Front Porch Makeover with Schlage

You know you are in the homestretch  of finishing up a house when you start to go back and tweak projects you have already completed. Well, my front  porch is one such project.  When we first moved into our home the exterior was an unflattering dirty band-aid color, and the door was burgundy… Definitely not my first choice. Well, the exterior was not an initial priority,  so instead  I settled for painting the front door a nice shade of dark gray-blue , with plans of tackling the rest of the home exterior at a later date.

Well, last summer we finally did  paint the entire exterior of our home a nice gray color. (You can read about it here.)  Well, the house looks great, unfortunately  the door and the house seemed to blend together. So what’s a girl to do ?  DIY  it of course, I decided to update the front porch and give it a little pizzazz and definitely  update my hardware that I had spray painted and installed a little prematurely. (It never cured properly and was chipping.) So  I teamed up with my friends at The Home Depot and Schlage to bring you an awesome afternoon front porch makeover!

I already knew I definitely wanted to upgrade my door handle to the new Schlage Smart Home  Keyless  Set.  So before I  got started I took off the existing hardware. (When painting a door I find it much easier to get nice smooth strokes without a handle in the way. PLUS, installing new hardware is super simple.  Don’t be intimidated by it!

So lets’s get started. I first painted my door a pretty shocking color… YELLOW.   I knew I wanted to use a stain effect as my top layer. Seeing as I have a metal door, if I want it to look wood,  I first had to make it a color that mimics wood a little more closely. So unfortunately my deep blue was not going to cut it. 

So I painted it yellow and then waited for it to dry…The next part made me a little nervous. I used a Gel Stain to topcoat my door. I Had never attempted it before and this was my first attempt.   I first taped off all the the panels.  I then went along with a medium size paint brush and applied the stain to the crevice lining the perimeter of the panels.   I found that I needed to work fairly quickly with this medium, so I used a sponge roller to quickly apply the stain to the panel, and THEN I want over the gel stain with a coarse brush VERY lightly. I just wanted to give it some dimension.  I had tried a wood grain faux finish tool, and I was NOT great at it, so I resorted to this technique.

After all the panel were completed I moved on to the rails and the stiles of the door.  I always taped off the edged so that I would have a crisp line where the sections of door began and ended.   I always worked just one section at a time, because like I said it seemed to dry fairly quickly.   The process of painting and staining  was a little fast paced and nerve wracking, but the tricky part was over and I was on to the fun and easy part!   Adding new hardware to a door is always so satisfying.  I always feel like I am adding the last missing piece. In this case a very intuitive, high IQ, dare I say downright sexy piece!

When I was deciding on which handle set I wanted for the front door, it was a fairly simple decision.  I knew I definitely wanted a keyless entry. I have one on my shop and I absolutely LOVE it. So why mess with a good thing?  I decided on a Schlage Connect Smart Lock in the Bronze.

It is a super simple upgrade to any door and is  simple to install. It comes with detailed instructions and can easily  be swapped out in under ten minutes with just a screw driver!

Ok,  so this is why I LOVE the Schlage Keyless entry.  First of all, keyless,  hello!? You no longer have to go fishing through your purse looking for your keys. I also love knowing that if there were ever any dire circumstances I always know that the kids can get themselves into the house. (Of course I’m always home when my kids are, but as a Mom  I am basically a pro at imagining the worst case scenario.)  Another thing that I love is that it is so simple to set up  new pass codes. Are you going out of town for the week and need the neighbor to water the plants?  Well it’s super simple to set up a temporary  passcode just for the week! In fact you can have up to 30 different passcodes saved!  Not too shabby huh ? 

Of course it has all the bells and whistles and can actually  be hooked up to a z-wave hub that will open up a whole new world of possibilities!  I am talking about unlocking your phone remotely with your smart phone, you can even track  people coming and going and view  which passcodes were used on your phone!  Cool huh?  (This requires a Wink Hub,  but the  Schlage Connect Smart Lock is compatible .)

Plus, didn’t I say it was pretty!? The design is timeless and elegant and it comes with an extremely durable finish. I no longer need to worry about my door looking sad and faded.  This new hardware definitely completes this mini front porch makeover.  It looks classy, and gives me peace of mind knowing I have it as a reinforcement to my family and home’s safety.

Well folks,  there you have it. I one day  transformation that will drastically improve your curb appeal while also improving your home security.  That is what I call a win/win.

 Thanks so much for reading along, and Take Luck!

Corey 

*I acknowledge that The Home Depot is partnering with me to participate in the Smart Campaign promotional program.  As a part of the Program, I am receiving compensation in the form of products and services, for the purpose of promoting The Home Depot. All expressed opinions and experiences are my own words. My post complies with the Word Of Mouth Marketing Association (WOMMA) Ethics Code and applicable Federal Trade Commission guidelines.

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