Be Our Guest!
We were expecting my parents for their annual visit to Michigan, and needed a room for them. We purchased a couch/bed from IKEA last year with the intentions that the den would serve as both our TV room and guest room.
The problem? The room needed doors. We considered what we would do next, carefully. We wanted the sliding barn door look, but we wanted to be able to see in the room still (yes, we were thinking down the road, to when our kids are in high school and have friends over--go ahead and close the door, we can still see you, ha!).
So, I began to scour Craigslist and found these lovelies:
They had 2 matching doors, but they were in rough shape since they used to be in a greenhouse. Obviously that didn't stop me. So, we began scraping the many layers of paint off, just so we could paint it again.
We used heat guns to loosen up the old chippy, caked-on paint, and then used a paint scraper to scrape it off. This process was extremely time consuming. Some parts of the door scraped off easily, most did not. We scraped off what we could and then sanded the rest. We knew we were going for a vintage look, so some texture beneath the new paint would be okay.
Next we painted, distressed, added hardware, and then they were ready to be hung.
The hardware and track used was purchased from Menards. We used 2 track kits to make a track long enough for these extra wide doors.
Now the room is ready to be used for our guests! I bet you are wondering about those windows. Don't your guests want privacy?! Well, I suppose they do, so I sewed 2 curtain panels, attached industrial strength adhesive velcro to the panels and to the doors (on the inside), and now we have curtains that can quickly go up when there is a need.
Also, remember how I never finish projects all the way? Well, I have 2 panes of glass that I had cut to replace 2 that are cracked. I've had them since October. It's January. Oops.
Now, who wants to come over and be our guest? I promise you it will be loud and we will likely make you do chores. :)