After I completed my thin brick front porch with Old Mill Brick (see the full tutorial and all the photos HERE), I would sit and stare at my porch for much longer than was probably socially acceptable. I loved the warmth and character that came from the rich brick tones against the bright white of the house. I loved how different it looked in a neighborhood of cement front porches. I loved how it brought instant curb appeal to my home. But I didn’t love how it looked against my front door.
Now I am going to start this tutorial off by saying that my front door was beautiful. The Sherwin Williams Tricorn Black against the Snowbound white paint of my home made for such a traditional look that matched perfectly with my colonial style home. However, I stop dead in my tracks every single time I pass a home with a wood front door. I knew I wanted one and could visualize how well it would look up against my home, but the price. Ohhhh myyy…
An entire wood front door package is an…investment.
So I put it on the back burner until I stumbled on THIS PRODUCT on Amazon.
Retique Faux Wood kit has the ability to create a wood-LOOK on a surface without it being wood at all. You can feel the wood grain, you can see the wood grain, even if there is no wood whatsoever. It’s one of the most incredible products I’ve used in a quite extensive DIY history. So let’s get into it. Here’s how I turned my black door and white side lights into a faux wood door package that could trick the likes of any of you into believing I put in a brand new wooden door!
Materials
Sandpaper – 120 grit and 220 grit
Retique Wood Kit – I used it in the Barnwod kit
Paint Brush (my favorite) – I used 1 additional one beyond what came in the kit
Minwax solid stain tinted to the shade Early American
Rags or old t-shirt
Additional tools that may come in handy
The Process
Now I do need to preface this tutorial with the fact that I do in fact have a wood door on my front porch. HOWEVER, it is covered in 4 layers of paint. To strip that paint off and sand that down to the bare wood would take days (possibly weeks). What does one do with no front door for that amount of time? Logistically, stripping my door and sanding it down just is not an option for me. I have to be able to keep my door hung and used during this process. So when I talk about sanding the surface with an orbital sander, I do so because it is wood. If you have a steel door, I recommend hand sanding the surface or just take greater precaution using the orbital.
First up, use 120 grit sandpaper to sand the door, followed up with 220 grit sandpaper to give a soft and smooth finish to it. Dust the door off with a tack cloth or microfiber towel to give a nice clean surface to begin on.
Inside your Retique kit, there is a “light wood” paint and a “dark wood” paint. Coat your entire door in the light wood paint first. It took my door 2 coats to cover completely. Allow to dry in between coats.
In small sections on your door (I did each panel and each vertical or horizontal board in between panels at a time), paint the “dark wood” paint. Immediately, use the included stencil from top to bottom to create a faux wood grain within the section. I started at the top of the section and then wobbled my hand back and forth while pulling the stencil down the area. Brush the residual paint off the stencil with a paint brush and move on to the next row.
I tried to alternate when I wobbled my hand to create different patterns with my wood grain. For a video of how this is done, check out my Reel tutorial below to see how it works!
Work your way, section by section until the door is completely covered in this wood grain. Allow to dry completely.
There is a stain included in this kit which I chose not to use. I attempted in the first section and didn’t love the color. You may love the look of it and skip the steps I used below! I would try it on a scrap piece of wood first and decide what your next move will be!
Once dry, I took a paint brush and brushed on Minwax solid stain the shade Early American. These solid stains can be tinted to so many different colors so this is where you can really be as creative as you’d like to be to find the perfect tone. After I brushed on a section, I went back over it with an old cut up t-shirt to wipe off any excess. Then I continued moving across the door in small sections until it’s complete. Allow to dry completely.
Again, you could choose to stop right here and decide that you love the color and be finished. I, however, wanted to add a little bit more richness to the door so I decided to add a light coat of Minwax wood stain in Jacobean to the door. This is NOT a solid stain. The solid Early American stain is still the main color, but by adding the Jacobean on top, it gave it a darker tint that I felt made it warmer and more realistic to a wood grain. Where the wood grain was more distinct from the stencil, this darker stain clung to it more and made it appear more true to an natural wood.
Finally, I applied a urethane to the door to keep intact and beautiful through even the most harsh weather that the Midwest can throw at us.
All in, this project cost me under $160. Actual wood door packages would cost me in the ballpark of $3,000. I’ll take this cost-saving DIY every single time!
Follow along here at growingupkemper.com, on Instagram @growingupkemper, Pinterest @growingupkemper, and on LTK for all the attainable DIY, tips, tricks, and inspiration!
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