Glass insert door tutorial

I was surprised to understand how much fixed doors mean in your home decoration. But that's not a miracle if you think how big area of the wall they take and how big area of the doors are hidden under something like furniture or decorations. And when you remember you walk through the doorways all the time so your eyes look at them many times in day. The doors make huge impression of the home decoration. If you just fix and paint them it matters a lot.

Our doors needed someone to do something to them for years. But the problem has been they looked so awful that I wanted to change them. Because this is an old house each doorway and door are different size. I can't understand howcome that is possible but perhaps it has something to do with the time the house was built (1947). So, ordering new doors would have cost fortune because they don't face any modern standar. Or it would have demanded far to much work to build the doorways to face the new standards.

So they were still just hanging there until I found a picture from a magazine. There was decorated a door by Washi Tape. It was a great and interesting idea. Unfortunately it turned out not to be cost effective in our case bacuse we had so many doors needing new life. Then I discovered I could paint the decoration on each door by using stencils. Now when the doors are done (fixed and painted) they look so great even without the decorative painting so they will stay in this way. I already bought the stencils so they are ready for me when ever I feel I want to paint the borders on the doors or somewhere else...

There's one door that got glass insert to let more light to the hall. It is usable idea an very cost effective.

 

I didn't make this door but it all was my idea so we can count it's my design and my work. :) Still I thank him who did this for me and used his own intelligence and skills to make it true and proper. <3 I am pretty sure if I had made it, it all would have cost me much more.

I want to introduce this door because it is easy way to save money and get a glass insert for your door which definately means more light. Making the glass insert can be done also to these "new doors" which have not seen wood almost at all and have weak structure. New doors with decorative glass cost a lot around here where I live. Making one from an old plain door is surprisingly easy and cost effective -especially if you use recycled materials.

Only new things in this door are that small round cover under the handle and the paint. That cover cost 2,50e and the paint's part is under 12e. The glass is from an old outdoor which we found from the property but the door itself turned out to be useless. Still we saved the glass and now it has got the new life in another old door.

You need to saw the hole through the door and cut the glass to the same size. The hole is good to make stronger by creating wooden frames around it. In this door is at first one plain wooden frame running around the edges. It is as wide as the door is thick. Then on the both sides of the door run two wooden frames. The first one fastens the glass (we used also silicon) and the second one hides the fasting area and decorates the door. It is easiest to make the hole, fasten the plain frame and paint it all at this point. Meanwhile the paint is drying you can work with the glass and other frames. Paint the other frames before fastening them. When they all are dry and well painted fasten the glass (set the fastening frame, turn the door to the other side, set the glass and the other fastening frame). When the glass is inserted there you can still do the decorative painting if needed for the frames and door itself. Be careful not to paint the glass if it has 3D effective structure because it is not so easy to clean it then. :)