How to Add Character to Your Home With a Vintage Door
I am so excited to share this vintage door DIY project with you! Why? Because this might be one of my favorite projects we’ve attempted. Also, we learned a few important things along the way. So come along on this ride today all about giving a thrifted vintage door new life and the lessons we learned.
I had doubts during this process that we could actually accomplish what we set out to do. However, I’m happy to say WE DID IT…albeit with a little help. 😘 TWO WHOLE YEARS.
For two years this door sat in our garage waiting patiently for its new owners (us) to bring it back to life. The thought of refinishing it was equally daunting and exciting.
We made a brief attempt to start the project when we first brought it home but quickly decided it was more complicated than we anticipated. It was, therefore, placed on the back burner for a period of time.
However, two years later, we worked up the courage (and energy) to attempt refinishing it again. We also found ourselves with a free day due to some plans getting changed last minute and thought let’s do this.
The Story of the Vintage Door
This vintage door was surprisingly reasonably priced at $50 in a local antique mall. When my husband Jeff and I first saw the door we both felt immediately drawn to it.
Every so often we find a budget-friendly treasure in an unexpected place. If you want to learn more about my thrifting endeavors check out my post Thrifting: How to Thrift and What to Look For
There was something about the door that we were drawn to. Jeff came up with the idea of using it to replace the door to our finished basement. I was on board immediately and we bought it. Our basement door has a prominent place in our kitchen and we knew it would add warmth and character to the space if we could bring it back to life and if it would fit.
Why a Vintage Door
Let me take a minute to talk about using vintage pieces to add a touch of soul to your home. There was a time when I dreamed of buying an old farmhouse and restoring it. Old things have always caught my eye. We just visited the Biltmore Estate in Ashville, NC. I loved every minute of going back in time and pretending to live in that time period.
While I loved the idea of restoring an old farmhouse, given the reality of cost and time this dream never came to fruition. I’m okay with that and have no regrets. We even got to live in a 200-year-old farmhouse for four years at one of our churches so I experienced a little of the dream!
I have altered the vision now to add touches of vintage to our home and mixing the old with the new is now something I love to do. If you haven’t tried it yet I highly suggest it.
Making our house a home is what home decor is all about for me. While you will find some posts on home decor on my blog, the main emphasis and reason behind Kim Grant Home is to encourage moms through the journey of motherhood and home.
My desire and goal for any home decor post are related more to making your home a place you and your family love to be, now, and for years to come. It’s all about making it cozy, warm, inviting, and safe.
This year has been the year of thrifting for me. I decided at the beginning of the year to do my best to only buy thrifted pieces for our home. I’ve done fairly well actually and have loved searching for and finding treasures on a budget and sometimes even for free.
So let’s get to it! What did we do to give this vintage door new life and make it part of our home? It sounds easy, right? Sand down the door, stain it, and hang it on the door jam. Yes, that would be easy if that were the case but not so much for this project. Let the work begin.
First Attempt Failed
The door had several coats of paint and stain on it. We attempted to take a straight orbital sander to it. That was our first mistake. The sanding pads immediately became gummy and filled with paint and whatever was over the paint.
New Plan
Onto the furniture stripper. We applied the stripper with a paintbrush and began to scrape off the paint with a scraper and steel wool. To my surprise, it actually came off fairly easily. There is something so satisfying about scraping off old paint. It was fun starting to uncover the beauty of what is underneath all the muck.
After we stripped all the old paint and varnish off, we went back to the orbital sander. It was so much easier this time and we could start to see the beautiful hidden wood come to life again. We used 100-grit sandpaper on the first pass and then 220-grit fine sandpaper to finish the job.
Next…Stain the Wood
It took us most of the day to get it stripped, sanded, and ready for stain. Now onto the stressful job of finding the perfect stain color. I combined a couple of stains I had with polyurethane and began testing little parts on the side of the door to get the right color.
It took some trial and error, but we found the perfect shade. Using the stain polyurethane combination (I always use water-based poly) covered the door very nicely. I used an old T-shirt to apply.
So easy peasy right? Now we just hang the door. Nah, that would be too easy. Here’s the thing, the new vintage door was bigger than the door frame it was going in.
Cutting the door down to fit would damage the beauty of the door and its proportions. We knew this when we bought it but we had faith we could figure it out.
Why not cut some drywall and expand the door frame and make it bigger? Again, easy right? Nope. Jeff removed the molding and widened the door frame but now we had to rebuild the doorframe 🤦🏼♀️. We were officially in over our heads.
This is where I mentally check out. Math is not my thing. But Jeff always likes to run all the numbers by me to make sure we have it right. You know the old adage, “Cut once, measure twice”. Still…I’m checked out.
Honestly, I just wanted to see the door in its new place and I was getting impatient. This is where I take a deep breath and remember, no risk, no reward, and nothing worth having comes easy. We needed to figure it out.
I’m proud of us and we got pretty far in the process. We got as far as we could and then we called in the calvary. A very kind friend, Rick, came to the rescue and helped us build a new door frame. It went quicker than we anticipated…once we had someone who knew what they were doing. 😛
I have to say I’m so glad we called him because although it sounds like a fairly easy project there were some things we hadn’t considered. We all need friends who are willing to help and Rick was that friend.
In a lot of ways, we have become such independent people. Independence can be a good thing. I understand that. If I’m being honest, I am extremely independent. But sometimes we just need the help of a friend.
We need that carry the couch kind, bring a meal, build the door frame kind of friend. Do you have friends who are willing to carry your couch for you if you need to move it from one room to another? And if you do would you call them?
Be a Good Friend
In this life, we need friends who are there for us and willing to jump in and help. Luke 5:17-29 is the story of the man who wanted to get into the room where Jesus was to be healed. He was not able to move his body and because of the number of people wanting to see Jesus, he couldn’t get to him. His very creative friends took an alternative approach and lowered him on a bed through the ceiling to Jesus.
This man had friends who were there for him. He was healed, in part, because of their willingness to step in and help. This passage in the Bible is more about the power of believing Jesus could heal. However, this part of the story sticks out to me. We need friends who will lower us through the ceiling.
So are you someone who calls on a friend when in need or better yet are you a friend who is there when someone has a need? God gave us community for a reason. Let these three verses below wash over you for a minute.
We make life so much harder on ourselves when we don’t have a community that will come around us and helps lower us through a ceiling or build a door frame for us.
Speaking of the door, Rick, knew exactly what to do and how to fit that door into its new space. We couldn’t have completed this project without him. We absolutely love the added warmth and coziness it brings to our home.
Life Lessons Learned from a Vintage Door
As I walk past the door every day, I am reminded of a few things. First, bringing old things to new life brings me joy. Not only does it add the character and soul I’m looking for but it rescues something from the past and brings it back to life.
Second, nothing worth having comes easy. I have to remind myself of this often when I’m in the thick of a struggle. And third, friendship is a blessing from God and I’m so thankful for good friends to do this life with.
Isn’t it amazing how God can teach us the most profound lessons even through something like a home project where we add a thrifted vintage door to our home?
I want to encourage you to do a couple of things today. First, think outside the box when it comes to adding decor to your home. Two, be a good friend to others and help them in their time of need. They will in turn be a good friend to you and return the favor. And third, always look for life lessons God is teaching you in the ordinary tasks of your day.
We continue to make our home a warm, inviting place for our family. This is the ultimate goal isn’t it mamas? For more on this, my post 6 Steps To Making Home will provide much more on this topic. I want to encourage you today to make your home a place that you love and your family loves, now, and for years to come.
Much Love~Kim 💗
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