Behind the orange door

Or, more appropriately, the whole thing 'about' the orange door.

See, we had the entire outside of the house repainted a few years ago, but didn't repaint the front door. We've let it languish in squalor and I didn't give it much thought until my current 'redo the house' manic phase.We didn't change the outside color of the house, but I never much cared for the front door color. It was a muted mulberry color originally; it has been through enough winters here that it is a mere shadow of its former color. I had originally bought some dark blue paint to grace the front door . I have now awakened to the fact that our gray house is a warm gray, and a blue door just isn't in the cards.I tortured my family into choosing a color from paint swatches I brought home, fervently hoping that they would pick the color 'Red Jalapeno' but Mr. K and my dear son chose 'Firecracker Red.'
This wasn't a problem until I realized that I had a slew of other colors to choose from at Home Depot in the Behr family and latched onto . . . (wait for it) . . . 'Sweet Carrot.'
Yep, you read that right. 'Sweet Carrot.' As if that could be anything but a rich, warm ORANGE. But, to my defense, it scanned with our brick highlights purrfectly.

So on a recent past Saturday, while Mr. K was distracted by all the men on TV in tight pants (football - get your mind out of the gutter!), I set at our front door. I first did a test strip to see what I was in for:Hopefully, you can tell that it was just about (high) time to paint the door.

I stood back, and said, "Yeah!" and proceeded to slather the entire door with two coats, to the end result of:
I liked it pretty much instantly. It provided that little 'pop!' that everyone seems to be seeking. Oh, and I hadn't even consulted the homeowner's association about my color choice - Booyah!

Mr. K's reaction was, shall we say, less than enthusiastic. He had the temerity, nay the audacity, to ask why I had consulted the rest of the family, then capriciously ignored the consensus.

Umm. Good point.

I wasn't so much in love with it that I wouldn't change it. I am holding out for after Halloween, though. Doesn't this just scream (in 120 decibel glory) fall? I shall post a follow up on the really final color of my front door. I'm hoping it hasn't snowed by then, but then if pigs had wings . . .

Next item on the agenda: the doorknob.

First thing this morning, after getting my little darlings out the door to ride the bus to school, I whipped out my trusty painter's tape and a few sheets of newspaper to get to this:

As you can see, most (all) of the shiny finish has worn off of our doorknob. Of course, it was the builder's special installed about 13 years ago, so I'd say it's given pretty good service.
Suffice it to say that finances currently are such that I've got other things to invest in (like new tires so I don't kill myself this winter) so I'm going to teach y'all (yes, I'm originally a Texan) a new term today: stopgap measure.

You probably have heard that term mentioned in news articles about Congress, but it applies to LOTS of things; namely, my doorknob. A stopgap measure, as defined by thefreedictionary website, refers to 'an improvised substitute for something lacking.'
Yep, that's my doorknob; something lacking.

At the very least, shiny brass is *so* yesterday anyway, so I whipped out a can of trusty Rustoleum spray paint and had at it! I chose Hammered Gold since I had the amazing foresight to buy this at one point because I *knew* I needed it for something.
I gave it two quick coats and I love the finish it gave me:

I did notice the underside and the back needs a little more coating, but for now, it looks *SO* much better!

What have you got going on for fall cleaning this week? Or, are you all caught up and doing fun stuff? Talk to me, please!

Love,

Kellacious