Snazzy! Besides making our small kitchen feel smaller, the old pantry door was severely scratched on the inside--like maybe the previous owners put their dog in there? We were ready for a new door, and this glass-paned one we ordered from Home Depot fit the vision. It arrived completely bare (no primer or paint) and without holes for hardware or hinges. Before I started painting, Chris cut a hole for the knob and latch...thing, and I set up the saw horses in the studio so I could paint the door in an acceptable temperature (post-workout, 'kay!).
Since we were painting the door a glossy black, I opted to have the primer tinted a dark gray. I used Kilz oil-based primer and Glidden's Trim and Door paint in Deepest Black. It's a high gloss oil-based paint and claims to leave no brush marks. That could not be further from the truth. The brush strokes are abundant! I probably wouldn't use it again. Just saying.
The door came with plastic over all the glass panes, which meant no taping off! I just painted away with no regard to edges:
When the paint was cured, Chris attached the hinges and when we went to hang the door--it didn't fit!! Curses. Although it was a 24" opening and the door was 24"--I left no wiggle room in my measurements for the door to swing in and out. Luckily, Chris knew that door frames are usually shimmed to the correct size (my freakin' hero).
He took off the trim on one side, removed the shims, and then proceeded to hammer the heck out the frame until it scooted over 1/4 inch and then re-attached the trim. All-in-all the process took about 30 minutes and after I caulked the trim, you'd never know. Did I already say, "My hero"?? Because, seriously.
The next morning we woke up to, what felt like, a more sophisticated and open kitchen. The glossy black door (even with brush strokes) is. IT. And the glass panes, that we'll most likely frost down the road, really open up the room.
We also switched up the hardware and settled on antique brass knobs. Eventually, we'll switch out all the knobs in our house to match. We love the warmth of the toned-down brass and can't wait to see it mesh with the satin nickel cabinet hardware.
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[…] besides a black one. Yes! We actually looked at an antique gold one, similar to the knob we put on our last home’s pantry, but we soon realized we really wanted a nice sized backplate for our doors and these […]
Hi there,
Great tutorial; thanks for sharing! About the high gloss door; perhaps you used the wrong brush! Just a thought. Also, how do you make sure the hinge posts line up in a parallel lines against the floor so you don't have a crooked door?
Thanks,
Alana
We had the same experience with the Glidden paint when we did our front door in black. I seriously thought I had done something wrong. The gross gel like texture and the brush marks and meh coverage were a definite "no" for me. Glad to hear we aren't crazy on that. Ours has the same texture as yours in the up-close shot. Oh well. The black glass door looks great in your kitchen though.
Love that door! Makes it interesting without being too much. I highly recommend frosting the glass. We have a door very similar leading to our basement, which 100 years old and unfinished. Total horror story invitation. Just two days ago I frosted the panes and it looks so much better. Plus, it was super easy. Great job!
Amazing!! Such a great idea and the end result looks gorgeous :) How clever is Chris too, I would never have thought about there being shims that could be removed.
1) that man is a keeper. that's amazing that he knew how to fix it and then fixed it 2) it looks great and I think frosting the panes is a great idea. Greta will be happy, because it will be tougher for you to see her.
I love this! The glass, the black, the knobs - everything. So glad I found your blog!!! I can't wait to look back through your other projects! My son would totally hide there too and eat marshmallows haha! Too cute :).
I love it! That door is absolutely gorgeous! And it adds a lot to the room! :)
Ohyeah!!! I love the new look of your pantry. Your new pantry door looks amazing and it's really perfect. I love the color that you chose and the glass pane was super nice.
Danyelle - Brisbane Bi-fold Doors
I love that we see the before and after right away at the top of the post! It was like BOOM! And I still wanted to read on of course to see how easy (or not) it was. But you always make it sound easy anyway. Im liking the brush strokes too, homey and artistic
I love it! We're doing the exact same thing for our master bath door (with frosted glass). I'm so anxious to start - hopefully it looks as wonderful as yours! And my Pinterest challenge was a mirror I made, it seems totally lame to everything I've seen. Boo.
What an amazing idea! I love how the change in door makes all the difference to the whole room! I can't wait to start doing projects like this once we have a house of our own :)
xo TJ
Cool idea!! Love the gloss paint. Really smart look. If you're interested in the frost look down the road, you could probably just get away with some frosted contact paper adhered onto the window from inside the pantry. It's amazingly inexpensive and usually comes pre-adhesived. Nicely done, though!
I have my eye on that stuff. Thanks, John!
