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How I Made My Porch Happier with Paint

Outdoor Projects •  June 15, 2020

Simple Option To Update Handrails

Updating your front porch may be as easy as a coat of paint! This is how I painted my stained handrails white with a little time and some leftover paint making this a totally free upgrade!
Tan Vinyl Siding House with Wood Front Door and White Handrails

Home maintenance is a process, y’all! Especially when you can’t leave well enough alone and one project compounds into 3 or 4 projects! #storyofmylife!

Back Story

I started cleaning up and updating our front porch in the fall by pressure washing everything and sealing the front concrete sidewalk.

Then I tried out a paint process that makes our fiberglass door look like stained wood!😍

Stained Wood Front Door Under Porch Roof

Touch Up Stain and Paint

My next update to tackle was to freshen up the top of the handrails and touch up the paint on the spindles since pressure washing knocked off a lot of loose paint.

Peeling Exterior Paint After Power Washing

With the front door changed, I wasn’t sure what to do with the top of the handrails. So in my Instagram Stories a while back I shared how I was torn between touching up the stain on the handrails like I’ve done previously or using the same technique I used on the door. The latter would help to lighten them up a bit but also have them match something since the door they previously matched was totally different!

Some clever follower (though I can’t remember who!) suggested painting them white like the spindles! Bingo! Duh! Ah ha!

There’s so much brown going on on the front of our house: brown shingles, brown shutters, brown shakes on the gable, brown front door and brown handrails. And they don’t all necessarily match so it’s like having 5 different colors. Plus the heat from the direct sunlight these handrails get allll the time proved the stain to be more maintenance than originally intended!

Stained Front Porch Handrails After Pressure Washing

Prepping Handrails

The nice things about painting over stain is you don’t have to do much prep work!

Creamy White Exterior Painted Wood Handrails and 6x6 Post

I used a power sander with 120-grit sandpaper and went over the stain. The goal was to knock down some of the varnish, but it didn’t have to be down to bare wood. Once that was done on the tops and edges of the 2×6 handrails, I wiped off the sanding dust.

Pink Snapdragons in White Window Planter Box

Our exterior paint has primer in it so I didn’t particularly worry about priming before slapping on the first coat. It took 2 good coats of our white paint. But the results were immediate!😍

White Planter Box on White Porch Rails

And since I already had the paint bucket out to touch up the spindles, columns, and flower box, it was so easy to cap off each section with a coat of paint on the top!

Speaking of touching up paint…I also had some gaps and cracks around the porch that needed tending to before I could paint.

Cracked Porch Column Trim Needs Caulk

A gap like this one is super important to caulk. Water can get in there and rot the wood out so fast! But a quick line of paintable caulk and your worries are behind you!

White Porch Column After Caulking Crack Gap

If you have plans to paint anything on the outside of your house in the near future, you should definitely add a bottle of M-1 Mildewcide* into your paint at the hardware store. For about $5 you get extra protection against mildew and mold on your exterior painted surfaces. And if you get it when you get your paint tinted, the paint counter associate can shake it up in your paint can at the same time!

I’m not big on buying containers to store paint in just because. But the rim of our can of exterior paint had rusted so bad I couldn’t get it closed anymore. So for another $5, I picked up an empty paint can* at Home Depot to store our paint until the next time touch-ups are needed!

Updating Front Porch Columns with Fresh Paint

Sources:
Favorite paint brush*
Favorite chunky door mat*
Front Door Tutorial
Staining Handrails Tutorial
Updating Vinyl Shutters Tutorial
Painting Porch Floor Tutorial

Freshly Painted White Handrails

I hope this helps serves as a reminder of what a big change paint can make in and around your home! Sometimes that’s all you need!

It’s already been a few months since I painted these rails. They’re still looking fresh and they still make me happy when I pull into the driveway at the end of the day. And that’s what counts-your home making you happy!

Thanks for Checking In! ~Chelsea

*This post contains affiliate links. I will earn a small commission from your purchase without increasing the price for you!*

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Comments

  1. Susan S. says

    June 16, 2020 at 6:25 am

    Looks fabulous! I need to do this also but it’s been in the 90’s, to hot! Thanks for sharing!

    Reply
    • Chelsea Lipford Wolf says

      June 18, 2020 at 8:20 am

      Yes that’s a little too hot! Might be an early Saturday morning kind of project! I clipped a bed sheet to my porch when I was painting our front door to keep the sun from shining directly on it! Ha! The things we do to get things done! ~Chelsea

      Reply
  2. Michelle says

    July 4, 2020 at 5:51 pm

    Chelsea
    Love your idea on using armorall to beautify plastic shutters. It really works!
    Thank you

    Reply
    • Chelsea Lipford Wolf says

      July 7, 2020 at 8:27 am

      Awesome, Michelle! Glad it worked for you! ~Chelsea

      Reply
  3. GLORIA MATTHEWS says

    July 7, 2020 at 7:43 pm

    WOW–your email came just at the time I was trying to decide whether or not to paint my handrails and spindles. Thanks Chelsea, I read your tips and watch your show all the time.

    Reply
    • Chelsea Lipford Wolf says

      July 9, 2020 at 11:04 am

      Awesome, Gloria! Thanks for sharing! It really was a change for the better for our house! ~Chelsea

      Reply
  4. Brad Newbill says

    October 11, 2020 at 6:20 pm

    What brand and model of hand held paint sprayer do you recommend

    Reply
  5. Linda McAdam says

    March 2, 2021 at 11:51 am

    I would like to know the paint sprayer suggestion also! What did you use to paint your workshop pink? (recently viewed episode with Danny)

    Reply
    • Chelsea Lipford Wolf says

      March 2, 2021 at 3:40 pm

      Here’s an affiliate link to get it on Amazon! https://amzn.to/386wzX4

      Reply

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