The Big Reveal! DIY Farmhouse Laundry Doors!

I posted a teaser on Facebook last week about my latest project, and it's finally done!  I found some really cool projects on Pinterest to re-do bi-fold and hollow-core type doors without costing an arm and a leg and without having to buy new doors.   The one that I liked the most was creating "farmhouse" style doors on bi-fold doors.   The place I wanted to change the most was at the entry, and the doors in front of our washer and dryer.    Here is a before picture, when I first decided to paint the doors.

They're pretty ugly, eh?  In case you're wondering, the darker door on the left is the newly painted one.   














The first thing I had to do was cut the strips out of 1/4" plywood.  Using anything thicker would have made the doors much too heavy.  I'm not a fan of saws, so Greg cut these for me on the table saw. I then had to paint them.  I decided on paint, instead of stain, because all of the other wood in our kitchen is painted.  Because these are not "perfect" there are sometimes a bit of a space between the boards.  























I lined it all up and decided that the dark paint underneath wouldn't work, so I basically painted "stripes" on the doors where the strips would be meeting. 

Then it was time to glue the boards to the doors.  I decided to use some small finish nails to help hold the boards down (and not need clamps), and to add a bit of authenticity to the doors. 

After adding the main boards, I added the rest of the "decorative" boards.   Abby was a big help, and made all of the more difficult cuts that needed to be done!  She is a totally awesome worker and will just keep going and going and going when she wants to get something done and done correctly!  

I think the hardest part was making the crossbucks for the bottom of the door.  Abby spent a good deal of time getting the angles just right and made lots of cuts on sample pieces.   We didn't have any exact plans, as the Pinterest post I based this on didn't have that sort of information.  Every door is different, so I'm not giving any measurements, either.  

We have to make a few more adjustments on the doors to have them line up properly, but for the most part, they are done!  I am SO pleased with this and could not have done this without the help of Greg and Abby!  I have two more doors in the kitchen that I plan to do in this style.    I'm thinking about painting the trim the same color as the door, but haven't come to a final decision on color for that just yet, but I'm not happy with the darker color. 

So, there you have it!  The doors are basically done and I'm thrilled with how they look!  So much better than the original doors.   Hope everyone else is enjoying their projects! 

Blessings to all! 

Julie