How to Jazz Up a Solid-Front Door
Remake a door with new paint, molding, wallpaper, hardware and more
We've recently kvelled over fancy doors, but there are plenty of ways to spice up a simple solid-front door. There's a lot you can do to make them special with stains, paint, stencils, fabric, hardware, embellishments — you name it. With a little creativity and elbow grease, the sky's the limit.
More doors: Garage, barn, pocket, Dutch, pivot, fold, sliding
More doors: Garage, barn, pocket, Dutch, pivot, fold, sliding
The door in the background is surely custom, but you can create your own from a plain door by simply adding a little detailing using the most basic trim for your local home building store. Paint it all the same color (or make the embellishment a contrast color) and you've got yourself one show stopping door!
Paneling clearly clearly didn't provide enough pizzazz for designer Allison Cosmos. The door was painted with a coral coat of paint in a satin finish before the gloss white design was applied. You can achieve a similar look with any number of stencil designs. Check out Royal Design Studio and Cutting Edge Stencils.
If you're not particularly adept at coloring in the lines, express yourself with words. Applying chalkboard paint to a door is a great way to add interest, keep yourself organized and get kids involved in list-making. You can apply this chalkboard paint treatment to any door.
Chalkboard paint works on paneled doors, too. Typography in home decor is all the rage, after all. Chalkboard paint is widely available. Try Benjamin Moore, RustOLeum or Valspar.
By all means, don't stop at paint treatments; get creative with wallpaper remnants, too. This designer went to romp for the adorable lion cut from vintage wallpaper (placed above green chalkboard paint), but you can find great decals from Dezign with a Z or cut your own shapes.
You don't need a big budget to make a splash with a vibrant color and stylin' house numbers. Simple, but such a statement!
If committing to an untraditional door design feels a little risky to you, consider taking a less permanent route: snazzy paint. This deep, brooding, glossy eggplant door color stands out against the brick and makes a sumptuous background for the bright green wreath.
Of course the biggest draw of this image is the bright solid door offset by the fretwork pattern on the wall, but look closely, and you'll see a great set of handles on those doors.
Glossy red door + stylish typographic door numbers = high design without a huge financial commitment.
Go for a different approach with a basic door: Strip it down (or keep it in, or close to, its natural state) to highlight the structure of the door or a nice wood.
While the hardware on this barn door is no joke, the construction of the door isn't particularly complicated; most industrious DIYers could pull this off. And the limed/bleached/whitewashed look makes the whole thing look effortless.
If you have a somewhat boring-ish passageway that you'd like to put to use, make it a secret bookcase. You can work thick walls to your advantage this way, or you can furr out the wall a bit (or even part of the wall, as seen in this photo) to add a little depth.
Want a solid-front door where you have one with glass panels? Remove those panels, hang some curtains on the inside, et voila! Super chic.
You may know I'm a sucker for stripes, be they horizontal or vertical, but I love that the stripes in this bathroom don't stop at the door. On the inside of the bathroom, the continued stripes result in a bit of a trompe l'oeil from the hall.
More: 10 Extraordinary Door Designs
How to Choose a Front Door
How to Choose an Interior Door
More: 10 Extraordinary Door Designs
How to Choose a Front Door
How to Choose an Interior Door
DIY: See This Door Makeover