For the longest time our third bedroom was the ugliest room in the house.
Upon moving into our new home, this room somehow became THAT room. You know what room I am talking about. The room that everything gets thrown into when it doesn’t really have a home. The I Will Get To It Later Room, when you know that later might not ever happen.
For almost 3 years this room looked like something out of a reality TV hoarders show. I am not sure what happened, or why, but I finally got fed up with this room being impossible to even walk into. So I embarked on a multi-week long hardcore DEEP cleaning and organizing of this room, turning it into my home office and craft room.
Being my little ugly ducking and diamond in the rough, I am now fanatically obsessed with making this room amazing. The closet in the office I have affectionately dubbed the Cosplay Closet, since it now houses all of my cosplay, costuming, and crafting goods, and it is getting a thorough ass whooping of a cleanse as well.
With the office and cosplay closet in order (still lots to do, but at least it is squeaky clean and organized now!), I decided to do something about the fugly sliding doors on the closet. There was nothing really wrong with the doors per se, they were just butt ugly, and worn around the edges.
Ugly sliding closet doors. Dents, scrapes and dings all over, and gaudy gold hardware. YUCK!!
Since I couldn’t justify replacing the doors, I looked into alternatives. I finally decided on wallpapering, painting, and adding chic cast iron hardware from Hobby Lobby! We also replaced the door tracks, since the old ones were sticking, causing the doors to pop off if you yanked on them just right… annoying!
Removing the gaudy gold door hardware.
Embossed, textured and pre-pasted wallpaper from Lowes… only $13 for this small roll (enough to cover 3 doors).
The doors wallpapered and waiting to dry before painting!
Total Project Cost Breakdown:
One Roll of Pre-Pasted Paintable Embossed Wallpaper from Lowes – $13
Quart of Paint from Lowes – $12
New Sliding Door Track and Hardware – $12
Two Cast Iron Door Knobs from Hobby Lobby – $12
TOTAL: $49
So altogether, the project ran just under $50…. Waaaaay cheaper than buying new doors! And they look freaking fantastic! They really bring a nice element to the room. I am impatient to paint the office so everything flows color-wise. But that whole pesky money thing!!!
A couple of tips if you are planning on embarking on a similar project:
- Opt for pre-pasted wallpaper if you can. It saves time, and possible errors, especially if you are new to wallpapering. Plus it is so easy to just dunk the strips in water and hang.
- Wait till the wallpaper is COMPLETELY dry before trying to trim edges. I was impatient and tried cutting wet paper, and got a couple nasty tears that I had to patch. (Bad Gingi! Bad!) Once the wallpaper is completely dry, it is super easy to cut and trim.
- Plan on painting at least 3 coats of paint after the wallpaper is dry. The embossed paper is hard to fully cover, and you do not want to fill in all those lovely edges and designs! So be patient and go over it with 2-3 thin coats over a day or two.
The wallpaper on the door looks fantastic!
Thanks sweetie! <3
Oh I love this idea. It seriously looks brand new!
Yeah, I am so happy with how it came out!
That looks amazing!!
Thanks momma!!!
This is really great idea !!! Wello done 🙂
Thank you Alice!! I appreciate it!
Hahaha I used to have one of those rooms too! I was so happy when we redid it. What a great feeling. You guys did an amazing job! I love the look of the door. So creative. 🙂
Yeah, it is AMAZING how a yucky room can just pull you down emotionally… it feels SO GOOD to have the room tidy and clean!!!
The final result is stunning, great idea!
Thank you sweetie! <3 <3 <3
Would have never thought of putting wallpaper on a door. Great idea. Love the way it turned out. You rock!
It took me for freaking ever to decide what to do with these damn doors, believe me, haha… glad it turned out okay!
Wow, what an amazing idea, looks so good!
Have a lovely day 🙂
Rosanna x
Thanks Rosanna!! <3
Woww this is a beautiful idea
Kisses
I think so tooooooo!!! Thanks for stopping by dearie! <3
Haha. I laughed when I read this post because my husband and I are in the middle of “the great closet door debate” We’re re-doing our basement which needs 2 doors and ironically our upstairs broke too. Crazy that to replace doors at even a big box store it’s roughly 300 each. That’s almost 1000 bucks for closet doors that are still ugly. Love how you did this for $50. Maybe I can get Tom on board!!!
Yeah, I was NOT prepared with how monstrously expensive doors can be! I couldnt even find them USED for a decent price!! So I got all craftsy instead! 😉
Oh I love this idea, I never would have thought to do it myself! I am definitely taking inspiration from this post anyway, thank you for sharing and well done on your lovely blog!! x
adelelydia.blogspot.com
Thank you so much for your kind comment!!
My gosh Gingi, you are creative, I love this idea… what a great way for me to fix up the closet in my office. I am loving my home office, I just have a few more small projects but now I want to do the closet, yours turned out amazing… wow xox
Ohhhh, Launna you HAVE TO share photos with me if you end up using this technique!!!
What an awesome upgrade! That looks so elegant now! And the price is definitely right too!
Right?!??!?! I am absolutely in love with how this came out!
;D
Adorei o resultado final!
Ótima sexta!
Beijo! ^^
<3 <3 <3 Thanks for stopping by sweetie!
Great idea and lovely result
Right?!
I would love to have a craft room! How exciting. Wow! Making a few easy improvements to your closet door went a long way! I love the wallpaper and the Antique looking Cast Iron Door Knobs
Yeah, this room is kind of like my personal library / office / craft room… its like a WOman cave!! haha!
Wow, that’s a pretty dramatic before and after! I would have never thought to wallpaper a door. Nice!
Yeah, I just wish I had taken photos of the doors hanging in the before shot!
You two are geniuses. This looks incredible!
Haha, thanks April!! <3
Wow, sounds like it’s really great and clever idea, I’ll keep in my mind it, thanks for sharing, dear 🙂
Thanks for stopping by sweetie, I am glad you like it!
Have a nice day Gingi
Kisses
Maggie Dallospedale Fashion diary – Fashion blog
You too!! <3
Have an adorable day Gingi.
kisses
Maggie Dallospedale Fashion diary – Fashion blog
You too Maggie! <3
This is such a fun idea, love the look!
Thanks, I am looooving this door! <3
wow que interesante, gracias
<3 <3 <3 Thanks for stopping by!
Wow that makes such a difference! That looks amazing. Could you please come over to our place and fix it? 😛