An Old Red Door

How long has it been since I've posted? A long time! Summer came and it rolled right into the first day of school, leaving very little time to write about anything! On the other hand, there was so much to write about. I decided to live in the moment of summer. We traveled half the country by car to Tennessee, Virginia, Washington DC, and Southeast Missouri. We visited family and our nations capitol for a big chunk of June and then hit the river for the middle of July. We went strawberry picking and made homemade strawberry ice cream and pancakes. We celebrated the Fourth of July with fireworks. We did local things like Worlds of Fun, Deanna Rose Farmstead, the Arboretum, and the Zoo. We hit several county fairs and rode rides til we were dizzy. Took our annual Plaza Fountain Tour. We began filming live Instagram Stories. We voted.

And while all of this happened, I took on a DIY project. I obtained an old red door from a guy down the street how is rehabbing his aunt's house. I'm guessing it was a door they felt needed to be replaced. A door that made it to my garage and took up residence until yesterday afternoon. It's still in the garage, but now it's upright, not sitting across saw horses, taking up the majority of a much needed space. It came to me in pretty disgusting shape. The paint was badly chipping, a pane had been broken in one frame of the nine windows, and it needed some major TLC. I had a vision for this piece, but didn't have a clue how I was going to make it happen. So I started at the very beginning. 

First things first, clean this thing off. Bugs, cobwebs, bird poop, and more covered the door. After that, I striped off the old paint. I purchased paint stripper, rubber gloves, and face masks. I started on the white side and applied almost an entire can of stripper over a weekend. I scraped until my arms ached and I couldn't move my hands anymore. I used a hand sander to get it down to the smoothest layer of paint I could. Looking good!

Then it was time to tackle the red side.

This was the side I knew I wanted to showcase with the end result. Again, it needed a good cleaning, but I didn't strip the paint. I love the red. So, it was sanding, sanding, and more sanding. Mostly by hand, but I also used the hand sander. I used 220 grit sandpaper because I really wanted to distress more then take off all the paint. I spent more time in some areas than others, especially those that easily lost the paint. Take note of the bottom of the door in the completed photo. I love how it's the only white space with a small amount of red. But the biggest pain were the window panes.....

My dad helped me with this task. Originally, we, I mean he, tried to break each pane to remove the glass. He taped the panes with duct tape, hammered directly in the center, and hoped that the duct tape would help contain the glass. It did, to a point. Most of it stayed within the tape, but some landed in shards around the driveway and on the towel below. I didn't capture photos of this process because I was concerned for his safety. We decided that was probably not the best method so my dad went home to think about an easier way to remove the glass. He came back a week or so later with a tiny hand help circular saw that ran on battery. A battery that died after 45 minutes of use. It left us with two and a half panes removed. His technique was to remove each frame around the window and then take out the individual pane of glass of the remaining seven sections. So, a second battery was ordered and he came back another week later. All remaining panes were removed, leaving me to forge on with my plan.

That plan required chicken wire. On a date night, my hubby and I ran into Lowe's and purchased a roll of chicken wire that would now replace all the glass. Depending on where you use the door, I think the chicken wire would look super cute used a place to hang family photos with decorative clothespins. Or a message board for your family. Hang sweet notes of encouragement, a grocery list, a to-do or chores list. If used in a garden or backyard setting, the whole thing would be great for a gardening display. Hang seeds from the chicken wire. Hang your work gloves and other lighter weight things you might use whenever working in the garden. So many possibilities.

The chicken wire was difficult. Cutting it proved tricky with sharp edges that snagged my clothes and clawed at my arms and fingers. I created a template for the panes and laid it along the wire. I cut each piece slightly bigger than the pane to allow for attachment. I bent and molded each square of wire and attached with a staple gun. With little room, it took some maneuvering of the staple gun to get the pieces attached. Make sure you invest in a good pair of wire snips. They make all the difference.

After all the wire was in place, it was time to put the wood molding back into place. Talk about another pain! Adding the chicken wire wasn't any thicker than the glass that had original been in its place, but it seemed like it made it more difficult to reattach. Each piece of trim was sanded down, the corners taking a little extra, and then hammered into place with the use of a chunk of spare wood so as not to splinter the molding. It was truly like fitting a puzzle piece, but that puzzle came together with a little tap here and a little pounding there.

A few little accessories were added. A sweet Hello sign and three black hooks complete the door. I love it. I adore it. I'm kind of sad to part with it. It will be heading to Louisburg soon and added to our little booth. Will it sell? I have no idea, but if not, it will make such a darling addition to our display. 

What would you do with an old red door?

XO,
Andrea