Old Door Turned Into a Cabinet
I have been loving the inspiration I get from Pinterest, for my own DIY projects. I didn’t use to be handy or crafty, but I have come a long way. I saw a picture on Pinterest, a while back, and wanted to duplicate it. This old door turned into a cabinet is inspired by Craftaholics Anonymous. We made it up as we went along, but it turned out fantastic.
When we moved into our current house, in January, we found an extra closet door tucked away under the stairs. I saved it there, in case the need to use it came up. After browsing Pinterest, I found the perfect use for the door.
First we cut the door in half, using a table saw. You will not want the cut to be directly down the middle, or your cabinet will be longer on one side. Measure the depth of your door, and subtract that measurement from one side, when cutting. For example; if your door is 1″ in depth, and your doors are 30″ wide, then make your two pieces 14″ and 16″. Do this because one door will butt up against the other, to create a 90° angle. You will want to make sure you make the cut very straight.
Because many doors are hollow, you will want to put some small solid pieces of wood inside the doors, and use a screw or nail to keep them in place. This just makes the doors more sturdy, and makes them easier to attach to one another. Line the two doors up, creating a 90° angle. Drill through the first door, where your block of wood is, and all the way through to the second door. Repeat this step in at least 4 (or more) places, up and down the door, to secure them to one another.
Now it’s time for the shelves. You can head to the home improvement store and purchase 12″ shelves, which come with braces, and half already been painted and routed. Or if you want to save some money, you can cut the shelves yourself. Get a 1″ piece of wood and draw the shape of your desired shelves. It should look somewhat of a triangle with a rounded edge, instead of straight across. Purchase or cut strips of wood, to mount to the door, for holding the shelves up. Make sure the strips are no longer than the actual shelf, or they will stick out. Do not paint them until you have them mounted on the door. You wait so you can cover up the nail holes with spackle
Once you have nailed or screwed the mounting pieces of wood, onto the door, where you want your shelves to be, you can spackle and paint. I may go over the door with some antiquing at some point, but we shall see.
Paint your shelves and either just sit them on the mounting strips of wood, or attach them. I have yet to attach mine, but I plan to nail them down at some point. They’re fine for now. You may want to attach the back of your cabinet to the wall, to avoid tipping. Just an idea. Anyone want to give this a try?
Connie says
For safety’s sake (earthquake, climbing kids, etc) attach that thing! This is your daily public safety message (I can’t help myself!).. It’s adorable BTW and would look so cute in a kids’ room with wallpaper in the squares 🙂
Emily Lyon says
Ha – thanks Connie. I took out the blurb about, “it could be fine”. hehe
Amanda says
I love this idea. I have some old doors sitting around since my hubby is a carpenter 😉 Thanks for the inspiration!
Emily Lyon says
You should totally do it!