Finding the Right Pantry Door for You.

I picked out an antique door.

 

Ok so you are interested in finding an antique, vintage door for your home?  Where do you look and what is the right kind of door that is right for your space?  When building my home I had envisioned an old door for my pantry.  I started calling all our antique stores here in Utah to see if anyone had any.  I had zero luck.

Unfortunately we don’t have a big selection of vintage stores here in Utah but I didn’t get discouraged.  I started checking the classifieds and that’s where I hit the jackpot!  A kind old gentleman was selling several old doors so I quickly scheduled a time to come check them out.

I wish I had taken a picture of the selection he had.  It was hard to decide on which door I wanted to say the least, but this is the door I brought home.  What you don’t see on the door is the mint green and peach paint that had layers upon layers on it. Good thing I saw past the paint color and knew I had a treasure.  I call this door my “Summer Project of 2017”.

Ok here are the steps if you want to bring back to life an old door if you are going to stain it.

Steps to bringing your old door back to life.

-First thing you do is sand the door down to its raw elements.  Use an electric hand sander and gently sand off the layered old paint if there is any.  To protect yourself from inhaling old paint dust wear a mask and to protect your hands where some good working gloves as well.  It took me a couple of weeks to work on this door but the hard work paid off.

This door was more beautiful than I could ever imagine.  I love the light wood color.  I love that this door has history.  If only the door could talk.  I wonder what kind of story it would tell me?

-Second, after you sand down your door then you need to seal it.  I used a pre-stain wood conditioner from Miniwax.

-Third, you will then need to decide on the stain color. Deciding on the color stain for me was easy as I wanted to keep the look of the light color of wood so I picked a white wash stain from Miniwax.

Forth- after putting 2 coats of stain on it to make sure you have it completely covered, seal it with a semi gloss sealant from Miniwax.  I chose a semi gloss as I knew I wanted it to be extra protected and easy to wipe down if needed. Now if you are painting your door and not staining it then these steps will different.

Where to find glass for your door.

Did you notice the door had no glass in it?  Here’s what I did to solve that problem; I called around to my local glass companies and ended up using Beehive Glass Co Inc. to create my custom made window for my door.  They had me email over my design for the word PANTRY. I told them I wanted the design on frosted glass. After some back and forth emails I approved the design and they got to work!

Beehive glass was kind enough to deliver it to my home and install it for me when they were finished making it.  I never have been more excited in my life to see this fun project all come together so nicely.

 Next was figuring out the hardware.

 

I was now in need of the perfect hardware.  I needed not only a door knob but also hinges and the strike plate.  Best place to go hands down is eBay!  I found exactly what I was looking for. I did my research before hand thanks to Google and I also did a lot measuring for sizes.  The crystal door knob I found on eBay fit like a glove and was exactly what I envisioned.

When the door was completely finished, I brought it to our home that was being built and our builders measured it so they could make the frame around it.  This door is a traditional, pretty close to a standard size door.  The doors throughout my new home are 8 feet tall so I made the decision to add a transom window above the pantry door.

I wanted to give it a good balance and have all the doors look symmetrical.  I also had the transom glass frosted as well to match the PANTRY glass.  When it was time for the door to be officially installed it was like the most rewarding feeling ever. I actually did it!  I pulled it off!

 

This door is a dream come true.

 

Have you ever done a project that you are so proud of and you smile every time you look at you?  This is just that project for me.  I told myself to have patience, take my time, and work on it with much love.  I’m so glad that I didn’t listen to that voice in the back of my head doubting myself that I could do it.

I actually did it and I have no regrets. I think it’s time to do another project that gives me so much joy again.  What do you think? Maybe you should do that project you’ve been putting off or debating whether you could do it or not.  You’ve got this and you can do it!  Just take your time, have some patience with yourself and see your vision come to life.