REPURPOSING VINTAGE DOORS...A Short Tutorial

HOW TO RE-PURPOSE OLD DOORS

Several weeks ago I shared with you some pictures I snapped of the vintage doors I have re-purposed in our home! I love decorating with vintage finds...especially old doors and windows! I just can't pass up wonderful old architectural pieces...especially when I can get them for FREE! Since making that original Post I've gotten more emails than I can even say about the doors...lots of questions about "How to Hang Them" and "What was used for the shelf brackets?", etc.

Since I've had an extraordinarily busy week (keeping our Miss K for her last week of school)...I thought I'd do a quick recap for those of you I've yet to respond to. Sorry to be soooo tardy in getting back to you all!

First...let me tell you about paint...

If you plan on using old doors and windows that are chippy and distressed...please...PLEASE seal them! More often than not they were painted with lead-based paint and you do not want those poisonous flakes and stuff flying through the air. Give those babies a couple coats of a low-luster acrylic sealer and you should be great! If you opt to repaint them (I almost always do because even though I like vintage I do NOT like dirty), don't forget to PRIME. Again...use ZINSSER PRIMER! The best! A couple coats of your favorite paint (I lover Behr Paint...a bit pricey $$$ but the best!) and you are just about ready to embellish!

Before you decide if you want your door to have a shelf (or two or even three!), you need to think about how you are going to hang it on your wall. When I owned a retail gift shoppe several years ago my My AGPMan designed "stands" for them so they could be displayed "free-style" anywhere in the store. For my home I wanted to hang them directly on the wall. I'm not able to take pictures of the brackets my guy made for mine because they are already hung in place. But, simply put, he made "tongue and groove" brackets, two pieces cut out of solid oak. One half was put on the door and one half was put on the wall...about the width of the door. This way you can lift the door off the bracket or even slide it side to side a little bit to get it in the right spot! Makes sense? Doors are heavy and having the slider/oak brackets makes it easier to change things around and CLEAN!

GUESTROOM - SWEET DECORATIVE DOOR

If you have a Hobby Lobby Decorative Center in your State then you are blessed like us Oklahomans! I found these great vintage-looking brackets in their garden center and I used them for holding up all the decorative shelves. I painted mine with spray paint made especially for metal projects (Rustolemum is good) and then distressed them. A simple piece of plywood was measured and cut, gently rounded and sanded, painted, and then attached to the prepared brackets. The shelf was then hung in place!

VINTAGE STYLE BRACKETS

Now...I've seen doors re-purposed that were made for use in a cottage bath or shower. DARLING! Shelves are placed all the way down the door and they are a great (and beautiful) way of holding pretty towels, bath soaps, etc... They are also fabulous for store owners...darling for displaying wreaths or add just a decorative hook on the top front for clothing...promise you...they look beautiful!

DOOR IN UPSTAIRS LANDING

I've opted to hang vintage lace pieces behind the glass in my doors. On the ones we just finished hanging in our guestroom (promise to show pictures soon!), they are solid, no glass! So...I'm either going to embellish them with artwork (roses, of course!) OR....I may add carved decorative pieces to them and leave them as they are...can't decide! :( Since I love cottage decor and shabby chic anything...it's sometimes a challenge to make every room beautiful AND unique. I don't want our gathering room to look like our bedroom~ These doors match and have the most unbelievably 2die4 doorknobs and faceplates...yi yi yi!

That said...I'm considering doing the room in light creams with very pale/soft sepia tones and fresh white...lightly antiqued furniture with neat old linens, etc. I'm THINKIN'....can you tell...THINKIN' I SAY! :)

BRACKETS USED FOR SHELVES

I promise to share with you in a few days pictures of the old sewing table we found last week. It is already painted (sometimes I work FAST!) and it is beautiful! Since the cabinet was fairly weathered from lack of care, I didn't mind one bit in giving it a paint job...

Thanks for stopping by again on this lazy-hazy day! Promise to have more for you soon!

Blessings to you and you figure out how everyone is doing all that neat stuff out there...when in doubt...ASK...Rebecca