New Looks For Old Salvaged Doors: More Repurposed Door Ideas!

In my previous blog post about old doors, 

New Takes On Old Doors: Salvaged Doors Repurposed, 

I shared a ton of great ideas for salvaging and reusing old doors by turning them 

into really neat home decor. Since that post, I have come across even more great 

salvaged door ideas, so here is part two, New Looks For Old Doors!

Here are my hints for how to use salvaged doors in your home:

~  Use salvaged doors to fill up a large wall space.

~  A door displayed vertically on a large wall breaks up a monotonous horizontal display.

~  Paint old doors a bright or contrasting color to add life and mood to a room.

~  Think usefulness: add shelves and/or hooks to old doors to give an old door a new use.

~  Add a mirror to an old door for a completely new look. Mirrors are a great way to add visual space and depth to a room.

~  A door with windows? That's an extra special find! Paint on the windows, or apply vinyl wall art decals to the windows for a unique look.

~  Missing window on a door? Why not use that open space creatively? Use it to hang a plant by attaching a simple hook to the top area of the space, or attach a curtain to the open space.

~  When mounting a door on a wall, be sure to use proper hardware that is strong enough to support the door. In doubt about what to get? Ask for advice at your local hardware store.

~  Use caution with doors that have old peeling paint. Most old paint contains lead. Avoid using these doors in areas where there are children or food. Pick up a lead test at your local hardware store to test for lead paint. Never remove lead paint, but paint over it instead. 

Check it out!

Floor standing distressed door with mirror from Dreamy Whites

I love the hanging plant.

Lovely refinished wood door bench from Door Furniture lgcustomwoodworking

I like the look of these simple brown doors.

Create some art on an old door.

Create a pop color for your home or garden on an old door.

Door fence via alt. build blog

Door fence from Froot Loop Acres/Queen Farmer Film Project

Antique door turned into a corner shelf.

Tool shed made from old doors.

Old door turned into a shelf

Old door fence via pinterest (above and below)

Old doors displayed outside

Old doors with windows = room divider from Apartment Therapy

A door shelf with chalkboard paint applied to the top two panels.

Room divider doors from Junk Chic Cottage

Salvaged doors in a coffee shop from Leah Best Design

Screen door as a wall display from Brightboldbeautiful

Salvaged door with shelves from Bulbtoblossom. The attached sconce is perfect.

Old door as a stylish headboard from CottageIndustryInterior

Doors as decor at Sweet Life Nail Bar & Lounge Denver, CO

Repurposed door in the bathroom via Pinterest

Repurposed door with coat hooks via Pinterest

Two old doors make perfect outdoor wedding decor

Repurposed door with mirrors over a rustic buffet

Door with shelf and vignette by Theresa at Time Worn Interiors

Ornate salvaged doors painted a bright color add interest and texture to a room

These old glass doors add both height and color to the wall.

Old door and window as room dividers from Design Sponge

Which is your favorite?  

Remember, Inspiration Is Everywhere!
~  Laura

How To Create A Wall Display With Vintage Silver Trays

Creating a wall display of silver serving trays is easier than you may think!

I love this look. Creating this display was one of the things that I most looked forward

 to when I was redecorating my dining room. I already had a small collection of silver 

plated serving trays that I had purchased at thrift shops. All I had to do was figure 

out where and how I wanted to hang them. Here is how I created the look.

I had the room painted sage green with one opposing wall painted deep plum.

After I had my furniture in place I decided that the trays would look great surrounding 

my baker's rack on the plum wall. I liked the idea of the contrast of vintage silver against

the deep plum. Because I was using different shaped trays, I held each tray up against the

wall to determine its placement and spacing. I didn't measure or do anything fancy, I

just decided which tray I liked next to which, and then estimated where I wanted to 

hang them.  This was important to do because the oblong trays could have been hung

either vertically or horizontally. I simply held each tray up against the wall and turned
it every which way until I was pleased with the order and placement.

