home decor
DIY Shaker Door
Feb
I’m a maker. And I love houses. And while I love making photographs I spend a lot of my free time making things for our home. Like taking a boring slab door and turning it into a charming-yet-modern four panel shaker door.
The thing was, we had this plain-jane, never painted, oddball size closet door underneath the stairs in our living room. And it’s located directly across from the couch. So every time I look up there it is. An uninspired door. I wish I had a before photo but I don’t, because it was just that boring. But imagine a door that looks like this:
Yes, it’s just a grey rectangle.
So when I saw Jenna Sue’s Plain to Panelled Door Makeover I knew that’s exactly what we needed. But because our door is an unusual size I couldn’t just look online to see which panel size I liked best so I drew out some options in PhotoShop to see which felt right.
Our favourite was four panels using 4 inch wood strips (bottom left).
I used some one side finished 1/4 inch plywood we had in the basement that was leftover from another project. It was probably thicker than what I needed but I can’t resist making something out of nothing, or in this case something out of scraps. If you don’t have a pile of extra plywood hanging around you can always buy a nice thin piece at the hardware store, and if you go to one of the big box variety you can even have them cut it all up for you.
Using a table saw Darren and I cut the plywood into 4 inch strips, then cut each of those strips to length. I won’t bore you with my measurements because I’m certain they won’t fit your door, but essentially we cut two long pieces that fit the height of the door and five shorter pieces to go across.
I popped the pins out of the door hinges and laid the whole thing down on the floor so it was easier to work with. We cut the long pieces first then glued and nailed them in place. I had planned on just nailing them but because the door is hollow the nails didn’t hold the wood as tightly to the door as I liked so I added a bit of wood glue to the backside of the strips and weighed it down with books while it was drying. I know Jenna used a nail gun to put hers on but I don’t have one of those so I just used a hammer and some small finishing nails and it worked like a charm.
While the glue was setting I marked where I wanted my horizontal boards to sit, starting with the top and bottom, then jumping to the one across the middle, then centring the other two in the remaining spaces. It just seemed to be the easiest way to keep the panels even. I measured across for each horizontal board so they’d fit perfectly between the two vertical pieces and cut, glued, and nailed them in place.
Once the glue had set I used wood filler to hide all my nail holes and to clean up all the seams where the horizontal boards met the vertical ones. I don’t think wood filler was the ideal thing to use, it seemed too dry and just wasn’t easy to work with. Next time I’ll try spackle to see if it works any better. When the wood filler firmed up I gave the whole thing a light sanding to get it ready for paint. I wasn’t able to paint it right away so we hung it back up for a week and we were already thrilled with the improvement!
When it came time to paint I just left it hanging so I could do the whole without having to wait for one side to dry before I flipped it over and did the other. I started with one coat of Stix Waterborne Primer then a couple coats of white paint. All the whites in our house are Benjamin Moore’s Simply White, which also happens to be their colour for 2016. For this door I used some leftover Benjamin Moore Regal Select paint with a pearl finish we had in the basement.
We chose to go with a magnet to hold the door closed instead of a regular doorknob because then we could use a nice simple-yet-slightly-rustic black door handle to finish it off. Though now that I’m looking at it I think we need to do something about those gold hinges.
Looks pretty sharp huh? I love how architectural details can take a space up ten notches!
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Jen, this looks awesome! I love the black handle and black hinges would finish it perfectly. I wish I had your aptitude for this sort of thing; I’d love to update the hallway closets!
Thanks Sylvia! It’s definitely a big bang for your buck. And it helps that I love the smell of fresh cut wood!
That looks amazing- great job!
Did you do both sides of the door?
No Carrie, I just did the outside.
Thanks Melody! It’s a small detail that really makes a big difference.
Does the addition thickness of the added wood framing not interfere with the proper operation of the hinges? It seems to me that door wood not open properly.
Also- was the door hollow or solid?
Jennifer – great questions! My door still opens just fine, but you’ll notice from my photographs it only swings 90 degrees because it’s in a corner. Oh, and my door is hollow.
