DIY Shaker Doors

As y'all know I am currently challenging myself to get our hall bath done as part of the One Room Challenge. Part of the remodel that we already finished was transforming our bathroom cabinet doors to a shaker style. I am finally getting around to the tutorial I have promised several times {whoops!} This method has converted my 70's cabinet doors into a style that I love. In my dream world we would have gutted the cabinets in the kitchen, mud room and bathrooms....but we had so many other needs we needed to stretch our budget as much as possible. Enter DIY Shaker Doors! We have used this method on our kitchen doors and bathroom doors, which you will see in different photos below.

You will need:

-Thin plywood cut into strips {ours are 2.5 inches wide, called Lauan Plywood}

-Wood Glue

-Nails/nail gun

-Wood Filler

-Paintable Caulk

-Primer

-Paint

-Tack Cloths

-MH Ready Patch {if you need to fill any existing large gaps on the doors, like our scallop design}

-Sandpaper- fine and medium, or even better, an electric sander

The first thing we did was remove the cabinet doors. As you can see in our original kitchen photo, our cabinet doors all had a scallop design. It's very hard to believe this was our kitchen when buying our house- just one year ago!

and the bathroom...

After much trial and error using wood putty and sanding, {countless times} I finally got a tip from our painter to use a product called MH Ready Patch. It goes on just like wood filler, but dries so much more solid and doesnt shrink! I cannot even tell you how many times we patched and sanded, patched and sanded, and the scallop design was still lurking on our cabinet doors. If you have any grouted design like ours, fill the places that will be visible and sand them down smooth {for this I would recommend an electric sander if you have access to one}. I always close my eyes and run my fingers across something I have sanded to make sure it is smooth! 

Next, you are ready to get your wood strips ready. Apparently, some Lowes and Home Depot will cut your sheet of plywood into strips this small {2.5 inches} but ours did not. So, we bought the sheet of plywood and cut them down to the correct width ourselves. Next, measure your doors. We measured and cut pieces the vertical length of the doors, and then measured and cut pieces to fill the horizontal width. Attach the strips with wood glue for extra security, then nail them down with a nail gun.

Then, fill any cracks between your wood strips and cover any nail holes with wood filler. I try and fill any imperfection I see with the wood filler to prevent backtracking later! Sand once dry with a fine grit sandpaper/sander, and run a tack cloth over them to remove any dust.

Prime the cabinet doors, back and front. Sand again and wipe down with a tack cloth. Caulk around the inner and outer edges around your strips. {Per my Dad's tip: your pointer finger is the best tool for a good caulk job. Have a wet rag handy that you can wipe your finger off on after your smooth the caulk!} This really helps to achieve a seamless look with your new trim and will be invisible once you paint. 

Here's another tip: If you have any wood grain showing that you don't want, I have used the method of putting a really, really, thin swash of wood filler over the grain, just to fill the tiny holes.



It's best to do it with a putty knife and apply it like you would be filling a hole, except you are just skimming the surface of the wood. Sand them down afterwards if you do this too. It's an extra step, but so worth it for really good results! I wanted the smooth look of cabinet doors vs. a grainy look. You are now ready to paint! 

When we did our kitchen cabinets, we hired a professional painter to spray them and spent a ton of money on it. I decided this time around I would buy my own sprayer and I'm so thrilled with the results.  It was so simple to use this paint sprayer and it worked like a charm. I can't sing the praises enough for this little machine and how much money it saved me. I only wish I would have bought it before! It took me two primer coats and two thin coats of Benjamin Moore Advance paint in Decorators White to achieve our finished product. Keep in mind, we were covering some darker paint and wood so you may not need the two primer coats, especially if they are thicker. It's a pain, but I always sand after each coat of paint. It's worth it in the end! 

I hope this helps you if you are looking to update your cabinet doors like us. It seems like a lot of steps, but once you get the process down, it goes quick! I'm currently out of town, but when I get home I will update this post with some better kitchen and bathroom photos too. As always, let me know if you have any questions :)

And if you want to catch up, here is...
One Room Challenge Week One