Farmgirl Friday Blog Hop

Tuesday, October 19, 2010

LET THERE BE LIGHT

Do you have a dark hallway or a room that gets very little daylight in your home? We did! Consider removing a solid door and adding a French door in its place! We did just that in this easy  trash to treasure project. 


* when your paint is dry and before hanging the door use a small craft knife to remove the protective paper on the glass panes and any remaining paint. Do this OUTSIDE!  It will be easier to clean up all those small paper strips and pieces. 

Our Den was dark and needed more light so we decided to lighten things up by purchasing a new/old French door at a Contractor’s Supply Warehouse. New French doors can sell for 200 – 300 hundred dollars. This one cost 75.00 and with a little elbow grease and some spray-paint we had a new door and a view into our den that goes straight through to the outside. Not only does this door add the light we were sadly missing into the den but it makes the hallway lighter and brighter too! Now we can see and hear our young composer while she plays the piano. 


It’s not an antique. It was most likely rejected by the contractor or homeowner.  It came primed so all I had to do was sand and paint it to match the trim in the rest of our home!

 

 To add some vintage charm to our home I am up cycling all of our out- dated brass door knobs to my new favorite paint finish for metal. Oiled Rubbed Bronze. I was inspired to try this painting technique after seeing Michelle Rayburn's amazing chandelier makeover on her blog 
Trash To Treasure.   This door knob was my guinea pig! I love the results!


  I used Rust-o-leum primer and paint for the door knob.And a satin latex for the door in Ralph Lauren’s Sail White to match the rest of the interior paint trim in our home.  * spray painting door knobs or cabinet knobs can be tricky because they don't lie flat. I used a box from the bakery to hold these door knobs upright while painting. Let them dry right in place until you install them. A shoe box would work well too. 


New Oil Rubbed Bronze finish with a touch of sparkle! 

* New door knobs in this finish can cost between 20- 30 dollars plus 7.00 or more for a package of three matching hinges x how ever many doors you have. For a few cans of spray paint at roughly 4.00 a can you can save- save -save!   


Tip: Before you purchase a  new/old door for your home be sure to measure the height and width as well as the width of the door for the new one to make sure it will fit and that any alterations needed are reasonable for the project! Measure the opening top to bottom too. We had to adjust the hinge placement slightly but that was all.

To find your new/old French door see if you can locate a Contractors Warehouse or Re-modelers Outlet  in your area.
I hope you liked this creative recycling project!

Thanks for stopping by the Dandelion Workshop today!  
Deborah Jean 


I was TICKLED PINK with this project so I linked up with Holly at 504 Main and other tickled pink bloggers to share the fun! 










8 comments:

  1. Fantastic change. We added a french door to the laundry room to bring in more light. I love it, now I have to try some of that oil rubbed bronze on my yucky brass hardware. Thanks for sharing the tips!

    ReplyDelete
  2. Debs - love that...your home is just wonderful, you guys have really made it nice. I also like pocket doors - I would have them in every room if I could. I am going to try painting my doorknobs. I guess I can find the Ralph Lauren paint at a home store. Love you.

    Aunt Retts

    ReplyDelete
  3. Love the picture...feels like I'm there! You are a clever one!!
    Love,
    Nan

    ReplyDelete
  4. Hey there! You got the door up! It's looking good. One more project done!

    ReplyDelete
  5. PERFECT TIMING!!! I have my grandparent's paned door to refinish and put on our porch. I wasn't sure what to do about the hardware. I have several old doorknobs, but the hinges etc were going to be a challenge. Also, I want to re-face my kitchen cupboards. You've really given me something to think about and you saved me a lot of "figuring out" about the how to get that lovely polished bronze. Thank you so much for posting all the details and pix! You saved me a lot of time and probably $$ too. Love, shery j

    ReplyDelete
  6. Love it! What a great idea! I need a pop of color in my living room, so will be painting the inside of my front door the same golden yellow color of the outside of the door. Why not? It's only paint!

    ReplyDelete
  7. What a great project! The changes is awesome and all of the touches look marvelous. I love a trash to treasure beauty! I am tickled pink!

    ReplyDelete
  8. Hello Debra Jean

    Thanks for sharing your window view
    TUESDAY THROUGH...THE WINDOW
    I LOVE the piano...
    Nice to *meet you*
    Your blog looks so autumnal it's great...will stay a while and look around
    LOVE PEACE enJOY
    Julie
    x

    ReplyDelete

Seeds to share? Scatter here...