Hi love the tutorial! What type of plywood and thickness did you use? I want to do this to my door as well but have no idea where to start!
Hi Justine, I’m not sure what type of plywood it is, it was scraps we had in our basement from another project. I’m thinking it was one-side-finished though I don’t think it matters if you’re going to be painting it, just give it a good sanding first.
Mine is 3/8 of an inch thick but it will look nice with any thickness, plus the thinner the plywood the cheaper it will be.
Your door is probably larger than ours, so why not start by using painter’s tape to mask off how it will look with 4 inch wide boards with, say, five panels, then tweak it from there.
Jennifer, how do you do both sides? I was looking at mine and wouldn’t it throw the side of the door that has the door jam off? Would you gave to move the doorjam? My door opens into the rooms from the hallway. I can see it not making a difference from the inside of the room but the hallway side would not work. Can you please respond snd explain?
This is clever! Does the plywood (I see you mention you used 3/8″) now raise your door above the surrounding doorframe at all? I’m thinking if I add 3/8″ plywood around the edge of any of my flat doors they will no longer be flush with the surrounding door frame and it might look strange. Just wondering how you handled that? Thanks!
Hi Joseph, Great question! In my particular situation the trim around my doorframe seems to be a similar thickness to the additional plywood strips I added to my door, so their isn’t anything weird going on. Try holding a small piece of plywood up against your door and see how it looks. If you’re not happy maybe your hardware store offers something thiner. Happy trimming!
Connie, My door is on a closet so I only did the one side, but if you click through to Jenna Sue’s project she moved her door stop casing – http://blog.jennasuedesign.com/2014/07/master-makeover-diy-plain-to-paneled/
Hope that helps!
Remove door jam and replace so door closes properly! Jenna Sue posted on her tutorial! Looks great! Also, she said she used cheap 1/4″ plywood paneling by beadboard at Lowes! I’m so doing this! I’ve been replacing door moulding and joint compound works great, easy to sand too!!
You’re going to be super happy with the results!
Anyone planning on this will want to make sure that if they’re going to use a regular door knob, they don’t add too much thickness. Standard door knobs have a maximum door thickness that they’ll work with.
Great point Katie! Definitely look into the specific thicknesses for your doorknob!
I am going to test the thickness thang with my door knobs. See if I can stretch the screws. If not maybe attempt cutting the circle to tightly fit around the knob and see how it looks.
What did you do with the edges of the door? If you did this with a door that is open all the time the edge of the door would need to be covered somehow to hid the separate pieces of wood
Hi Tammy, I just left the edges of the door so you can still see the wood layer. I don’t mind. Mine is a closet so 95% of the time it’s closed anyways. You could try caulking or wood filler to clean it up a bit, especially if you’re painting the whole thing white.
Thanks
Would you be able to do this on an outside door with a regular doorknob?
As far as a regular doorknob goes, you can click through to Jenna Sue’s site to see how she handled it: http://blog.jennasuedesign.com/2014/07/master-makeover-diy-plain-to-paneled/
If you’re doing it on an outside door you’ll probably want to take extra care sealing it from the elements to keep everything nice and dry.
Hi Jennifer,
We flooded back in August in Louisiana, And have a total kitchen project underway. I have the Shaker cabinets and have been searching for the perfect pantry door. Thanks to you I found It! ?
Oh Kelly, that’s fantastic! What I wouldn’t give for shaker cabinets… Happy making!
Jennifer, love your door! I have a closet door I would like to do. My question is what to do about the hole that will be left where the doorknob is. I think your handle-type makes the door. Thanks, Joette
Hi Joette, So happy you love my door! Mine was brand new so it hadn’t been drilled for a doorknob yet. Are you able to cover the whole inside of the door with a thin piece of plywood to hide the hole? Or maybe there’s some way you could fill it with plywood, as though you were covering a hole in drywall?
I did a quick google and found this – https://www.thisoldhouse.com/how-to/how-to-patch-doorknob-hole-dutchman. Take a peek and see if it helps.
