I have quickly learned to never turn down a piece of junk! It may not be vision at first sight but it will soon come! My BFF, Lauri, is a true friend! I cannot count how many times she has called me willing to dumpster dive through someones trash if I was interested! That’s where this story begins. Several months ago I got a phone call from Lauri saying ~ I just passed a door on the side of the road….it’s not a whole door but do you want it? Well, duh! Great friend I have ~ she not only loaded it into her car on the side of the road, she also brought it to my house for me! I have had many visions in the past months for this 3/4 of a door but I wasn’t super excited about any of them until this vision! I had a hunch this would make the perfect focal point for my mantel!
Here she is the 3/4 door!
I started by taking the hardware off with a Dewalt battery powered drill.
I then marked off a line for cutting…..
and began cutting with a Dewalt battery powered circular saw.
Time for sanding! I lightly sanded all over to make painting easier and to clean off the cobwebs and dust.
I painted her with Behr Cozy Cottage Satin…
distressed with my 3M sanding block (80 grit paper)
and painted on Minwax Red Mahogany Stain over the distressed edges.
Ralph stopped by for another visit (remember ~ paint on then wipe away)
While I was waiting for her to dry I went to JoAnn’s and found the perfect cardboard T on sale for $4.00 ( T is for our last name)
She looked great with 2 coats of Behr Forever Black!
I used Gorilla Glue to secure the T to the center of the “door”.
I found these two unfinished wooden corner pieces at JoAnn’s for $2.00 ~ painted them with the Behr Cozy Cottage and a touch of Ralph
and secured them to the top corners using Gorilla Glue!
Now for the finishing touch ~ I wanted this to still resemble a door so I purchased a large knob at Hobby Lobby for $3.00. I drilled a hole to screw in the knob.
Perfect!
I LOVE my new mantel focal point! It was so easy and almost FREE!!!! If you would like to make one of these and don’t have a junky door laying around you can always buy one at a hardware store and follow these same easy steps! I hope you have been inspired!
Cute idea! Love your letters!
F.A.B.U.L.O.U.S!! What a fantastic idea. Gotta love those big letters at JoAnn's!
Very creative! I love it!
Your blog is so cute and I love the door. I'm gonna follow your blog!
What a great idea and so creative!!! You girls come up with such amazing ideas!!!
This is too original!! Great Job!
Hey ladies! This is the first time I have been to your blog but I will be back for the party! Love the old door. It looks fantastic!
Love it … something from nothing.
Love, love, love it! You girls are always soooo creative!
What an amazing project! I am loving all the ideas I have seen using old doors. This one is just fabulous!
Love this! I'll have to look in Joanns because I haven't seen these big initials.
It's adorable. Looks like a lot of work went into creating its cuteness. Come visit sometime!
Beth
OMG I just saw a beat up door today! Is 10.30 too late for a 6 month prego to go driving around and lugging away solid wood doors? Probably. They might think I was up to no good. This is a great idea though. I did notice last week that the ReStore had a TON of doors for $25 and under. Usually I build things new but now I am re-thinking it all!
WAY COOL!!!
Thanks for the shout out, friend!! I am still mad at Don for throwing out that chair i went and got for you. He just didn't see the chic in it, only the shanty! MEN!!!
I am also quite impressed with your safety glasses. Always wear your saftey glasses!!!! Safety, safety safety!!!!!!!!
-Lauri