How to Bring Back the Curb Appeal with Ronseal Direct to Metal Paint

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I have to admit that curb appeal has been somewhat lost on me until quite recently. I was always more of an ‘it’s what’s inside that counts’ kind of person.

After all, I’m INSIDE the house most of the time, rarely out the front looking at it. Well, that was my excuse, and I really did stick to it for, ahem, *quite* a few years.

However, since getting the bay window sorted out at the beginning of last year, a refresh of the mortar paint, more recently a new door colour and the fact the wisteria flowered this spring, albeit briefly, for the first time since I planted it five years ago, my curb appeal attitude has slowly but surely shifted.

I actually think the real reason I’d chosen to largely ignore it, is that I always saw it as a job that was just too big to take on. Bigger than me, a job that I just couldn’t possibly tackle without spending an absolute fortune.

With that overwhelming thought, I forgot that big things, even huge things can be achieved, if you take it little by little, one step at a time. And by breaking it down into jobs that can be done over a weekend, suddenly it doesn’t seem so daunting after all.

Little things like painting the gate. Ours had been neglected for years, in fact we have been in this house for over twelve years and never touched it. But these things can actually make a big difference, and really smarten things up!

So a few weeks ago, with the sun finally shining, I did just that. And funnily enough, it wasn’t nearly as difficult as I’d imagined it would be.

I set the kids to work doing some much-needed weeding whilst I scraped the flaking paint off the gate and gave it a light sand. I was totally dreading that preparation work, but it really didn’t take very long at all once I got stuck in.

When that was done, I gave it a wipe down with a damp sponge, and while it was drying, I gave the Ronseal Direct To Metal paint a good stir. I’ve gone with good old classic black.

The brilliant thing about this product is that it doesn’t require a primer, and you can use it on bare, previously painted or rusty, metal, cast iron, galvanised steel, aluminium or stainless steel.

With a narrow brush, I painted the first coat, then let it dry for two hours (in the glorious sunshine) before brushing on a second coat, then a third the next morning. It really didn’t look like it needed the third coat, but three coats are recommended for maximum protection, so that’s what I did.

And what a result! I can’t believe what a difference it has made, and it now looks so much smarter and actually brand new.

It was touch dry SO quickly which meant I didn’t have to worry about anyone touching it and ruining the finish (or getting covered in black paint), and the entire job could have easily been done in a day, if I’d started earlier.

It’s a water-based paint, so cleanup is super easy and there’s no need for white spirit, just clean as much excess of the brush off first, before rinsing it in water, and you’re done.

The consistency is great in that it’s not at all sticky and gloopy (a real pet hate of mine), thin enough to make it easy to brush on, but not so thin that it drips. I also really love the satin finish that I chose as it feels a little more contemporary which works with our gate design. However, it also comes in a gloss and matt finish too, and in a choice of six colours.

Don’t tell anyone that I didn’t put anything down to protect the ground, okay? But I didn’t get single drop anywhere it shouldn’t have been, but obviously I recommend you are much more sensible than I am.

It was so easy and with such a great result that I’m now considering exposing the fence railing and giving that a new lease of life too.

I really do think, that breaking a mammoth task down into small manageable one, is the way forward.

Next on my list is to tile over the existing and not very attractive doorstep tiles, reinstate a window box and then our house will be looking pretty smart!