HERE’S AN EASIER AND FASTER WAY TO PAINT YOUR INTERIOR FRENCH DOORS BLACK | ENTRYWAY MAKEOVER | YOUTUBE VIDEO
Hi, creative #sifamily! I’m back sharing an EASY & FAST way to Paint French Doors Black. I’m comparing the traditional green painter’s tape method VS a masking product that claims to save time and effort. I can’t wait to share the results!
I’m also including ~
- How I picked the ‘right’ black paint color
- Perfectly painted frame w/o taking the door off
- No mess Hardware w/o removing the hinges and knobs
- The perfect brush for cutting in the glass panes
- The perfect roller that gave me a professional finish
Here’s the door I started with. This is my cozy entryway. It’s a work in progress. When you come through the front door the living room is to your right, and to the left is this french door that leads into my office.
THIS POST IS SPONSORED/CONTAINS AFFILIATE LINKS TO PRODUCTS I USE. YOU CAN SEE MY FULL DISCLOSURE HERE.
SOURCE LIST
French Doors – SALVAGED
Painters Tape | Plastic Wrap
Masking Liquid
Scissors | Utility Knife
Zibra Triangle Paint Brush
4″ Paint Roller
Large 3″ Foam Brush
Heat Gun
HOW TO PAINT FRENCH DOORS BLACK
As I’ve mentioned in prior posts, my home decor is long overdue for a refresh. I would love to restyle my office and entryway, but the full task feels overwhelming because I’m not exactly sure what I want to do with it. So I figured I’d start with baby steps. I LOVE the look of black french doors so that’s where I’m starting.
PICKING THE RIGHT ‘BLACK’
Picking a black is a personal preference. A great way to test what shade and undertone(s) of black paint you like is by painting a few options on a whiteboard or a piece of white paper. I painted 4 colors on a white piece of paper and then left them on the door for a full day and night. I checked in as the light changed and came up with a winner – Semi-Sweet! It’s swatch number two in the pic below. It looks the grayest in comparison to the other swatches but as you’ll see once the door is painted, it’s a beautiful warm black.
CLEANING
Once I had picked my paint color, it was time to clean the door. I used Windex and a paper towel to make sure the glass was sparkling and there was no dust or dirt on the french door frames.
PROTECT HARDWARE
I didn’t want to remove the door to paint it. So to protect the door hinges I used painter’s tape. I carefully applied it making sure all of the hinges were completely covered.
For the door knobs, I used painter’s tape to cover the face plates and I also used something we all have on hand – plastic wrap! Here you can see I taped and covered the original door knobs with plastic wrap on the other french door to my office. I ended up buying new door handles but this is a great way to protect your existing hardware while painting!
PAINTER’S TAPE
I started by masking off the glass panes with Painters Tape. I cut the tape into 4″ strips about an inch shy for the top and bottom of each glass pane. Then I cut 24 pieces of painter’s tape in 12″ sizes for each side of the panes. Then I applied all the short top and bottom pieces. Then I applied all the side pieces.
Then using a utility knife, I cut off the excess tape so so there was no overlap onto the wood frame. I found the perfect brush for painting in all these corners was the Zibra Triangle Brush. It worked really well to get into all the nooks and crannies and gave it a nice smooth finish.
Once my two coats of Semi-Sweet were dry, I removed the painter’s tape by scoring it with the utility knife, adding a little heat with a heat gun, and removing the tape. The scoring along with a little heat makes the tape removal super easy!
PROTECTING THE FRAME AND FLOOR
To get a professional finish I used this 4″ roller. I buy mine from the dollar store but you can get similar brands online as well.
To protect the door frame and floor as I was painting, I also used something we all have on hand, a piece of 8×10 paper! I did have a drop cloth in place on my floor but below you’ll see I also put a piece of paper under the door. The paper rolls right along with the roller as I paint.
I used this exact same paper technique when painting against the door frame. I’m demonstrating how well this works in the Youtube video below.
MASKING LIQUID
I learned about this Masking Liquid on Youtube and decided to give it a try even though it was pricey at $74 CAD a quart. (I believe in the US it’s around $30-$40). All the videos I watched were raving about how great Masking Fluid is used to paint French doors because helps create crisp, clean lines when painting. The product prevents the paint from bleeding onto the glass with just one coat.
Here are the steps I took-
- I cleaned my French doors with Windex and made sure there was no dust or dirt on the frames. Then I masked off the hinges and door knobs.
