next project will be painting the woodwork around the door, but that can wait until another day!