How to Renovate an Ugly Wardrobe Without Paint
by
Lagoa
4 Materials
$120
3 Hours
Easy
One of the problems in my rental house is the lack of light. I do not know if I have plant complex and I wither without light, but I find it essential to be in a good mood. One of the things that obscures the most is the interior carpentry, they needed an immediate wash, and with this DIY I intend to show you what I did. I am delighted with the result.
So one of the first things I thought of was how to get rid of the doors in this closet, made of oak-finished melamine (a reddish brown) and bevelled in dull, seventy golden bevels, let’s say for being indulgent.
Well the problem again is that my house is for rent, so painting them was discarded. It had to be with something that could be removed, if the owner really wants to keep the previous version, so I needed a DIY that I could remove without leaving a trace.
After the good result of this other door that we customized with stripes, and after make disappear the kitchen valance, I was encouraged to do the same with this closet.
I confess that at first I cheated and bought vinyl in a one dollar store, this was a mistake, huge mistake, as it did not really cover the wood, it revealed a little and the result was gray, not bright..
Also, when I took it off I spent hours peeling it off with a little fingernail, it is so thin that every inch was broken and was a nuisance. In short, cheap is expensive, I have already learned, I assure you that it was hours !.
Put the vinyl on the door to calculate the width you need, always, I repeat, always you have to leave at least 2 cm extra per side and when we talk about covering a large surface, as this one, I leave 8 cm extra per side. The usual thing is that you twist a little and if you do not leave this margin you can find that when you get to the middle of your work, you can´t cover one of the sides because you have twisted, and this does not have a solution.
Start sticking with the spatula, in horizontal, from the center of the door and towards the 2 sides.
When we have reached the end of the door cut the surplus, but leaving also a good margin. This margin we cut it or double it covering the edge of the door, depending on what we want to do. If our door is not sliding we may want to cover the border.
The door frame has two difficulties:
Miter corners (the timbers are at a 45 ° angle) and the outer edges are rounded.
To make the miter and the encounter with the vertical crossbar, you must:
-Adjust as much as possible the vinyl to that part,
– Make a cut leaving margin (which does not have to be perfect, since then we will cut more, it is the image of the center),
-Once we have done that cut we fold the vinyl out, looking to leave a marked marked just where the miter is, which is easy to find because the vinyl reproduces the volume of the molding.
To cut off the outside of the frame:
– We paste well with our the fingers following the curved shape that has the molding.
– Cut the surplus, aid with a cutting rule, support the cuter by the part closest to the wall and perpendicular to the molding and cut, make sure that it has been well sticke following the curve.
— If it doesnt stay sticked, apply heat with a hair dryer while you adapt it to the molding again, with the heat we can deform it, since the vinyl is a plastic.
Believe it or not, the simple fact that it’s white (except the grabbers, which maybe buy some in any hardware store) has make the light in that bedroom has multiplied by 2 ! When I have to take it off, either because the owner wants to keep the previous color, or because my children have gone to the dark side and want it black (everything comes), there is nothing more to remove it, pulling from a point, as this vinyl is hick comes out whole. Then wipe the surface with a cotton swab dipped in oil. You have more info at the blog.
Want more details about this and other DIY projects? Check out my blog post!
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3 comments
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good idea!!! I'll be dealing with mine soon. I think I will try paint first.
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Good tips, I rarely use paint brushes, I like foam rollers.
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Good idea. What can I do to replace narrow closet door? Don't necessarily want the old door look of tri-fold.