The Difference a Door Can Make!

I love making subtle changes that add character to my home.  So far, our kitchen is where we have done the most customizing. We have added light fixtures, cabinet hardware, backsplash, and window trim. Hopefully I will get around to blogging about all of those, but today, I want to share my most recent, and one of my favorite updates, and that is my pantry door! Here is the kitchen right before we moved in, and now. The floor is still covered in the before photo, but nothing else changed before move in day (except appliances).

 I have known from day one that I would want to change my pantry door. I searched for months for the perfect antique door, but couldn't find anything the right size. I could have cut a door down, but with most of them, I would have been left with half a door knob hole, or something else just as weird, so I had to get creative.

I found a new, unfinished pine door on Homedepot.com, and I knew I could work some magic. It was under $200, and only 1/4" too wide. Once it got here, it sat in my garage for at least 3 months... It's always hard to get to my own projects, because my customers come first.

I wanted my door to look old, so I got to work. So many people have since asked about the stain, so I wish I had done a tutorial, but I'll do my best to explain how I got the look.

First, I wiped the whole door down with Minwax Special Walnut Stain. Then I took both Classic Grey, and Dark Walnut, and wiped them on sporadically and blended. After letting it dry for a few days, I came out and sanded most of it off. I know that sounds weird, but It really helps with the aged look, because it looks like it's been refinished a few times. Here is how it looked at that point.

Next I wiped Special Walnut over the whole thing again. While the stain was still damp, I added a really thin paint wash with a light grey chalk paint. After that I just needed to seal it. I used Minwax water based polyacrylic.

At that point we went ahead and hung it. I knew I wanted to do an obscured glass treatment, to help hide the inside of the pantry, but figured I'd get to that gradually. I was so excited about how it changed the room, so I went ahead and shared this photo in a few of my favorite forums, and on my Facebook page, with mention that it wasn't quite finished.

I received a lot of compliments, and a lot of questions about why I didn't just want to leave the glass clear. A lot of people were unsure they liked my glass idea, and I got a lot of opinions on what I should do differently. My favorite comment was, "I highly suggest just cleaning and organizing your pantry." I had to laugh out loud. I considered my reply carefully. I could have explained to the commenter that I DO clean my pantry... a lot... but 5 people live in my home, and 3 of them are children. Honestly, if they actually make an effort to put something back in the pantry, I'm happy. I am not about to criticize how they do it. I opted to thank her for the suggestion, and tell her I hadn't considered that possibility yet! Haha! Humor in everything, right?

I did the glass treatment gradually, over a couple weeks, a pane at a time. I used a product called Gallery Glass  Window Color, by Plaid. It was easy, and fun!

Here is the door all finished!

I am so pleased with the outcome of my glass, and sure enough, the masses love it too! This time I DID  do a tutorial, and it's on my YouTube. Here is the link if you are interested. I am NOT a professional YouTuber, and it's definitely not the best tutorial you've ever seen, but I do believe you will be able to do this after watching it, and that was the goal. Enjoy! Subscribe if you want! I plan to do more!

Thanks for reading! Have a great day!