About five weekends ago I did a little foyer makeover but there was something missing—enter our new DIY salvaged door:
I couldn’t help but share a little preview on my instagram while staining it on Saturday…
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Materials list
- 2×8′ sheets of maple wood veneer
- Cabinet grade plywood (ripped down to 4″ strips)
- Contact cement
- Wood stain
Plain door Before
There’s not a lot of sources for real vintage doors around here, and the ones I do find are either not the right size or style, or would need too many mods to fit, or they’re just too expensive.
The existing door was one of those cheap-o hollow core synthetic wood deals… and it was pretty beat up. You can really see the fake wood grain texture here…
If you have one of those old school plain wood doors it would be ideal for this project, assuming you could sand down the stain a bit. Because mine wasn’t real wood, unfortunately I couldn’t strip & sand the paint off. That meant I had to face my worst nightmare again… wood veneer.
Cut veneer with a sharp utility knife
If you saw my post about my first attempt at this, you’ll understand why I hate it so much. Although to be fair, it’s the contact cement I hate—not the veneer.
Fortunately, I only needed veneer in the centers of the door so there was minimal cutting involved. I just trimmed the length with a sharp utility knife (it didn’t have to be exact at all since the edges would be covered by wood).
Apply contact cement liberally
This time I used a LOT of contact cement. Two solid coats.
Attach the veneer sheet
And I waited 20 minutes before applying the veneer.
And it worked.
I thought I was going to have to veneer the inside edge, but I started sanding and realized this piece was actually real wood (score!) So I just stripped & sanded the paint off.
After veneering both sides, I brought the door inside of the house to adjust to the climate. On my last attempt, my table had sat in the garage for 2 days and after I brought it inside it was ruined, so the temperature shift definitely had something to do with it. I thought if I brought it inside right away, it would have a chance.
Keep in a climate controlled area while drying
That evening around midnight, I checked on it and was horrified to see that it had started bubbling! Not as bad as my console table, but still… I was so bummed. I smoothed it down as best as I could and called it a night, expecting to see the bubbles come back by morning. But surprisingly… I woke up and it was completely smooth.
Not sure what happened there, but I didn’t want to take any more chances so I decided to finish this project inside…
Back in the garage, I had plywood strips cut to 4″. I bought a sheet of cabinet grade plywood at Lowe’s ($30) and had them cut it for me. I would have done it myself, but the sheet was too big to fit in my car so I let them do it.
Let me tell you… those workers don’t care about your project as much as you do, so they’re just going to run your board through the cutter as fast as they can and you’re going to end up with a lot of crooked pieces.
I only needed about 7-8 boards, so I set aside the straightest ones to use for this project.
Use an arbor bit to cut a door handle opening
I started with one of the vertical pieces that ran along the outside edge where the door handle would be. After cutting the length to size, I traced inside the door hole and used an arbor around the same size to cut it out:
Attach longest plywood strips
Then I lined it back up on the door and used 1″ finishing nails every several inches to attach my piece:
And the first piece was on!
Up went the next one…
Attach horizontal plywood strips
Then I measured and cut my horizontal strips. I went with 6 which appears to be standard for old doors.
Then I flipped it over and repeated the process:
Stain door
And finally, it was time for stain.
I used a blend of Minwax’s Dark Walnut combined with touches of Rustoleum’s Driftwood and Weathered Gray. There was no real method to this… I just dipped my sponge in and spread it around however I thought looked best. I intended for it to look weathered so I wasn’t aiming for perfection.
Tip: use wood conditioner first for more even coverage!
Lightly sand to age wood
Then I took some 60 grit sandpaper and roughed it up until I was happy with the results.
Adjust and reinstall door casing trim
Before rehanging it, we had to deal with this door casing. Because I made the door wider, these inside pieces of trim had to be pushed back so the door would latch properly.
We removed the strips…
It was pretty rough looking under there, so I sanded everything down while Brad removed the old nails.
Before putting them back on, the door went back on the hinges…
Then I stepped inside the closet with my air compressor and flashlight, shut the door, lined the casing strips back up and nailed them in.
Finished result
A bit of caulk & paint later, and this project is done!
And here’s the new light in action:
I love the way it warms up the space.
One day I’ll give the inside of this closet a makeover…
Here’s the view from the entrance to the kitchen:
And reflecting in from the mirror…
Looking for more DIY door makeovers? Try these tutorials!
Anonymous says
Love this! Just curious, what ratio did you use for the stains?
Anonymous says
I already bought some wood stain to experiment with. Planning on doing this asap!
Anonymous says
Jenna ! I called a door company that replaces door and asked if the had any old doors that they had replaced and they did and they will usually sell them cheap or give them to you ! Check your phone book, and give it a try, I got mine for a donation to a church lucked out
~Lisa~ says
I'm in love with this. I have been looking for a way to redo my hollow-core doors without the hassel of moulding and mitering corners and measuring and all that nonsense. I knew I had seen stuff like this before but so glad you made a simple tutorial on yours especially with the adjustment of the door strips. I plan to start my redo this week with gel stain on the doors and painting the ugly gold knobs I have 🙂
Hi Sue says
I have had this idea in my head for yrs…. actually did the back of my bathroom door with leftover beadboard and it turned out great…. now on to the other doors….. Thanks for confirming my idea can work!!!
hawthorneandmain says
So cute! All of my doors in my 1950's house are hollow wood doors. I just might do this to them. I am going to include this tutorial in my favorite things friday over at hawthorneandmain.com.
Jenna Sue says
I really like the doorbell! It's an old school style buzzer/bell so there's no chime or speaker or anything. I think it's fun 🙂 And it's so cheap, you can just replace it if you don't like it.
Dawn Fritz says
Jenna Sue: What a great idea! I have the identical front doors as you do and a small closet in just about the same location and want to try this. This if OFF TOPIC, but I notice your doorbell. I almost purchased it this weekend to replace my old 70s chimes. I'm wondering how you like it. Does it make enough noise? What does it sound like? It's certainly better looking than the small, white plastic doorbell I ended up buying and I'm wondering if I should go with one like yours. Thanks for any info you can provide.
Rucha says
Thanks, that's definitely good to know 🙂
Pine Tree Home says
WAAAH! This is amazing. Now I want to run to Lowes and get wood and do this on my cheap doors. I am so happy you showed us how you took the trim off and just re-attached it. I'm so doing this.
Jenna Sue says
Thanks for “de-lurking” Leanne, hope to see you around more! 🙂
Leanne says
I don't normally comment (I'm one of those quiet “stalker” readers:). But wow!! Wow!! Wow!!
Anonymous says
Wow! That turned out great! Fab idea and execution. -Idil
Jenna Sue says
It's a pretty low wattage bulb (I think 40?) so it doesn't hurt your eyes when you look at it or anything. We tried different LED bulbs but they just don't look as clean—they're not really made to be exposed. The simple clear ones just blend in better. The light never stays on, we only flip it on for a second at night if we need to see by the door so I'm not too worried about how it lights the space 🙂
Rucha says
Gorgeous as always! I definitely took some tips regarding veneer, I've been debating between that and plywood to refinish my coffee table. Love the lamp, but I gotta ask, how jarring is the bare bulb in reality? I love the look of bare bulb lamps but I always wonder how they affect the space.