Time Underestimated - Faux Wood Garage Doors

After we moved into our new house a few years ago, I wanted to have real wood garage doors installed. Well...I didn't get them, it turns out they are really, really, really expensive. But, I wanted them. So, I found a tutorial online on how to paint faux wood doors. That was it! The seed had been planted, this was now on my to-do list of projects and I couldn't forget about it. I was determined. About a month ago, I finally had the opportunity to start this project. So, I was off to the local Sherwin Williams store with my paint colors picked out, my printed tutorial in hand, and tons of excitement to start this grand project. When I started telling the man behind the counter about my plans, I felt it going south pretty quickly. The more I was excited about what I was going to do, the more he explained the impossibility of the whole project. He explained how difficult it is to do faux painting and that I would probably not be able to do it as the average DIY'er has a hard time.

...Enter doubt stage left...

I ended up leaving the store that day without the paint and enough self doubt to bring me to the belief that I was not going to be able to execute this beautiful door I had pictured in my mind. Shortly after we got into the car, boy did my husband get the worst of it! I was happy to let him know that the man behind the counter did not understand my skill level. I was furious that he would even suggest that I would not be able to pull this off. Didn't he know who he was talking to? I can make anything! Just ask my 10 year old daughter! How dare he??? By the time we got home, I was mad enough to want to prove him wrong. I WILL DO THIS GARAGE DOOR AND I WILL SUCCEED! I went back to the same store a week or so later and I kept my mouth shut. I ordered my paint, waited patiently until it was mixed and quietly left with renewed excitement.

This is how it started...

Step one was to paint the entire door a base coat color called Tatami Tan. This is where the neighbors had to be excited. The best way to describe this color is... hmmm...peach! Ok, maybe a caramel colored peach. After I painted the base coat, the next step was to tape off vertical grain areas. This was a very important step as it gave the illusion of perfectly mitered joints.

Below is what the neighbors were left with at the end of Day 1. WOWZA!

The next day I got up bright and early and ready to finish this project off! Yay me! Let's do this!
It was at this moment that I seriously underestimated the amount of time I needed to complete this project. After 8 hours of carefully taping each panel, painting each vertical grain with a layer of brown called java, then a mixture of java and black, I had to call it a day. I was exhausted.
The neighbors had to be really excited now. I actually had one guy come down to find out exactly what I was doing because he wanted to make sure I wasn't painting my doors peach. Um...yeah...ok buddy... get some landscaping, then come talk to me about my garage doors!

This is how Day 2 finished up.

You can tell from this photo, darkness had fallen... I painted the bottom row so that hopefully my neighbors would see where I was going with this monstrosity.

Monday came as it always does and my project had to wait until after work. It's fall here in Michigan, so I was racing against the clock for both sunshine and decent weather. I was still excited about my project though, so I was back at it as soon as I got home from work until darkness forced me inside.

After two weeks of this relentless schedule and life creeping in here and there, the excitement started to diminish. I can't believe how long it is taking me to do these doors!

I completed this project yesterday, but not without cursing this door the entire day. I just wanted to be done. I questioned over and over and over again, why I started such an enormous project.
And then...
I stepped back...
snapped my photo...
and there it was, everything I had pictured in my head.
My wood garage door.
I did it!
Take that Sherwin Williams guy!
How ya like me now???????

Excited and overjoyed, I said to my husband "what do you think? Do you like it?" His response: "Are you going to do the front door now?"

We'll see...I can't even think about it right now... we'll see.

~Sheila

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