Jennifer, Joette again. Just looked and saw your replays were a year ago! I’m reading this on Pinterest, so if its past sell by date, don’t feel like you have to answer. Catch you another time.
How do you use the magnet to keep the door closed?
Ally, I used a magnet like this:
https://www.homedepot.ca/en/home/p.white-single-magnetic-catch-with-plate.1000401267.html
And mounted the plate to the inside of the door, and the magnetic part to the door jamb. Does that help?
Did you have to change anything on the frame ?
Hi Letty, Great question! I did not have to change anything on the door frame, however, since it’s a closet which doesn’t get used much, I only did the outside of the door. The inside is still plain-jane.
this is GORGEOUS and I’m thinking of tackling a similar design for the inside of my apartment’s front door. Some folks who have tackled this, have mentioned having to move the door jam, but it doesn’t look like the added weight of the plywood had any effect on your hinges or doorjam or anything, right? So everything just gets to stay where it’s at?? beautiful!
Hi Laurel! Great question! Since I only did the outside of my door, and it opens outwards, my door jamb didn’t need to be moved. If you’re doing the side of the door that butts up against the jamb you can see how Jenna Sue handled it here:
http://blog.jennasuedesign.com/2014/07/master-makeover-diy-plain-to-paneled/
So far I’ve had no problems with the added weight on the hinges either.
Happy DIYing!
Jennifer.. This is amazing! I have been looking for something to do with my bedroom doors and this is it! I can’t wait to try this! Thank you so much for sharing this great tutorial! Happy DIYing!
Oh AmyJo! Thank you so much for your kind words! You’ve made my day. And if you ever have any questions, just ask!
Love love love this door update!! Unfortunately I need to hire a carpenter to do it becuase I don’t have the appropriate tools and we’re doing it to the front and back of a heavily used door so I know we need some adjustment to the frame as well so it closes. Have you ever had any issues with heat/cold warping or causing any other issues to the plywood? Looks so beautiful!! Just wish I had more skills/tools to be able to do it myself so affordable!!
It would be better to do it out of MDF, since plywood has a rough edges. you can cut it right in the hardware store out of whole sheet 4ftx8ft it will cost you about $20.
Great tip Alexei! I have absolutely zero experience working with MDF, so I can’t speak to it. Plus I already had plywood scraps in the basement – it’s so much fun to make something out of nothing!
I have bedroom doors that I would love to do like this! So i would need to do BOTH sides! Dumb question. … would that affect the fit of the doorknob? B/c the door is now thicker, right?
Great question Bridget! My door doesn’t have a traditional doorknob so for me it wasn’t an issue. Jenna Sue stated in her comment section that her doorknob had some leeway so she was ok. It probably depends on your knob and the thickness of the panels you’re using.
You can see more in her post here:
http://blog.jennasuedesign.com/2014/07/master-makeover-diy-plain-to-paneled/
You could always take off your doorknob and have a look.
I love your door! And the wall color. Do you happen to remember the name of it, too?
Thanks Karen! Our walls are Whitestone by Benjamin Moore. It’s on the blue side of grey, at least in our house, and I love it!
What about the jam? Door doesn’t stick out?
Great sum up, and even greater results. Did you do both sides, of so did you leave a little millimeters for clearance for inner door jams
Thanks Raymond! I’m pretty happy with it! The door is on a weird little closet under our staircase that doesn’t get opened much, yet stares us in the face when we’re in our living room. So I only did the outside, avoiding any problems with the jam on the inside.
Hi! I love this tutorial! I am going to attempt this to a metal door going from our SUPER small laundry room into our garage. Curious if you would trust to just use liquid nails, or if I should somehow reinforce it? It’s unfortunately not as easy as a nail gun due to the fact that the door is metal. Thanks!
Hi Lindsay! I honestly have no idea! I don’t have any experience with liquid nails. You’ll have to come back and let me know what you end up doing!
What did you use to stick the woods there?
Great question! You know, I really can’t remember. Some sort of wood glue.
I have the same plain door too. I’d like to try this.