- Then I gave the Masking Fluid a good mixing and poured some onto a paper plate. Using a 3” sponge brush, I applied a layer onto the glass making sure it was fully covered.
- I waited 2-3 hours and then applied two coats of paint.
- After my paint was 100% dry, I used a craft knife to score around the frame and then peeled off the masking fluid. It peels off like plastic wrap!
- Small areas still need a little touch-up but overall it looks great!
Here I’m applying the Masking Fluid with the large 3″ Foam Brush which works amazing. It got in all the corners and gave really good coverage.
Below is a close-up of how thick I applied this product. I dipped the brush into the masking liquid and butted the tapered edge of the foam brush along the edges of the frame. Then I reloaded the brush with the product and brushed the entire frame from top to bottom with a generous coat on the glass.
It doesn’t matter if it gets onto the wood as it will act like a primer!
Here’s how the Masking Fluid looks about an hour into dry time. It looks milky in the wet areas and clear in the dry areas.
After the paint dries, I scored the edges with a utility knife before pulling the product off. Just a note, be SURE to SCORE before you remove the film. For the first pane I peeled off, I forgot to score it and in the Saturday video I’ll share what NOT to do!
Once it’s scored and a tiny corner is pulled back, the mask pulls off flawlessly! Check this out! PERFECT and so satisfying!!
And here’s the finished look.
I bought new brushed brass door handles which I like WAY better than the crystal knobs I had on the white. I also picked up a new black and brushed brass/glass light fixture and added a textured carpet. I’m in the middle of filling the front door frame with wood filler and I’m thinking of painting the front door in Semi-Sweet black as well. What do you think?
I also want to change out these cute entryway pics (you can see the full DIY on this dollar store art here!) for something larger. Maybe a mirror? I’m all ears if you have any suggestions. 😊
I also want to paint the entryway and office walls off-white and buy a new rug for the office.
YOUTUBE TUTORIAL
Here’s a step-by-step tutorial on Youtube. If you have any problems viewing it below, feel free to watch it on my Youtube Channel HERE. Our #siyoutubefamily is already a community of 37.2K so don’t forget to subscribe if you haven’t done so already! So exciting, thank YOU! 🙂
PAINTER’S TAPE VS MASKING LIQUID
So my thoughts on painter’s tape VS the Masking Liquid – the results are the SAME. Looking at the finish, I can’t tell which side was sealed with the mask or which side was taped off. But, if you’re looking for a more cost-effective way of painting your french doors, I’d suggest the painter’s tape. If you don’t mind paying more to save yourself some time and effort, the Masking Fluid is the way to go. Both versions will give you a clean and crisp painted black french door.
And as a bonus, the Masking Fluid works like magic on ANY type of glass or mirror makeover. So if you don’t have any french doors to paint, no worries. This will be a time saver for ANY of your glass or mirror-painted projects. I still have 3/4 of the can left-over which I’ll be using on my next mirror project!
LET ME KNOW WHAT YOU THINK OF MY NEW BLACK-PAINTED FRENCH DOORS! OR FEEL FREE TO ASK ANY QUESTIONS YOU MAY HAVE… I ALWAYS LOVE HEARING FROM YOU. IT MAKES MY DAY! 🙂
Happy furniture painting friends!
Denise x
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curious, what brand of paint is the semi sweet?
I bought it from Lowes – Valspar 🙂
It LOOKS GREAT 👍🏼♥️ thank You For GREAT painting Tip Of Going OVER the windows And Doing the Slit❗️I Saw The 🥰 cute White Mirror on Other Side of the Wall If You Do Get A Larger Print If You Think any Of the Colors in the pictures Would Brighten The Wall where it IS , You Could Give It Color There😊G-d♥️Bless
I love this idea, thanks Cheri!😊
I also love black doors…….I have a French door at end of hallway leading into living area. There are 6 doors down the hallway (all white). I would like to paint the French door black but would it look ok leaving all other doors white? I also have double French doors leading to the patio, off the living area, black or leave white?? Thank you
Brenda
Hi Brenda! I’m wondering the exact same thing as you so I’m not sure how to answer. I did find this article on the do’s and dont’s of painting your doors black (and she did show pics of ALL the doors painted)… but I’m still confused.😆 If anyone reading this has any advice, Brenda and I are all ears!😊
I would love to this in my hall as well. However, I want to leave the backside of the doors white. Anyone have photos?
