Even the most reliable and high-quality doors fade, scratch and rub over time. The varnish cracks and grows cloudy, the paint chips off, the wood dries up. But even this can be used to create your own unique and inimitable style. It is enough to be creative - and you will not have to get rid of old doors and waste time on trips to hardware stores. And we are already ready to offer some ideas!
1. Painting
The easiest way to freshen up a door with minimal changes to the design of an apartment is to repaint it in a new color. Choose a solid color if you prefer minimalism, or highlight individual parts if you like more complex artistic solutions.
Light doors look good in small classic rooms, but in laconic monochrome minimalism it can be turned into an independent accent. To do this, choose rich reds, yellows, greens and blues.
Acrylic paint is best suited: it is easy to work with, it is environmentally friendly, odorless, suitable for indoor use and harmless to health. This is especially important when it comes to doors to a bedroom or a nursery.
Before painting, prepare the base, because the paint lays down in a thin layer and does not hide defects. Sand and prime the surface, seal strong chips and cracks with special sealants. It is recommended to apply the paint in even stripes from top to bottom or from left to right.
If the door is textured, first paint over the inserts, then - the central strips, and only then - the sides. And to keep the coating fresh for a long time - cover the paint with a layer of glossy or matte varnish.
Another simple staining technique is to spray paint over the surface with chaotic spots. Such decoration immediately creates a creative atmosphere of an artistic workshop in the room. Stiff brushes, toothbrushes, and even toothpicks are suitable for spraying.
2. Wallpapering
In order not to paint the door leaf by hand, it is enough to paste over it with wallpaper for your interior. In the living room and bedroom, ordinary paper is enough, but for wet rooms, pay attention to liquid wallpaper.
Before pasting, it is imperative to get rid of the old coating, otherwise the adhesion will be much worse. To remove old paint, warm it up with a construction hairdryer and use a spatula. After that, fill up all the defects with wood putty and sand the surface with fine sandpaper.
When choosing wallpaper, the main thing is that it matches the wall decoration: you can even combine several collections or use photo wallpaper. To avoid bubbles, apply adhesive evenly to the entire substrate and avoid missing areas. Thoroughly level the wallpaper with a roller and avoid drafts until it is dry.
3. Fabric decor
Pasting with a cloth resembles wallpaper, only it looks more interesting due to the texture. If you have unnecessary, but beautiful scraps, you can make a real patchwork quilt on the door. It will be interesting to fit into ethnic styles, boho, country or Provence.
You can fix the fabric with glue or using special furniture brackets - like upholstery on a sofa. The advantage of mechanical fasteners is that they are easy to remove to replace the annoying coating. To decorate, use lace, beads, tassels, fringe, braid and any other decorative trifles to your taste.
4. Covering with leather
Leather upholstery is an alternative to fabric trim for classic noble interiors like the English style. Such a door always looks expensive and luxurious in a living room or study. Moreover, it does not have to be genuine leather: now there are enough more affordable, functional and environmentally friendly substitutes.
For fastening, use glue and special rivets that evenly fix the canvas and form elegant patterns. For decor, pay attention to embossing, painting, fine carving, finishing with metal fittings and belts. Such a door will also fit well with industrial styles, such as loft or grunge.
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5. Craquelure
The craquelure effect is familiar to everyone, even if you don't know the name of this phenomenon yet. This is the same aged crack mesh that is often used in vintage and industrial interiors. It is created using a special paint or varnish, which provokes cracking, but unlike natural wear, such a coating is strong and durable.
Craquelure can be one- or two-step: depending on the number of layers. Contrasting shades look good, but with each new layer, wait until the previous one is completely dry. Such a coating can be applied not only to wooden doors, but also to any other doors.
6. Stickers and stencils
If you are bored with plain doors, feel free to paint the canvas by hand. Can't you draw? It doesn't matter, because the most simple and laconic floral or geometric motifs are in fashion, which do not require high artistic skills.
To keep the drawing even and neat, use stencils that can be printed in advance. They allow you to imagine exactly how the ornament will be located, and not miss even in the smallest detail.
A bright and trendy decoration tool - vinyl decals and stickers. For restrained interiors, simple black silhouettes or laconic patterns are suitable, and for kitsch pop art - bright and colorful stickers, posters, clippings from comics.
7. Decoupage
Decoupage is a simple and affordable technology for finishing old doors, facades and furniture. The technique requires practically no special skills, materials and tools. Sometimes ordinary paper napkins and glue are enough, because in its essence it is a complicated application.
Decoupage requires a perfectly smooth sanded and degreased surface. After that you can paint the door with acrylic paint for contrast, but be sure to dry it. A PVA solution with water is used to glue the drawings, and transparent furniture varnish is used to fix the result.
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8. Aging
This is not a mistake: to breathe new life into old doors, make them even more old. There are many techniques for this, from machining to special paints and coatings.
The roughest and brightest aging for a loft or country is brushing oak, ash or coniferous doors. The surface is treated with a stiff metal brush, which destroys all soft fibers. The relief of the wood appears even more clearly and expressively, but this is not suitable for all varieties.
Elegant scuffs for Provence or shabby chic are created using a paraffin layer. First, the canvas is painted with bright colored paint, after which it is densely rubbed with wax or paraffin. A contrasting light or pastel coating is applied on top, which is then sanded with sandpaper. Paraffin is removed in some places and reveals the lower layer of paint.
The second way to age elegantly is the dry brush technology that designers borrowed from artists. It is extremely simple: take some paint on a thick and flat dry synthetic brush and brush over the base. Hair will not leave continuous strokes and lines, forming an intermittent scratched layer.
9. Mosaic
Mosaics for interior decoration are good for their uniqueness and aesthetics with ease of execution. Instead of buying a ready-made drawing, you can lay out a fancy abstraction yourself. And no one else will have such second doors.
To create a mosaic, glass, ceramics, small tiles, acrylic, pebbles and shells, and any other little things are used.The main thing is to draw a sketch in advance and think over the location of all the details, because even chaotic ornaments will be neat and harmonious only if you think them over in advance.
10. Mirror
Mirrored door inserts are one of the most functional ways to decorate. This is a good choice for small rooms, because reflective surfaces visually add volume to the room. At the same time, such a door can replace a separate wall mirror or a mirror panel of a wardrobe.
Ready-made decorative mirrors are difficult to use to decorate a door, so reflective acrylic panels come in handy in this case. Their advantages are ease of processing and a variety of colors. If you still have fragments of old mirrors, you can use them too - make a mosaic out of them.
11. Stained glass
Stained glass is a classic decoration of windows and doors since ancient times. This technique was used in temples, palaces and rich houses - only the subtlety of execution differed. Now there are three main options: order an individual stained glass window according to your own sketch, purchase a ready-made insert, or paint the glass yourself.
For drawing, translucent acrylic paints are used on glass. You will also need to create a contour - the illusion of metal inserts connecting the elements. But do not paint directly on the door, because the glass must lie horizontally, otherwise the paint will drip from the surface.
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12. Molding
To make the simplest and cheapest door luxurious and elegant enough for classic interiors, use moldings. These are ready-made elements that imitate stucco molding, bas-reliefs and other decorative inserts.
The simplest molding is made of polyurethane or foam, so you can simply glue it or plant it on liquid nails. And to make a beautiful aged door, be sure to paint over it and use contrasting colors or gilding for details.
DIY old door decor - photo
This is not a complete list of options that you can independently implement. Do not be afraid of experiments and imagination, because the old door has nothing to lose anyway. And we offer you even more photo ideas for inspiration!
