Since we've moved, we've been in need of a room for our records and record player. I wanted something with an older, repurposed feel. I found some old doors, from a school, on craigslist. I got some inspiration from Queen of I Was Gonna. This also links to a spectacular tutorial from Ana White. I decided to add cleats to support the shelves. Since this shelf will be holding lots of heavy records, I figured it could use the extra support. I found this for help with cleats. (Which I'll also use when I update our closet.)
I didn't get a good "before" photo of the door, but here she is on some horsies. First, I sanded it down and filled in any cracks and holes with wood filler. The bottom of the door was warped, so I had to saw off some bits to make it a nice, straight line.
Then, I added the cleats. I used 1x2 boards. The first one was ~4 inches from the bottom. Then, I placed them 13 inches apart (from top of the cleat to the top of the next cleat). I didn't place the cleats all the way across the door. I left enough space for the shelves I was going to attach. Also, our garage and basement don't have level floors. So, I used my trusty carpenter's square to make sure things were level. All the cleats are at a 90 degree angle with the side of the door.
Next were the sides. I needed the sides to be at least 13 inches deep. But, the widest boards available were 12 inches. So, I lined up 4 1X4's. I attached them together with the cleats. A kreg jig is on my Christmas list right now. But, for this project, I just let screws show. I filled them with wood filler and painted them, so they're not obvious in the finished project anyway. Again, the cleats didn't go all the way across. I left room, so that they would butt up against the cleat on the back.
Then, I attached the shelves. I used two 1x8's. And because lumber has its own dimensions, two 8x1's does not equal four 4x1's. I had to trim a little bit of width from one of the boards. I just used drywall screws to screw them into the cleats. I cut the top shelf so that it would hang over a half inch on each side, and a little in the front. For no functional reason, I just liked the way it looked. Then, I filled all the screw holes with some wood filler and sanded away.
Then, I taped away and painted away. I started with a coat of Valspar primer for bare wood. Then, I painted with a coat of Valspar Dark Truffle. The photos do this color NO JUSTICE. It is a gorgeous, mocha-colored brown. The leftover paint will be used to refinish our coffee table. After letting that dry, I slapped on a coat of Valspar Front Door Red. I only used one coat, because I wanted some of the dark brown to show through. It originally was my intent to distress it a bit. But, I ended up loving the way it looked, so it will stay this way for now.
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| Valspar Dark Truffle and Front Door Red |
I had to replace a window with one from another door. I didn't get any photos of this. But, I just popped off the frame, and the window easily slid out. It was just held in by a nail. The next step was to cover the windows with textured wallpaper. I used something called "craft goo" on the edge of each window, and then used plain elmers glue to fill in the inside. Then, I placed the paper on. I painted the tiles with Martha Stewart Metallic Textured Paint, Pyrite. It is VERY thick if you use it.
