Today I finished the front door part of this long project and this was a very transformative and satisfactory process. My initial colour choice was shiny black but then, with encouragement , I engaged my imagination. I whittled it down to an 'Atlantic Blue' and a 'Sage Green'. I would have been happy with either but my good pal MC took a picture of the door as it was and then scanned in my colour choices to show me the look of the final choice. This was a very, very useful bit of photoshop work. With a decision made for green I consulted a couple of catalogues and then the paint aisle of a couple of stores. Farrow and Ball happened to have the most suitable colour match and they were not savagely more expensive than Dulux.
Stage one was some Brasso work. Numbers unscrewed and off, but the knocker and letterbox and key fob all stayed in place. The Brasso drips and spills did not matter at this stage. The Brasso worked a treat and the years rubbed away after perhaps six hours of combined effort. I chatted to new neighbours and old as I worked this project from start to finish and that was pleasant and more like the days when I moved in.
Next: sanding - a power sander for the panels (but not driven beyond first gear) and hand sanding into the grooves. After sanding came masking tape and scalpel to protect all that brass work. After masking came the gloopy and hard-to-work-in undercoat. I applied it and left that for a day and then with a brush, a roller and a bit of tutoring and planning, on went the Farrow and Ball Number 19, 'Lichen' for its first coat. Two further coats followed and a few little extra touches to leave for 24 hours. Today the masking came off and bought a little paint with it, so there's a remedial job for later.
Door furniture all back on, and voila, a result to be proud of both at the front of the door and the back of the door!
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