New Front Door

Several months ago, I was perusing the Habitat for Humanity Restore. I don't even remember what I was looking for, but I do know that I was not looking for a front door. There is nothing wrong with my front door and I've never thought, "I really want a new front door"...that is, until I saw a craftsman style door there for what I thought to be a very reasonable price. I was smitten! I couldn't find the picture I took of the door but this one from Home Depot is very similar to the one I saw.



All I could do was picture this door in MY house. So, after talking about it non-stop for 3 days :), Caleb finally agreed to go look at it. We measured our existing door, called to make sure the door was still there, packed up the kids and went to go pick up our new used door--or not. The door was not the right size for one thing, and once it was inspected by someone who looks for more than just its aspects of cuteness, Caleb noticed it was splitting down the middle and in several other places. Craftsman style door not happening....so I thought. Well, THAT craftsman style door wasn't happening, but my sweet honey started researching how to build one himself. We did look into buying one that was already made but...unless we want to sell the rest of the house and have only a front door, the wood doors were way too expensive!!!

So after a little bit of research, my man started building...actually, men, plural, because he enlisted the help of my sweet father-in-law to help (thanks Rod!). After measuring our existing door and buying all the necessary wood, they started by cutting all the pieces and putting them together to see how it was going to look and to see if it was square etc.


Then they connected all the boards in a process I know nothing about (I know they used a biscuit joiner which they didn't end up liking, and I know they put in steel rods to add support for door slamming and general kid craziness)...



Once the glue dried and the necessary screws were in place, it was time to caulk to seal any gaps and putty any large holes to prevent moisture from seeping into the wood.


To make sure the door fit, we placed it in the doorway. This helped Caleb see what needed tweaking.


Next, Caleb drilled out the holes for the door knob and the dead bolt using a special tool that my dad had on hand...which saved so much time. I believe the tool is just called a door lock installation kit. So handy!

Now to my job...painting! We used oil based paint (paint color is retreat by sherwin williams) and covered every possible nook and cranny of this door, with several coats. The fastest way to ruin a wood door (most exterior doors are not made of wood anymore) is to allow water to get into the wood and expand it. Although oil based paint is no fun to work with, it is the best at protecting the wood so it is definitely worth the headache!


You can see this was before Caleb installed the window. We special ordered the double paned glass for this door which was really the only spendy thing about the door.



Once the window and hardware were installed, my door was ready to be put in. And here is the finished product, both from the outside and from the inside.








What do you guys think?? I love my new door! I love it even more than the one I wanted to buy! We've had it since February (it was my Valentines present...that is true romance ladies and gentlemen) and it is holding up perfectly so far.

Happy back to school dear friends!!!

DIY Mother's Day Gift

Happy Mother's Day to all you sweet moms out there (if you are still awake)! I hope you had a wonderful day full of love, appreciation, and hugs! My day started out with getting to sleep in, getting a sweet card and some hand-picked flowers from all my boys, and a venti caramel macchiato from Starbucks. Oh, and by sleeping in I mean I woke up at 7 o'clock, thanks to my internal alarm clock...my boys are early risers so I am used to getting up a bit earlier. I like to think that I am such a fun mom that they are just so excited to start their day with me every morning! Okay, probably not, but it is still mother's day for one more hour so I can believe what I want to believe!

Anyway, let's move on to reason for writing this post...I wanted to share with you a little DIY project that I made for my mom this Mother's Day - a DIY message board. So easy, so cheap, so cute. Win. Win. Win. Here is how it turned out...






Aren't my mother's day flowers beautiful (side note)? What do you think of the message board? My mom loved it, by the way. She always loves anything with pictures of her grand boys and anything homemade.
Here are some process pics so you can see just how easy it was...



I used a piece of scrap plywood (3/8 inch, good grade) that I cut down to size using a table saw, followed by sanding.



Then I applied some classic gray stain with a foam brush and wiped away the excess stain.




Once it was dry, I put in two screws where I wanted my clips to hang (I was afraid glue would not be strong enough) and then I taped off the area that was to be painted with chalkboard paint.



Then, I slapped on some paint, removed the tape and... voilà!


Okay, it turns out that I accidentally used magnetic paint instead of chalkboard paint, huhum, mom brain..so now it is a magnetic chalkboard;). Happy accident.

So what do you guys think? Anyone else try a DIY gift for mom? What is your favorite Starbucks drink? Yum, Starbucks. Am I supposed to be boycotting them or something? I try not to stay too current with all that stuff for fear that I won't have anywhere to go when I leave the house. Anyone with me?

Pantry Door

Let's just pretend that it hasn't been months since my last entry...let's just jump right in like no time has passed!
Today, I will be introducing you to my new pantry door (okay, I've had it since the summer but it's new to you;)). In case you are wondering, there was nothing wrong with my old pantry door. It was perfectly ordinary. I just have always wanted a unique pantry door. I have mentioned it before (maybe a few times) in passing...so Caleb got me a new one! I wasn't even trying to drop hints when I talked about it, he is just that good to me;). So, before I introduce you to my new door, let's back up and look at my original, ordinary pantry door...
So, I don't really have any before pictures of just the pantry door, so this is the best I could find. Check out the blank white door at the back of the picture. And there she be...




See, nothing wrong with the door, but nothing that makes a statement.
And here is the door that Caleb bought me from Habitat for Humanity ReStore ($40)...of course, it needed some finishing....




Above is what the door looked like before my kids and I left town for the weekend...and this is what it looked like when we got home:




Oh, my sweet husband! Didn't he do an amazing job?(I'm pretty fond of his work, if you couldn't tell:)). Here is what the process looked like (he was even nice enough to take pictures along the way so I could blog about it)...




The old door is off.




We had to keep the existing hardware because the new door didn't come with hinges. Caleb spray painted the old ones black.




Then, he sanded, taped around the window, and stained the new door (the stain color is dark walnut)...








Next, he wanted to add some more character to the door, so he created a design on the computer and printed it out. He put the paper on the back of the door so it would show through and taped it once he had the letters and picture where he wanted them.




Then he put the door on a pillow on the ground so he could paint it. He carefully traced over the letters and the picture with a fine tip paint brush and a steady hand.








Now, to hang the door...this step sounds relatively simple until you realize that there were no holes for the knobs or the hinges. It is a bit tricky trying to line everything up perfectly so it opens and closes without rubbing or catching. Mission accomplished though. Here she is in all her glory!








I love the contrast it creates against the white cabinets. It changes the whole feel of the room! Not bad for $40, huh? Now to tackle the issue of being able to see in my not so organized pantry, along with being able to see the trash can and mop etc. Stay tuned to see what we did!

Posted using BlogPress from my iPad