Pantry Door Character
credit: victoria moon photography
One of my favorite current design trends is a pantry door that catches your immediate attention with all of it’s character and glory. I bet after this post you will readily begin spotting them yourself. If you stick around for a while you will learn that Shea Mcgee can do no wrong in my eyes. I love everything about her designs except boucle…. I’m still trying to embrace that one. Her ability to mix metals and old world feel in a contemporary design so inspires me. Naturally, I fawn after her pantry door.
credit: Studio McGee
Other worthy mentions that just nailed the pantry door.
Finding a vintage door to repurpose is two things…. 1) difficult to do 2) not easy on a budget. Vintage doors are one of those things you need to have a local reliable source or a storage unit like Joanna Gaines. I have an aversion to clutter and the Sanford and Son theme song plays loudly in my head whenever I catch myself saying “I could always save it for later.” Therefore, there is no magical storage unit in my design arsenal holding magical finds. I am also dangerously impulsive with the word “project”and cannot wait to stumble across a door like this. I must execute the idea immediately upon its conception. My son recently put a hole in our pantry door….. that’s a story for later. After pricing lack luster pre-hung doors I got to brainstorming- how could I achieve similar character and add some warmth with wood tones in my space? I am a long time follower of Plank and Pillow. Brooke has been similarly inspired in the past and I loved her post. Then it came to me- French Doors – instead of the originally hung single door. But the challenge was could I find French doors small enough to fit this existing opening.
Before: Prehung builder grade
Further into my research I found it tricky to find doors small enough for the space. A pocket door was more of a budget strain and would have required to source it out to one of my favorite professional carpenters instead of the resident carpenter (my husband). I’ve mentioned the roadblocks to a vintage salvaged door. Additional complications would have been sizing another door, its framing and what a chore hanging doors can be. I stumbled across a bifold door that was nearly exactly my vision but without the hardware and although it was a bifold. I got nothin’ against a bifold but alone and the way you hang them from the top of the framing- it didn’t achieve the custom look I had in mind. This is where the French door from a bifold door plan was born. I would deconstruct (that sounds so much better than take ‘em apart) the bifold to make it two tiny little appropriately sized for my existing frame- French doors. This is the bifold doors I landed on.
Remember the always standing disclaimer – we are here to inspire not to direct your DIY…. Too much liability friends. Oh and remember- wear your safety glasses. In summary here are the steps we took:
Installed this cuie cavinet latch because I have always wanted one! Not pictured: battery operated sensor when we open the doors to turn on the light. The finishing touch to truly customize I was this reeded glass film. Thank you Jenna Sue for the idea and amazing tutorial that you actually can follow for DIY.
Happy dreaming, designing, and building.
