WHAT'S BEHIND THE RED DOOR

RE-PURPOSING A COOL OLD DOOR

NEED A ROOM DIVIDER..USE AN OLD DOOR

I love old doors.  Any old doors.  My house has many different doors used in various settings.  Barn doors are used to hide A/C units, open into bathrooms, one is a headboard and this one is a divider used to separate the refrigerator from the kitchen seating area.  It started out with a boring chippy green color. We changed it to a pretty barn red.

First step is to clean and sand the old finish. Then apply whatever color your décor suggests.  We chose this worn barn red.

The next step is to sand the red to whatever "chippiness" fits your taste.  Then apply a dark stain to give it a nice warm worn appearance.  Last you apply a coat of clear satin protective. Polyurethane is usually what we use.  Sometimes for the final finish we apply a coat of wax rubbed to a nice patina.

Added architectural  elements make the door more interesting.  We added a couple of old hooks, a bit of chalk paint, glass door knob and an old handle which holds an antique towel nicely.

The chalk board can be used to write notes or just add a bit of whimsy.

We hung the door from large antique rusty chains mounted to an old piece of wood.  This helped preserve our wood ceiling and still adds to the look.

FUN....INTERESTING AND STILL A WORK IN PROGRESS

I am sure as time goes by, I will be adding more funkiness to this door.  I am thinking a nice piece of rusty tin might find a home on one of the panels.

Now go check in your stash of junk and see what door you can find to bring inside your home and put to a new fun use.

I BALK AT CHALK

PAINTING THE OLD FASHIONED WAY

 

BEFORE

 

 

 PRETTY IN BLUE.. AFTER PAINTING USING SPRAY PAINT, SANDPAPER, STAIN AND WAX

The popular product DIY'ers are using today is chalk paint or a variation of chalk paint. I have tied many paints and products over the years. Buttermilk paint was the rage some years back. I did love the colors offered. Seems I always come back to my old, tried and true method.  I use spray paint, sandpaper and wax. You can layer on color, experiment rather easily and it certainly is cost friendly. This is my method of choice on small items.  Larger items I use latex paint.  I can mix and match. Layer and use various stains and processes to achieve the look I want.  Calk paint gives a very nice look, but I am just too cheap to use it and besides, with practice,  side by side there is little difference.

Try your hand at re-doing, re-purposing or whatever you want to call it on a small project.  You can change your décor with little expense and a lot of fun.