Our laundry machines occupy a small closet in the entry hall guarded by a fierce pair of louvered doors. But we’re not ready to replace functional doors just because they’re old and dirty, and bearing the scars of a lifetime of defending the washer and dryer from the angry hordes of the hallway. A bit of white paint might be all they really need!
Here they are in their original state, photographed during our first visit to the house. Yes, that orange hue is 100% true-to-life.
First up: removing the doors. Jim just wiggled ’em out of their tracks and we hauled ’em into our dining room, which thanks to its still-original carpet doubles as our “messy project” room. (Once we finish the flooring downstairs, the garage will take over that responsibility!)
A half-hour of scrubbing with a ret wag removed the thick layer of dust and lint from front and back. While they dried, I ventured to our paint stash and busted out a can of the same paint we used on the floor trims, which happens to be just regular ‘ole wall paint from Home Depot: Behr brand semi-gloss latex paint in a color known as “Popped Corn”.
These doors have hardly any finish on them, so I didn’t bother sanding them. Thank goodness the paint stuck anyway. The thought of sanding all those louvers was somewhat terrifying.
Before I show you the “after”, first take a gander at the battle damage these babies have suffered. Dings, dents, water warping galore, but all cosmetic issues easily covered with a nice creamy coat of paint. A nice creamy coat of paint that took me about six hours to apply to both doors (2 coats each). To save time, I did not paint the back sides. It’ll be my dirty little secret. ;)
We let ’em dry overnight and then put them back in their tracks. I was stunned at what a difference this made! Before they were shouting “CLOSET!”. Now they just whisper it. :)