I’d like to see a photo of the entry again once you have painted the walls off-white. Looks wonderful.
Okay, will do. When I finish it up (or as I’m working on it) I’ll post the progress!😊
Denise, I love your French door! Of all the color choices you had, I agree that the one you chose is the best. That being said, I have to admit that I am not a fan of the color black, so I probably would not paint the other door black. But I also see that two doors the same color in the same area is almost a must. So I’ll leave that to your discretion. I think I’d be more open to “same color” situation if it were a lighter color, or even a deep jet blue.
I did order some of that masking fluid and the triangular brush. Can’t wait to try it on a paned, mirrored craft project. Thanks for the tips! Looking forward to your Saturday tutorial.
I think I picked the perfect black as well… at least for me and my taste. hehe And I’m so glad you’re going to try the Masking Fluid and Zibra brush. I think you’re going to love it Caye… super easy and the brush is amazing!🤗
Your french door looks beautiful painted black, much more modern! And I agree with a few of your other readers, I opt YES to paint the front door black too.👍
Thanks for this Nicki! I’m going to install the new door hardware first… but I think it would look great painted the same black too.🤗
Denise, I love the black door! And I would definitely paint the entry door the same black as well. And I love your idea of replacing the too small pictures with a black or gold frame large mirror, it would all be beautiful, as your home is already.
Thanks Linda! And ya, I think having the front door blacked out as well might make it all look more cohesive. And thanks for chiming in on the wall art!🤗
Hi Denise – the office door looks terrific!
My personal feel is that in your narrow hall if you paint the other door black it will break up the “flow” and make the hall look choppy. Fancy new door-knobs (which I’m sure you are planning) would look great though. Whatever you do will look wonderful because wonderful is what you do.
Sheila
Awwww, thank you! My brother-in-law gifted me some gorgeous new hardware for my front door so I’m looking forward to installing it. It’s in an oiled-bronze finish so I’ll see what that looks like against the existing white and then decide whether or not to paint it black. Love your opinion… my home decorating skills are rusty!😆
Hi Denise, I really like the black painted French door! I think it looks very classy! Great job and thanks for the info on the painters tape and the masking liquid.
I think the front door inside would look great in the black paint as well. And a good sized mirror flanking the door would look very nice, and have the frame be painted black too. Thanks for all of your creativity!
I think the black front door and a mirror would look good there too! Thanks Liz!!🤗
Very Interesting!
In a good way, I hope!😉
I love the black French door! So crisp and clean!! Great new look!! As for new art in the hallway, I would put one larger floral piece in place of the small ones. Get a little color in there!. ❤️. Cara
True…maybe it needs some color. I was also thinking a new hallway carpet with some color and blacks to tie it all together as well. I actually went shopping for new carpet but didn’t find anything but I’m keeping my eyes peeled. Now I’m going to keep my eyes peeled for some art as well! XOXO
You did a wonderful job on the door. The two little pictures on the wall are too small for the space. I would put a beautiful Mid size mirror, or a group of small mirrors that would reflect the door.
Ahhh, a group of smaller mirrors. I wouldn’t have thought of this!! Thank you, and so glad you like the door Enza!😃
I loved your paint job! The color was very soft and refreshing and not a stark and hard cold black.
Great choice.
Thanks Georgia, and I appreciate this! My sister thought I was picking the wrong black (when I told her I’m using the Semi-Sweet) because she said it’s not a ‘real’ black, but I’m soooo happy I didn’t go for the darker more true blacks. I’m really happy with this!
Beautiful upgrade, Denise. The black adds just the right touch to that space. The GOLD hardware is a classy look with black! 🖤 LOVE THIS SO MUCH. Pinned 🙂
I’ve heard about the masking liquid and totally forgot about. Man! I could have used that when we were painting the new home. There’s always a next time, right?
Thanks my friend! And ya, this masking fluid works amazing – you’d LOVE it! And I have a ton left over for some other mirror/glass projects!🤗
Hi Denise. Your front entryway is beautiful. My front door opens up right into my living room, which is standard in my area, but I’ve always wanted an entry:). The black French door looks amazing. Yes, definitely paint your front door in the same color. Thanks for the review on painter’s tape vs. Masking Fluid. I’m happy to hear the cheaper option works just as well cuz I’m FRUGAL! Lol
Thanks my friend! And ya, I’d never be able to tell which side I used the masking fluid on and which side I used the tape…same-same!😃