Painting interior doors is an easy, high-impact project, whether you’ve got new, pre-primed slabs or older doors that need a little love. Here’s the simple, step-by-step process to achieve a smooth, professional finish.
Our basement has been done for a while now, but this project keeps coming up in my DMs: How to paint interior doors for a smooth, brush-mark-free finish. Winter is prime DIY season, so I’m resharing everything I learned painting six doors—tools, order of painting, best paints and sheens—so you can use it on old or new doors, whatever you’ve got.
I had six doors to paint in our basement, and this was my first time painting an interior door! I’ve had some exterior door painting practice on our front door and the door leading to our garage, but never a door inside a home, so this was a learning experience for me.
## Decide On Your Method
There is no right way to paint interior doors! You just need to figure out the best method for your situation. You could remove all of the doors from the hinges and spray them with a paint sprayer. You could take the door knobs off so you don’t have to tape them. Or, you could leave all of the hardware on and tape it off, as I did.
Since I knew I was going to be spraying the interior walls with a paint sprayer, I decided to forego the paint sprayer this time around and paint my doors by hand. This was a tad time-consuming, but I made the most of it with my computer nearby to watch shows and listen to podcasts while I worked away!
Sprayers are fastest for lots of doors, whereas a brush and 4″ high-density foam roller are perfect for one-offs and touchable, low-texture results.
## My Doors & Door Hardware
Before we get to the tips, let me share a bit of information about my new doors. My contractor picked these doors up at ABC Remodeling Supply, here in Chicago. The style is called “Winslow” and they are a similar 3-panel flat shaker style, like we have throughout the rest of our home.
I decided to go with hollow core doors (as opposed to solid) to save about $500. In total, these doors cost me about $1,200. Doors like these come pre-hung, which means they come attached to the frame with the hinges, and the frames are then installed. If you just wanted the door, that would be called a “slab”.
## Tape It Off & Use A Utility Knife!
While it sometimes feels like a pain, prep work is what yields the best results and I would say it’s the most important step! The first thing I did was run a tack cloth all over the entire door. This is always a good idea because it will remove any sneaky dust or particles that may be hiding. You don’t want to paint over those!
Leave a Reply