If you’ve been wondering whether or not revamping your doors will make a difference, I’m here to tell you.. IT WILL! I really wanted to try out this DIY shiplap door makeover in baby girl’s nursery. This DIY was pretty straight forward and made such a big impact in her room. I love how these custom faux wood doors add WARMTH and character to the room, and how these door compliment the wallpaper! So let’s get into it.. here’s my DIY shiplap door tutorial!
**Check out the step by step tutorial in video form on my IG story highlights HERE!**
Materials:
- Nickel gap shiplap panels
- 3/16″ plywood panels for trim
- Tangled Tan by Sherwin Williams (FLAT finish – my local Lowes was able to mix it for me)
- Aged Oak gel stain by Minwax
- Slate gel stain by Minwax
- Simply White gel stain by Minwax
- Polyurethane in matte finish
- 3″ wide firm paint brush (I liked how this one distributed the gel stain!)
- 2″ wide stain brush (for applying the polyurethane)
- Liquid nails
- Wood filler
- Paintable Caulk
- Handles
Tools:
- Circular saw
- Miter saw
- Hand sander
- 60 grit sand paper
- 220 grit sand paper
Total Cost (for 2 doors):
- Shiplap panels: $75
- Plywood: $15
- Paint & Gel Stain: $100
- Handles: $25
Grand total: $215
Step 1: Cut the Shiplap Panels, Prep Door, & Glue Panels to the Door
First, cut the shiplap panels down to the width of your door. We had Home Depot do this for us. I used my circular saw with my homemade jig to cut the shiplap panel down to the correct height of the door. These cuts don’t need to be perfectly straight since the edges will be covered by trim pieces, so you could also use a jigsaw for these cuts.
Once my shiplap panels were cut to size, I sanded the door with 60 grit sandpaper and my orbital sander. I had just painted the doors white the week prior (I thought I’d be happy with basic white doors.. NOPE! haha) and knew that Liquid Nails would NOT adhere properly to fresh paint. It’s a good rule of thumb to sand anything that’s been painted before applying liquid nails.
Glue and clamp your shiplap to the door face. Liquid nails has a 24 set time, so I left mine overnight before removing the clamps.
Step 2: Cut, Glue, and Clamp the Trim Pieces
I again used my circular saw with my homemade jig to rip the 3/16″ plywood panels down to 2.5″ wide. Then, I used the miter saw to make the cuts to frame out the edges of the doors. I did a 45 degree cut at each corner! Then I glued and clamped the trim pieces and waited another 24 hours for the liquid nails to set.
Step 3: Wood Fill, Caulk, and Paint
Time to see those doors really come to life! First, add wood filler at each of your trim joints, and once it dries, sand with 220 grit sand paper. Then, add paintable caulk between the trim and the shiplap panels. Don’t skip this step!! Its really important for the final look! If you don’t caulk, you’ll see a line in the paint between the trim and the shiplap, and it will just look sloppy.
Mom hack: I use baby wipes to wipe away the excess caulk and Q Tips to remove extra caulk from the shiplap grooves.
Once your caulk is dry (about 20 minutes for the caulk I use), it’s time to PAINT! This is the fun part because you can really see the doors come to life! I did two coats of Tangled Tan.
Step 4: Mix and Apply the Gel Stain
This was my first time doing this gel stain combo, and I was really happy with it. Credit to Farmhouseish – I found this method on her IG page (she does some really fun projects!). I used 3 parts Aged Oak, 1 part Slate, and 1 part Simply White (all by Minwax). Applying it with a firm 3″ wide brush worked great! Simply brush in the direction you want your “wood grain” to go.
My advice for applying the gel stain:
- Go fast.
- Don’t overthink it.
- Apply less than you think you need – you can always add more, but I found removing gel stain to be… almost impossible.
I left my doors in the garage overnight to dry with a fan blowing on them, but they were still a bit sticky in the morning. It was SUPER humid here in East TN that week so.. who knows. BUT I went ahead and applied two coats of water based matte polyurethane on top with a 2″ stain brush. Polyurethane is a must for this project!
Step 5: Attach Hinges, Hang the Doors, and Add Hardware
NOTE: I used 3″ long screws to mount the doors to frame.. I wanted to make sure they gripped the studs adjacent to the door frame since these doors are a bit heavier now. Predrill the screw holes and use an impact drill to make this step easier on yourself. 🙂
Add your hardware, and then you are all DONE!
Pro Tip: Chisel out the wood at your hinge locations so that the hinges can sit flush. See photo below.
updated gel stain faux wood finish technique:
Did you catch the DIY shaker style doors I made in my son’s room? It’s a different look but the same process!
