When funds do not allow to start a large-scale repair, and the soul asks for changes, do-it-yourself door decoration can be an elegant solution. Craquelure, patchwork, decoupage doors can be more than just beautiful words: an experiment in decorating doors, multiplied by a creative impulse and a moderate risk of an unexpected result, can give them a second life. And perhaps this second life will be better than the first.
Painting
One way to get an original door with your own hands is to simply paint it.
Choose a paint to taste, a fixing varnish, arm yourself with a spatula, brushes or roller - and you can update the door. The sequence of actions is simple:
- remove the door leaf from the hinges and lay it horizontally;
- remove old paint with a spatula;
- sand with sandpaper;
- putty bumps and cracks;
- clean and degrease;
- color;
- apply fixing varnish.
Important! It would seem that everything ingenious is simple. But if you skip or unfinish at least one of the stages, only simplicity, no genius, will remain from the idea.
The nuances that matter, the observance of which will give an excellent result:
- The best choice is acrylic paints.
- To avoid streaks, you need to paint by laying the door leaf horizontally.
- As tools for painting, it is better to choose a roller or spray gun if the process takes place in an open space.
- Paint should be applied in two or three layers, each of which should dry well.
- Fixing the final layer of paint with varnish is a prerequisite for high-quality work.
Interesting. If you cover a painted door with a special varnish that imitates a cracked old surface, you get a craquelure door decoration.
Painting with selection of moldings
If the door leaf is decorated with moldings, they can be painted in a contrasting color. Such decoration using basic color combinations will give the door a fresh look. If there are no moldings, they can be made with your own hands from special strips.
Art painting
A hand-painted door will definitely take the first position in terms of originality. If you have at least minimal artistic inclinations, a sense of harmony and style, the door has every chance of becoming exquisite. Landscape, ornate ornament, the plot of a famous painting - you choose.
screen painting
If the makings of an artist are lame or completely absent, and you really want to have your own “door to art”, you can resort to the help of ready-made stencils. They are sold in assortment in specialized stores and are easy to use.
First, the door leaf is painted in the background color and dried completely. After the stencil is firmly fixed on the surface, and the pattern is painted over with a roller. Decorating the front door in this way will undoubtedly make it clear that an esthete and an original live behind it.
Wallpapering
An express option for the impatient is wallpapering the door leaf. There may be “design experts” who will assure that the wallpaper on the doors is a grandmother's version that has become obsolete. Do not listen to anyone: you do not encroach on someone else's door, but you will deal with your own without advisers. And if you are an adherent of any of the directions country in the interior, you have every right to wallpaper the door in absolute harmony with the style.
In order to qualitatively paste over the old door with wallpaper, you need to clean it, level the surface, sand it and degrease it. Using PVA glue, stick the wallpaper, pressing it tightly and driving away air bubbles.
Wall mural
Wall murals designed for doors are an even faster option than pasting with ordinary wallpaper. No measurements and cuts, just the choice of the desired theme and size. The result is a complete transformation of the door.
The gluing procedure is the same as with ordinary wallpaper.
After a while, having parted with a certain amount of money, the bored wallpaper can be changed to a new plot.
Patchwork
One of the ways to decorate a door is to glue patches of fabric using the patchwork technique. Such decoration of the door surface implies the following points:
- you need to choose a fabric taking into account shrinkage and stretching;
- glue should not leave traces on the fabric;
- the edges of the fabric must be processed;
- fabric trim is not suitable for the bathroom door, as well as the entrance and kitchen;
- in the area of door handles, you should not stick light branded fabric.
With the help of a furniture stapler, glazing beads and PVA glue, you can decorate with a fabric both the entire canvas and its separate part in the form of an image composed of patches.
Decoupage
Decorating the door leaf with your own hands using decoupage allows you to achieve the effect of painting or even inlay. This popular technique today is good because it is suitable even for people who do not know how to draw at all. Postcards, napkins, magazine clippings can be used. The best option would be to purchase special decoupage cards or ordinary three-layer paper napkins with a suitable pattern.
In addition to napkins or drawings on a different basis, for work you will need:
- sharp scissors;
- PVA glue;
- brushes, sponge, roller for applying paint and glue;
- acrylic paint and protective varnish.
Decoupage of the door is performed as follows:
- The surface is sanded, primed with acrylic paint or PVA glue and dried.
- The pattern depicted on the napkin is carefully cut out along the contour. Two extra layers of paper without an image are removed, leaving only one thin layer.
- The cut out pattern is carefully applied to the door surface, a layer of glue is applied to it with a brush.
- The decoration is fixed with wood varnish.
stained glass
The door can acquire individual features if it is decorated with stained-glass windows. You can simply buy these glass inserts, or you can make your own, which is much more interesting.
For example, you can use the stained glass painting technique with paints. The sequence is:
- Clean and degrease glass.
- With stained glass paint, transfer the outlines of the pattern onto horizontally reinforced glass. It is more convenient to do this if the drawing itself is fixed on the back of the glass.
- Complete drying will take three days. Then you can paint the remaining fragments and let them dry again.
- Apply another contour that will give clarity to the drawing and hide minor flaws.
- After another three days, apply a protective varnish and allow to dry for about a week.
- Insert the finished stained glass window into the door leaf.
All these ways of "reanimating" doors are simple, inexpensive and interesting.
Doors are the guardians of our house, reliable and unsophisticated. Decorating the doors with your own hands, decorating them to your taste means elevating these guards from ordinary conscripts to the rank of keepers of peace and comfort. And remember: all attempts to listen to the inner creative instinct and give free rein to fantasy are always rewarded. At least - a surprise, as a maximum - a non-trivial appearance of your home.