Painting a Shaker Style Door

You might be wondering where to start, wondering if painting a door by hand is the most sensible or most ridiculous idea.  If you have a shaker door that needs painting or are buying paintable shaker doors for your project, the process really is simpler than you might think.  There is a video at the end of the page but make sure you read through for additional info.

Our paintable wardrobe doors were once mortice and tenoned and then sent to our spray booth for priming but this is old fashioned now we have the very latest technology available to us.  Instead of priming, sanding and worrying about joints cracking, we now produce a shaker door with a paint grade vinyl coating.  This means the flaws, imperfections and joints are no longer visible or present to cause issues as the door ages with time.  This is a huge leap for DIYers now as we offer the most simple product for onward painting on the market today.  Our product does not require primer, you can topcoat over the surface with ease, so long as you use the right paint.*

The first step is to prepare your door surface.  A light sand is all you need to give the door surface sufficient texture or key to allow the paint to stick to the surface.  From a professional standpoint we would recommend using a sand paper of around 240grit, no finer and not lower than a 180 grit.  In DIY terms, this equates to a medium/fine sand paper.  In simple terms, we are looking for an abrasive paper to create a key in the surface, not scratches that we need to repair.  On the other end of the scale, too fine a sand paper will just polish and reduce the adhesion potential that we are looking for.

The second step is GOOD PAINT and personally I have fallen into the trap of thinking all paints are made equal.  They are not.  If you go to B and Q and look for a big tub of your favourite colour, without much thought about the quality of the paint then you are going to fall at the second step.  We are looking here for high quality paint with high solid contents.  From a professional point of view, this is the only type of paint we look for.  From a DIY point of view, this is going to feel expensive but it is a cost that reduces the time spent achieving the end goal.  In simple terms, we want a colour quality that needs 2 coats MAX.  We recommend Little Greene Paints, they are super thick almost syrupy, but you will see straight away that this is going to be enjoyable.

The third step is correct application and this is also very simple.  Choose a good brush, about 1” wide is fine unless the door is huge then use a 1” for the smaller details and then go for a 2 or 3” brush for larger areas.  When it comes to a neat finish, you need to look at the lines a paint brush leaves behind.  These are not the eyesore you think, but the tool to transform paint into a finish.  Vertical parts of the door (sides of the door and main panel in centre) need to be brushed vertically.  Put the paint on and then go over with secondary brush strokes to get the paint brush lines nice and neat and continuous in the same direction.  In the video, Phil explains exactly what is required here.

The fourth step is a second coat which is applied after sufficient drying time for the first coat has elapsed.  In our video we only had to wait 2-3 hours but this can vary depending on temperature etc.  Once the paint has dried, it is important to lightly sand the first coat to promote adhesion for the second coat.  We are not looking to remove any paint, nor are we looking to reveal more of the paintable surface we have worked so hard to cover.  This final sanding process is just to add a key to the dried paint.  The second coat needs to be applied evenly and you need to pay attention to brush lines as this is the coat that really shows.  Once complete, leave to dry somewhere flat so the door stays in perfect condition.

Step back and enjoy all of your hard work.  See, we told you it was simple and we were right!  Now you can take on any painting work in the home hopefully with the confidence and understanding required.  All it ever takes is a little thought and preparation and you can tackle anything.

*As with all things, a disclaimer from us, we promote the use of good paints, Little Greene were our choice and the brand we tested.  We have not tested any other paints and so we advise caution when selecting a different brand.  If you do decide to select a different brand, please perform your own test in a small area so that you can make the right choice for your project.