Old doors are like new!
Doors play an important role in interior design. There are many different models in stores, but high-quality ones cost a lot of money, and you usually don't want to look at cheap ones. There is a good option - to update the old doors with your own hands. There are many techniques, and not the most difficult ones, that allow you to fix the situation for little money.
The content of the article
Preparation
Whichever way you choose to update the old interior door, you will need to carry out a number of preparatory work. Usually old painted specimens are going to decorate. Painting is usually amateur, so there are more than enough irregularities, sagging and other small defects. All of them must be aligned.
We remove the door leaf from the hinges, lay it on a flat surface. You can - on the trestle or table. We take wood putty (even if they are fromChipboard or plywood) and cover all holes, chips and depressions with it. After drying, proceed to the next step - sanding.
We take sandpaper with a coarse grain and a fine one. We process, achieving a flat surface. If you work by hand, it takes a lot of time and effort. With a hand sander, work moves faster. If further painting is planned, we try to achieve the most even surface. If you plan to decorate with wallpaper, fabric, self-adhesive film, you may not bring it to the ideal, but it should be exactly.
Next, remove the dust, wash off the remnants with water and diluted dishwashing detergent. We dry it. Further actions depend on the selected update method. If you are going to glue any kind of fabric or wallpaper, you can prime the surface (with liquid diluted glue or a special primer). After the primer has dried, you can glue the chosen type of decor or apply paint. By the way, if you are going to paint the doors, the paint must be of the same type, which was before, otherwise you will have to remove everything to a clean base, and this is very difficult.
Refresh old doors with wallpaper
The easiest and most affordable way to make old doors attractive is to use wallpaper. They do not necessarily have to be in tune with the walls, although this option is not excluded. First, we prepare the canvas as described above, and then you can start finishing.
The procedure for wallpapering doors is as follows:
- dilute wallpaper glue according to the instructions on the pack;
- we apply to the door leaf;
- glue the wallpaper, carefully monitoring the removal of bubbles (with a rubber roller or plastic spatula);
- trim the edges with a wallpaper knife and a flat metal strip (it is fashionable to use a large spatula);
- wait for the wallpaper to dry.
Then you can continue decorating over the wallpaper or leave it as it is. Some options for how you can update old doors with different types of wallpaper are described below.
Wallpaper
Modern photo printing allows you to transfer volumetric images to paper. It will turn out very nicely. And you can print any image of your choice. In general, any. Usually advertising agencies are engaged in photo printing, sometimes printing houses. Go there, explaining what you need (have a flash drive with the selected pattern and the exact dimensions of the canvas on which you want to print the image). Having received the required image, we glue it on the door according to the method. described above.
Wallpaper with moldings
If you stick foam or polyurethane moldings, sockets on plain wallpaper, the style will completely change. Doors of this type are suitable for classic interiors or rooms; when using a colorful background and another form of moldings (with rounds), they can be decorated in the Provence style.
The work is no different from the sequence described above. We take the prepared doors with a leveled surface, spread with glue, glue the wallpaper.
Leveling the panels with a rubber roller is easy to achieve good results, but a certain amount of small air bubbles remains. To remove them, they take a special plastic spatula (they are in any hardware store), and air is finally removed from the center to the edges. This spatula is also used to iron the wallpaper joint, if any. It is quite possible to achieve that the joint will not be visible.
Cut the edges of the wallpaper with a wallpaper knife. This must be done until the wallpaper has softened from the glue, otherwise they can then "reach" for the blade and break. We leave to dry. After 12 hours or in a day - depending on the temperature and humidity in the room - you can continue decorating the old door.
Gently, with a simple pencil, we apply the markup. When everything is drawn, measure the required length of the pieces of molding with a tape measure. Cut off, saw the edges at an angle of 45 °. We take a suitable glue (PVA can be used) and carefully smear the back surface of the cut elements, glue them according to the markings, and leave to dry.
By the same principle, you can update old doors so that the style will be different. Several examples in the photo gallery.
Designer decoration of old doors
If you are interested in design things, you can try turning it into an art object. The good news is that there is no need to cook it: the bumps and bumps will disappear under the design.
The decorating process begins with the manufacture of papier-mâché. Take the egg trays, spray with water, knead with your fist, trying to level the surface. In the process, they will tear, this is normal and even good - we need small pieces. These almost flat fragments, on liquid nails or using a glue gun, are glued to the surface in random order.
Then we glue any rubbish with an interesting structure, unusual or ordinary shape. In our case, there was an old knitted string bag. It was cut into small pieces and also glued.
Lids, rings, a small perfume bottle, a small non-working computer mouse, the remains of a mosaic, everything that comes to hand are used. There will be a lot of trash, you can collect it ahead of time.
