The Friday Five: Five Ways to Repurpose Old Doors

Happy Friday! Today I’m going to share five ways to repurpose old doors. You can always find some good, solid wood doors lying around. I’ve found them in the basement of both houses we’ve moved to, by the side of the road, at thrift stores, and at salvage yards. They are usually inexpensive and waiting for you to transform them into something useful and gorgeous.

Five Ways to Repurpose Old Doors - thediybungalow.com

Here are five ways to repurpose a door:

1. A Daybed

I turned two old doors I found at the Habitat for Humanity ReStore into a daybed.

Build a daybed - Five Ways to Repurpose Old Doors - thediybungalow.com

The tutorial for how to do this is HERE. It wasn’t hard, and I love the structure it gives the bed in the guest room. (And did you know this project was featured in This Old House Magazine here?!?)

2. A Sliding Door

When our pantry doors – which swung out and blocked our silverware drawers – didn’t work, I took a door I found at a thrift store for $1.99 (!!) and made a sliding door.

Sliding Door for Pantry - Five Ways to Repurpose Old Doors - thediybungalow.com

To see how I transformed this door into a sliding pantry door, click HERE.

3. A Desk

In our last home, in my office, I turned an old door I found in the basement into a desktop.

old door repurposed into a desk - Five Ways to Repurpose Old Doors - thediybungalow.com

I simply laid the door over a file cabinet (found at a thrift store for $6 and repainted) and an IKEA cabinet, and topped it with a piece of glass I found at a garage sale. It was a great work surface for writing and doing projects.

4. Storage

Jamie at C.R.A.F.T. turned a door into kitchen storage:

CRAFT door into kitchen storage - Five Ways to Repurpose Old Doors - thediybungalow.com

Such a great idea, especially for smaller kitchens!

5. Clad an island in it.

In one of my favorite makeovers by Sarah Richardson, she used old doors to cover a kitchen island:

Sarah101 kitchen with doors on island - Five Ways to Repurpose Old Doors - thediybungalow.com

It looks like expensive trim and woodworking, but it’s really old doors. Love it.

How have you repurposed old doors? Share in the comments!

10 responses to “The Friday Five: Five Ways to Repurpose Old Doors”

  1. Paul @ eco stores Avatar

    There are loads of old doors available at most tips. Amazing what you can do to re position them. Great blog, thanks for sharing.

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  2. Julie Avatar

    Thanks for joining in Karen!

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    1. Karen Cooper Avatar

      Thanks for having me! Congratulations on your three years!!

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  3. Cheryl @ Artzzle Avatar

    My favorites here are your sliding door … and Jamie’s storage door.

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    1. Karen Cooper Avatar

      Thank you, Cheryl!!

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  4. Bliss Avatar

    Pinned that sliding door. Most excellent!

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    1. Karen Cooper Avatar

      Thank you!! 🙂

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  5. Steph M. Avatar

    I am currently looking for old doors to make a folding screen to separate a bedroom from the living room in our new living space, the converted two car garage at my mother-in-laws. I’m excited to paint and restore them.

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    1. Karen Cooper Avatar

      What a cool idea! I can’t wait to see what you do with them! If you have a Habitat for Humanity ReStore near you, they usually have a great selection of doors of various sizes. Good luck! Keep me posted!

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I’m Karen

I’m a recovering lawyer. Join me on my DIY and organizing adventures!