Once I decided the placement of the trays on the wall, it was time to give each tray a

hook on the reverse side so that I could hang them. Here's how I did it.

Supplies needed: E6000 adhesive and large paper clips. That's it!

Before attaching my hooks, I washed my trays but I did not polish them. I wanted them
to retain their tarnished vintage finish so I just washed them in hot soapy dish water
and dried them. If you want your trays to be shiny, now is the time to polish them. 

For the hooks we will use E6000 adhesive and large paper clips. 
You can buy E6000 at most craft and hardware stores.

On the reverse side of your tray, determine where the center is. You can do this by
measuring with a ruler or measuring tape. Apply a long heavy bead of E6000
adhesive to that center spot near the edge or rim of the tray. If you tray is recessed like 
mine it the photo is, you will need to attach your hook not at the very lip of the tray, but at
the flat bottom area. This is so that the tray will hang flat against your wall. 

Pick up a large paper clip and gently bend it just slightly so that you separate the small 

bend from the large bend as shown in the photo. In the photo I am holding the large bend.

The smaller bend is what will go into the glue. The large bend will be the hook for the nail. 

Press the small bend of the paper clip into the adhesive that you put on the back of

your tray until the small bend of the clip is completely entrenched in adhesive. 

Allow adhesive to dry overnight.

Here is what it should look like. Once the adhesive has completely dried you 

can hang your trays!

Hammer your nail into your wall and then hang the tray on the nail by

hooking the large bend of the paper clip onto the nail. That's it! 

The size of the nail you use will be determined by the material that

your wall is made from and also the size and weight of your tray. For

large heavy trays you should use larger fasteners or mollys/anchors.

My completed display.

It's THAT easy!

Pin this post!

What do you think?

My Plum & Sage Dining Room Makeover: Finished!

It's taken me a while to get a chance to write this follow-up post because this has been 

a busy year for me! My work on my new jewelry instruction book is finished and the 

book is now in the design stages, so now that I am finished working on that, I can 

get back to blogging a little more often, Yay! 

Anyway, a while back I did a blog post about how I painted my dining room table and 

chairs black and recovered the seats with pretty new fabric in the colors that I had

 planned on redoing my entire dining room in: sage green and plum. The dining set was 

originally painted an ugly hunter green with burgundy seats - yuck - a look that 

screamed 1980's. I was thrilled with my newly redone table and chairs, but I still 

hadn't even painted the room! 

Well, it's finally finished! And aside from adding a few more things to the walls 

(that takes time!) I thought I would share with you my new look. I love this color combination because I think it compliments vintage style very well, but it still 

has a modern, contemporary look that is very stylish and current. The plum and 

sage are a hint Bohemian - maybe an unusual color choice for some, but its 

what I always wanted so I made it happen! Check it out!

BEFORE:

This photo of the dining room was taken right when I purchased the house, 

before I even moved in...

AFTER:

My new look! I am in love with this color combination!

Check out here how I redid the dining set!

Here we have the awful green and behind it the sleek new black!

Here's a finished chair. Note the old wall color behind it. Yuck! 

My swanky new dining room! I got the area rug and plum sheers at Target!

Love!

What do you think?

Click here to read my previous post:Vintage Dining Room Set Makeover: Paint It Black!

Check out my new book!

Thrift Shop Find: Simple Antique Wooden Chair

I was thrilled when I spotted this wooden chair at a local thrift shop a few weeks ago. 

The timing wasn't right though, and I passed it by due to lack of time and thought. 

I did think about it again over the next week and or two and when I returned to that 

same shop it was still there, so I grabbed it.  At $10.00 I thought it was a bargain! 

I've recovered these types of seats before and they're relatively easy to do. 

My tough decision now is whether or not I want to paint the wood. Hmmm. 

At first I thought maybe turquoise or bright red, or even a lime (kinda neon) green.

 But now that I see the how the wood is so nicely naturally worn, I'm having 

second thoughts about painting it at all! 

What would you do with it?

What do you think?

What would you do with this chair?