How to Upcycle an Antique Door – Part 1

This is my favorite DIY thus far, an upcycled antique door turned into a trendy piece of home decor for just pennies.

My DH and I found some old doors at an auction – about two years ago.

They’ve been sitting out under our lean-to since, just calling to me,

“Paint me, Paint me…”

Here are the before pictures – side one.

Antique Door Upcycle {Love My DIY Home}

Antique Door Upcycle {Love My DIY Home}

Antique Door Upcycle {Love My DIY Home}

Antique Door Upcycle {Love My DIY Home}

Here are the before pictures – side two.

Antique Door Upcycle {Love My DIY Home}

Antique Door Upcycle {Love My DIY Home}

Antique Door Upcycle {Love My DIY Home}

Antique Door Upcycle {Love My DIY Home}

Antique Door Upcycle {Love My DIY Home}

Antique Door Upcycle {Love My DIY Home}

They’re pretty cool in the raw, but I had other plans. This will turn into a series because there were many steps to the project.

Step One:

  • Clean and sand both sides, but not so much that you lose the textured layers of old paint.

I used a Sanding Sponge, Fine/Medium.

These sanding sponges are easy to use and if you don’t use too much pressure, you can preserve the alligator chippy look of the many layers of paint, yet still get off the loose stuff.

Step Two – Side One:

  • Paint one side of the door.
Find some paint in your basement that you used on another part of your house or find some discounted paint at Menards or Lowes. All you need is a color you like. I used a medium brown. I brush painted the medium brown paint on one side only (as opposed to spray painted, which btw, will come later).

Antique Door Upcycle {Love My DIY Home}

Antique Door Upcycle {Love My DIY Home}\

Antique Door Upcycle {Love My DIY Home}

Step Three – Side One:

  • Bring back the antique look.

To antique the color a bit (I didn’t have any dark wax or antiquing stain at the time or I might have used that), paint on darker brown paint over the medium brown, rubbing it off in spots with a rag to create the old world-ish look. Not everything has to be done exactly how everyone else does it! Unique is better – don’t you think?

Antique Door Upcycle {Love My DIY Home}

Sometimes “unique” means cheaper too. I like cheap, easy AND unique, especially if they are all in the same project.

If you use darker paint to antique your first color, you have to wipe it off fairly quickly before it sets. It wasn’t difficult, just a little tricky. It was kinda like a trial and error with no re-do.

Antique Door Upcycle {Love My DIY Home}

Step Four – Side One:

  • Rough it up.

After it’s dried completely, finish the antiquing process by roughing it up a bit to give it some dimension.

Step Five – Side One:

  • Apply wax.

I just painted it on with a regular brush. I’ve used American DECOR creme wax before and like how it applies and dries.

Use wax to protect your beautiful paint job {Love My DIY Home)

Side one is done. Next time, I’ll show you what I did with side two.

Here’s a hint:

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Homemade Chalk Type Paint Recipes {Love My DIY Home}

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19 thoughts on “How to Upcycle an Antique Door – Part 1”

    • Amy, I’d love to see your door when you are done with it, and pin it on my Pinterest doors and windows board.

      Reply

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