When most of the surface is "decorated", we take acrylic silver paint in cans (2 pieces are needed) and paint over the decor well. When choosing a paint, it is better to take an expensive one, in particular a German one, so that it does not pour out afterwards.
Decorating doors using decoupage technique
A romantic or "fun" door design can be done using decoupage. For work you will need:
- napkins with a suitable pattern;
- PVA glue (about 200 ml);
- natural bristle brush;
- acrylic lacquer.
Preparing the canvas, as described earlier. We prime and paint in a suitable color. After the paint has dried, start decorating. We take a pack of napkins we liked, separate the top layer, which is with a picture.
Tear napkins with a pattern lengthwise into three strips. We tear, we do not cut. We want a slightly uneven edge. Two stripes on one side get an even edge, we put them off to one side. We break the middle part into squares. The best option if they are 3-4 cm on a side.
We take glue, a brush, a small container. In it we mix PVA with water in equal proportions.
Next, we proceed to decorate the door with our own hands. We take a strip with an even edge, apply it to the area to be decorated (in this case, this is the center of the door leaf). Dip the brush in glue, with it we begin to smooth the fragment in different directions. Wrinkles form, but this is just not bad - the finish will turn out to be more textured, so you don't really need to align them. Wet wipes are very delicate and elastic, remember this when working, act carefully.
Gradually make a frame with one smooth edge. The second turns out to be carelessly torn.
Next, fill in the middle with squares. The technique is the same.
When the entire surface is filled, we leave it for a day - we wait until the PVA dries. Next, take an acrylic varnish and cover our decor with a soft brush. To prevent it from smelling, we take a water-based varnish. It is a little more expensive, but it doesn't have a headache.
The beauty of decoupage is that we get beautiful things at a low cost.
Door decoration with self-adhesive film
Perhaps the easiest way is to update old doors with self-adhesive. All you need:
- the film itself,
- a spray bottle containing soap and water;
- plastic spatula or soft cloth;
- sharp knife (wallpaper can be used).
This film is available in different versions - there is a monochromatic matte or glossy, there is a monochromatic one with holographic patterns, wood imitation, there are even special doors for pasting with printed photo.
Regardless of the type of film, it is glued in the same way. In this case, they decided to update the old doors using the option with photo printing. One moment: before pasting, we remove handles, latches and other door hardware.
For the decor to be of high quality, the surface of the door must be clean, even and smooth. If you sanded it before doing this, try gluing on a small piece of film. If it sticks well, everything is fine. If it doesn't "stick", the doors will have to be primed, and then painted or varnished to create a smooth surface.
We take a spray bottle and evenly wet the door surface.
We shave the film, remove the protective layer from one of the corners, and spray it. So, wetting, we separate the protective paper from the upper part along the entire width of the film.
You should get a strip 15-20 cm wide. Do not remove any more so that the film does not stick to the canvas. We apply the peeled part to the upper edge of the door leaf (or the area to be decorated), it quickly sticks. Try to immediately apply it evenly, but the position can be corrected - for this we wetted the surface so that the film could be moved. If you pull it, it moves a little.
After making sure that the canvas lies flat, we take a plastic spatula (for wallpaper) and smooth the surface with it, moving from the center to the edges. The task is to remove all the air.Since the surface is wet, it is not difficult - water displaces air.
The rest is simple. We pull down the protective paper, peeling off the strip, glue it and so on - to the very bottom of the door. If you have glued the upper part for a long time, the lower one may dry out, therefore periodically check if the doors are dry, if necessary, spray again.
After the entire film has been glued, cut off the excess at the edges with a sharp knife. All that remains after this is to install the fittings.
Door decor with stencils
Old doors can be renovated with applied drawings. The only pity is that not everyone has artistic talents. But in this case, the problem is solved with the help of stencils. You can draw them yourself, or you can find the image you like, print it on thick paper, cut out the drawing with a sharp knife, leaving jumpers in places. So the stencil is ready.
The disadvantage of a paper stencil is that it does not last long. If you need a "long-playing" it must be transferred to a transparent dense film. In more detail, the technology for cutting a stencil for door decoration is shown in the video.
The drawing can be anything. Both geometric and floral, stylized images of animals, birds, cartoon characters are popular.
But they can be on the entire area of the door leaf. It all depends on the style of the room and your desire.
The same technique can be used to decorate doors with glass. Many old doors have a regular glass insert. In order not to spend money on a patterned one, you can apply the pattern yourself.
How to make new doors out of old - photo ideas
Thank you. Great article. I want to implement many ideas)
Handsomely. But it is clear that the doors are not used at all old, but very new. It takes a lot of work to align an old chipped door with paint drips and scratches, and truly old doors will not become so beautiful.
Agree with you!!! and nowhere do they write how much money was spent on this door ...