I have always had a fascination with antique, vintage, and old doors.
They have so much character and carry so many stories if you think about it.
It’s been a design wish of mine to incorporate a different door for each room of my home, so when my husband and I started planning a mini home update, an old door for every room became one of the projects.
I’d have to say our 1900s church doors are my favorite, but they also required a lot of heavy lifting and the most work.
If you’re looking to add some character to your home without spending a ton of money, one word, REPURPOSE!
It works for big and small budgets.
All of the doors for this project were collected from online auctions, Craigslist, and Facebook Marketplace.
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ANTIQUE 1900s CHURCH DOORS
I was excited to be the highest bidder on four antique 1900s church doors from an online auction.
These doors are solid cedar, 2 1/2 inches thick, and extremely heavy.
Sadly, we did have to modify them by cutting them down 18 inches to fit into our space. It was heartbreaking.
I knew right away the easiest way to repurpose the church doors would be by turning them into barn door-style sliders.
The barn door kits we used came from Menards.
They are the Forge brand, and we did have to contact the company for missing pieces for two of the four kits, but they sent them immediately.
One set was stained a dark Jacobean color and can be found in the primary bedroom leading into the primary bathroom.
The second set was stained a light fruitwood color. One door leads to the basement, while the other leads into the walk-in entryway closet.
Because these doors are so heavy and thicker than a standard door, we had to fabricate appropriate length wall spacers and use backer boards for the extra wall support.
We also had to modify the spacers that came with the sliding barn door rail kit.
FACEBOOK MARKETPLACE AND CRAIGSLIST
As for the rest of the doors, we collected them over a few months from Facebook Marketplace and Craigslist.
We drove all over our state, and it was an interesting adventure.
PRIMARY BEDROOM
What I find unique about the primary bedroom door is that it was made in the early 1900s and had never been used or even finished.
It is a solid core five-panel door, about 1 1/4 inch thick.
The door needed to be trimmed and squared out.
We also needed to finish chiseling the handle area for the hardware to fit.
It was pretty cool to finish off this door with its FIRST-EVER coat of stain.
GUEST BATHROOM
The guest bathroom door came out of a 1930s Tudor-style home in Minneapolis, Mn.
We actually ended up with two of these doors, and the other door ended up on the backside of our kitchen island.
LAUNDRY ROOM
In our laundry room, we have a fun pop of color, with the backside of the door painted pink.
The pink color is original, and this door came from an older lake house that apparently had all the doors painted pink.
Can you imagine how fun that lake house was to visit?
Besides the fun pink color on the laundry room door, I also like that the door has 10-glass panels.
The glass panels help bring a lot of natural light from the laundry room into the hallway.
More on the laundry room can be found at A LITTLE MAKEOVER FOR THE LADDER COAT RACK IN THE LAUNDRY ROOM.
SECOND BEDROOM
We have two bedrooms on the main level of our home, and the second bedroom is located at the end of the hallway.
We chose to use a white, flat panel, 1920’s miracle-style door for this room.
This door is chipped and dinged with its original white paint finish.
Putting this door at the end of the hallway seemed to pull the miss match of all the doors in the hallway together.
PANTRY DOOR
The pantry door is also a 1920’s miracle-style door, but the finish is both painted and stained.
As for the hardware on these doors, it’s about 50/50.
We had to replace a couple with vintage replications.
What’s fun about the hardware is that since the doors are used, their knobs are all at different levels.
What do you think?
Will you be trying any mismatched doors and door knob handles in your home anytime soon?
We still have a few doors to collect, and I’m planning to swap out and mismatch the door’s in our lower level too, but for now, that lower level project is on hold.
We’ll get there.
XOXO
Emily
MORE POSTS YOU MAY ENJOY
PAINTING THE HUTCH IN THE PRIMARY BATHROOM PLUS A TOUR
THE FARMHOUSE KITCHEN AND REPURPOSED KITCHEN ISLAND
For more home project posts like this one, visit the GARDEN & HOME PROJECTS category.