Five years ago we did a small kitchen update. Nothing major, just some painting, new lights, and new floor. One of the last things added to this little project was replacing, what we believe to be, the original back door to our house. It never felt very secure, I often said I could have kicked it in if I wanted to, and had plexi-glass windows which I really didn't like. The door wasn't exposed to the elements because we have a small mudroom (and not what Pinterest has trained us to think of when we read "mudroom") so the plexi-glass was probably ok but I also do not like having any open windows/blinds once it get dark. I get paranoid about being snuck up on even though it only happened once...and it was a police officer (long story). So. Back door got replaced with a steel one. The original wooden door went into the garage where it sat, gathering sawdust, for almost 5 years. That's where our story starts.
We had talked about various uses for this door, wanting to turn it into something. We finally settled on a headboard for Luke. I think we picked that while he was still in his crib and even though he's been in his big bed for close to 9 months, we just got to the door. We excel at coming up with ideas, not so much at executing them.
First step was pulling the door-half (the window part was cut off years ago) out of the garage and giving it a good hose down, then letting it dry in the sun. Luke and I did this on a whim a few weeks ago, knowing that starting is half the battle. I was ready to start. Once it was dry, got rained on, and dried again, I had Matt carry it up to Luke's room to make sure it would fit in the tight space between his wall and the bed frame/mattress.
We have Luke's bed tucked into this nook in his room. Partly because that's where his crib used to be but also just because there isn't a whole lot of space in his room (and we plan/hope to stick at least one more kid in here some day...still don't have all those logistics figured out.).
The fit was a go so onto the next step. Scraping and sanding. I got the pleasure of this part but it was pretty straight forward. Scrape and sand until smooth. Repeat as needed.
Next was fitting some molding to the top of the door to give it a more finished look. We picked the side of the door that looked the best (the white, which was the interior side) and started talking about trim options. This is probably my favorite part of this whole project because Matt was able to make the top entirely out of pieces that came from my Grandpa's workshop which I LOVE. After my uncles had taken what wood they wanted from Grandpa's shop, there was a bunch of scraps and pieces left. Matt, two brother-in-laws, and a cousin met to go through what was left and all took some. It was a late night when Matt got home and I never saw what he brought back. So I LOVED that he was able to go through his pile from Grandpa and we were able to use the first of it for Luke's headboard. It just makes me happy every time I think about it.
My other favorite part of this project was picking a paint color. Matt had made a bookshelf for Luke which I had painted using paint samples in a gradient (seen here, scroll down a little). We didn't have enough left of any of those colors for this so I mixed three of them together to get our paint. It is close to Valspar's Pool Party (which is one of the colors in it). A perfect shade of blue if I do say so myself.
Then it was time to paint. I did two coats of a white primer + paint on each side and then three coats of our blue on the good side.
Leaving us with this!
This is about the most enjoyable painting project I've ever done because it was a pretty blue, it was quick, I had a good brush, and I got to listen to podcasts while doing so! (Although, finally getting to the point of painting the new bathroom walls probably beats it.) We let it dry in the garage overnight and then moved to the basement for 4 days while we were at the lake (not that whole time, but by the time we got to putting it up it had been 4 days). All of this painting happened during the nice 90°+ streak we had and so curing in the basement, in the AC, and a necessity.
Then all that was left was installation!
Matt secured it to Luke's bed frame with some screws and bolts. It also rests on the carpet so it's really not going anywhere.
It immediately became one of Luke's favorite places to display his toys.
I love that it makes his room look more complete and adds some more color! The bottom turtle on the ottoman is the one we bought Luke in New York before we even met him. The first thing we bought specifically for Luke and not just "future baby".
In finishing our Grandpa theme for this project, the two wooden vehicles on top were also made by him (the bus is technically mine...but Luke has basically taken all of Grandpa's wooden vehicles over). And the lion in the corner was part of Luke's baby shower gift from my Grandma. The BB-8 and Chewie...yeah we bought those, obviously. All art by Luke.
I have two more projects in here to finish up the little update/improvement we've been working on in his room but so far this is a pretty big improvement from just his bed wedged against three walls!
The fact that this project cost us $0 (we had everything on hand), is a beautiful blue, and has some sentimental value makes it one of my favorite small(ish) projects we've done.
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