I have crazy opposing emotions as I'm writing this post. Almost along the lines of resentment, if you will. This dang project took all of the possible patience I could muster. After 3 weeks, four paint changes, and battling extreme ADD on my part, I can't believe I finally got it done! And I LOVE how it turned out.
My friends Braydee and Jeff joined me to go to pick up our doors at a local architectural salvage yard. The drive home was quite interesting with the three of us and one huge door (I had previously bought mine) in the backseat of a small car. Braydee was a trooper and sat like this in the backseat the whole way home!
Here is a pic of what I bought at a previous trip to the Salvage yard. The door was a nasty yellow brown, and the window is missing three panes with a nasty purple chippy paint.
Obviously these doors first needed a good cleaning. You can tell how much dirt was on my door. Once it was clean, I realized that HIDEOUS color was actually capable of getting even more awful!
Bust out your sander and give it a good sanding! Get as much paint off as you can down to the original wood. We then applied a primer/paint combo in the colors we chose in the paint section at Lowe's. Here is where I screw myself (for lack of better words). I am a horrible "paint-picker" (see bedroom wall color below, I basically wake up with seizures). On my first try I picked a beige with a lot of purple undertones (purple NOT being what was intended). Since we decided to do this project on a whim, late at night, with HORRIBLE lighting in the garage--I thought that this looked like the color I wanted. Plus, lets be honest. After 14 hours of running around, painting and waiting to dry, I was ready to throw in the towel and not accept the obvious.
Braydee's green door turned out AMAZING on the first try :) She decided that hers will eventually be a headboard as well but is planning on using it for a prop for one of her best friends wedding decor. PS that stamped wooden plank sign was a freakin perfect find!
This is a pic of the color I finally decided on but was basically white. I figured by antiquing it, it would help to darken and get closer to the beige-y/cream color I was hoping for.
Still didn't like it. Still looked white, even AFTER antiquing. After letting it fester for a week, and almost giving up--the HEAVENS parted (envision choirs of angels singing) and my friend Andi let me borrow some of her special concoction wood stain. I had never used stain before, but I absolutely LOVED it. It's her special mixture, and one I will have to take note of later because it is THAT amazing. I sanded down my door, wiped off with a clean rag and took a brush with some watered down stain and stained section by section, making sure to wipe off excess stain as I went.
The picture doesn't show a huge difference (the only time I ever do anything is at night), but the brown stain took the white door to more of a cream color.
Below are the steps for attaching the door to your bed frame, instead of having to attach directly to the wall. The hubby joined me to help me pick out the tools that we needed to get this done.
Carriage Screws (4), ours were 5/16 X 2.
Flat Washers (4) also 5/16 to fit screws.
Hex Nuts (4) in 5/16 to hold the 2X4's to the frame.
First, I measured and cut the length of the 2X4's to the height that we wanted the door to be.
Then, push the carriage screws through the frame and drill into the 2X4.
Fasten/tighten with a washer on the back and hex nut.
After all four carriage screws are in and tightened, the 2X4's are ready to be attached to the headboard with wood screws.
Wood screws (ours were 'deck screws') are drilled into the top and bottom of the back of the door on both sides.
(sidenote): I kept our door at its original length. To have it be a true match for a Queen bed (which is what we have) I would want to cut it down about eight inches. However, eventually I am hoping to buy a King bed and would hate if the door would no longer look right on the King. Therefore, my headboard overlaps our side tables, but when the bed is made you can't tell too much.
Loved how it turned out, and totally worth all the work, but I don't know if I would be signing up for another one of these projects in awhile!
Again, I am aware that my wall color is just TOO much. I am open and appreciate any suggestions of a more muted green wall color (believe me, I'm starting to exhaust this route as well). However, if you are suffering from seizures or sudden bouts of nausea after looking at the green wall on this post, I cannot be held responsible. Blog at your own risk ;)
