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Every day when I walked to the top of our staircase, I was greeted by a sad and plain looking set of doors. Once I made the decision to give these doors a makeover, I got to work planning a design that would not only suit the aesthetic of our home, but something a little bit special that would turn these doors into a focal point of the top story. I decided to wanted to bring a warmth to the doors by adding brushed gold handles and dimension with DIY wainscotting.
Materials
Paint Dulux 1Step prep
Paint Dulux Aquanamel in colour Lexicon half
Selley's sugar soap for cleaning
Porta Architrave pine in colonial
Ikonic brushed brass leverset
Liquid nails
Tools
Hand sander
Paint brush
Mini roller
Screw driver
Steps
Step 1
I started off by removing the handles and removing the doors from the hinges. It’s much easier to work on the doors when they are laying flat so I decided to move the project outside where I could set up a better working area.
Step 2
Once the doors were laying flat outside, I started off by giving them a clean with sugar soap and water to remove any marks and residue. Once clean and dry, I then proceeded to give the doors a sand using our hand sander. The doors were originally painted with a gloss paint which can be hard to paint over so by sanding them, it helped to remove the gloss and provide a better starting point for the project.
Step 3
Now that the doors were sanded, I gave them another wipe over with a clean cloth before proceeding to give them a base coat. I chose to use the same base coat we use for all our projects which is the Dulux 1Step prep.
Step 4
Once the base coat was dry it was time to apply the wainscotting. I chose to use strips of architrave pine I found at Bunnings for the wainscotting. I selected the Cononial design as I felt it was a cross between being simple and modern, while still having subtle detailing to give that sense of warmth and dimension I was hoping for. As the pieces come primed it saved us a lot of painting time and it was simply a job of cutting them to size and sticking them onto the doors.
When working out what size the cut the pieces, I mapped out the size I wanted the wainscotting to be on the doors. I opted for a 5-inch perimeter between the edge of the doors and the wainscotting. By marking this out on the doors, I was able to determine how long each piece needed to be. We did the same measurements on all three doors which made the cutting process much faster.
It is essential to ensure the ends of each piece are cut on an angle to ensure they will interlock with each other to create seamless corners. We used liquid nails to stick the wainscotting to the doors and allowed this to dry overnight.
Step 5
Next up I applied two coats of Dulux Aquanamel in the colour ‘Lexicon half’ to the doors and the wainscotting. The Aquanamel paint is the same paint we use within our home for all architraves and trims and have found it to be easy to apply as well as very hardwearing. It did a great job coating the doors and left them with a beautiful shine and seamless finish.
Step 6
Once dry, our last step was to install the new handles. I however decided it would be easier to put the doors back onto their hinges first and then install the handles once the doors were in place. We used the same brushed gold handles on the linen cupboard that I have used in our master bedroom and ensuite to create a continuous flow throughout our home. We used the Ikonic San Fran passage leverset purchased from Bunnings.
Step 7
It’s complete! So very happy with how the project turned out and how the overall look came together. I definitely feel I achieved my goal of creating a focal point out of these doors and the results have inspired me to add a touch of wainscotting to other doors in my home now too.
What an amazing transformation, @Alyce_Pham, and many thanks for providing all the steps you took. I trust our members will be excited to try a similar look themselves, as you've created a big impact on the door's appearance. I love the colonial architrave, and the handles are just the icing on the cake.
Many thanks for sharing and well done!
Mitchell