Wow it really changed the whole feel of the kitchen! I've seen frosted lettering added to glass doors and it looked really cool. It was a door to a wine room so it had different wine types in different size fonts...I'm not sure how it would look with the small panes, but either way the new door looks great!!
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It's amazing what a difference the door makes! I love it! I can't wait to see the whole room complete!
Love how the kitchen remodel is coming! I cannot, cannot wait to see the navy cabinets. I think I gasped when I saw your inspiration photos. LOVE.
I worked on a little map art DIY for the Pinterest Challenge!
http://thisnestisbest.com/2013/02/27/pinterest-challenge-diy-map-art/
Looks so fresh - a great way to encourage keeping the pantry tidy, too!
So are you going to continue your backsplash on that wall? I think it would look amazing surrounding the glossy black door! I'm so excited to watch your progress over the next month+ Best of luck!
Yes! The subway tile will surround the entire exterior of the pantry, too.
1. How does Chris KNOW this stuff?
2. I love that you have it so it opens THIS way now... not so you're in a little corner anymore.
3. Where's Greta's shirt? We see you in there Greta the Great!
4. How long did it take to clean out the pantry. That's one of my least favorite jobs.
1. Chris has helped his dad build two homes for his family so he has all this secret knowledge up his sleeve.
2. Us, too!
3. Greta has trouble keeping her clothes on ALL day. She often disappears around 3pm and comes back without a shirt or pants on. We're working on it.
4. Greta could clean out the pantry in 50 minutes--the fridge in about 30. Was that the question? ;)
Wow, what a difference! And yay for Chris knowing how to fix the problem!
I made a trunk coffee table using a vintage military foot locker I got off of Craigslist: http://www.desertdomicile.com/2013/02/winter-pinterest-challenge-diy-trunk.html
Looks great Julia. Adds a great graphic punch to the room. Poor Greta, her master hideout just got a little more difficult ;)
Stunning! I love the contrast with the white and how it ties into the black on the stove!
This looks amazing. Isn't it amazing how brass door knobs suddenly look great again. Love them against the black. Oh and I love when manufacturers think ahead like adding film over the windows to help with the painting process. :)
Wow!!! This is stunning! The black door really pops!
loove this change. i don't think i'd ever think to change to a glass panes door. it looks Awesome! and i do love the brass knob.
Amazing! I love the black too. Very smart and sophisticated looking. That Greta is always running around without a shirt on!!
Hahaha. She is!! She must think this is Florida or something. Halfway through the day, she'll just disappear and come back without a shirt on.
It looks so posh! Fancy pants!
I got really sad when I imagined closing a dog in the pantry (and had to GET OVER IT to continue reading the post), and holy cow - you are brave for painting over the rug with no drop cloth! You must have steady hands ;)
Kim, there is, sadly, lots of evidence of that in our house. :( As for the no drop cloth, that paint is like TAR! It is no drip and the oil-based primer wasn't drippy either. Or...I mean...I have an incredibly steady hand. ;)
Sadness (about the pup). But thank goodness your home is filled with so much love now!
Very cool! I was going to suggest that you frost the doors and you beat me to it. :) Oh, and I can sympathize with Greta. I used to sneak peanut butter out of the jar in the pantry!
Hi, I just recently discovered your blog and am really enjoying it! I love your style and you have an easy way of writing that is a joy to read.
I have had the same experiences with oil based paints.
Everyone just loves them and sings their praises, and on their projects it does look great! But as soon as I have a go at it, it's always a mess! I've even tried adding paint conditioner (Penetrol?) with only so so results. That, paired with the odor and difficult clean up has me thinking I'm gonna stick to water based paints in the future!
At any rate, the new door looks wonderful, very sophisticated!
Wow, what an impact! I love the new door, and love the black. It looks awesome!
harpsandollie.blogspot.com
Love it! I wish we had a pantry the size of yours. Ours is kind of pointless it's so tiny... almost makes me want to take the door off all together. Hmm... you may have inspired a project!
I did a sewing tutorial for the Pinterest Challenge: http://cleverbetty.blogspot.com/2013/02/scrap-catcher-tutorial.html
Sooooo smart! I love it, Lauren!
I need to do this in our kitchen! I like your suggestion of the frosted glass though. My pantry is fairly organized but I'm embarrassed by my Lucky Charms and Cocoa Krispies. (We don't have kids.)
Hahahahahaha!!!!! Can't wait to see what you did!
I love the glass panes! They really make that space look more open and larger. And oh my goodness, how adorable is Greta?! That's the cutest story of her hiding and sneaking marshmallows. I'm so excited to watch your kitchen transformation unfold!
I also participated in the Pinterest Challenge! I think it's so much fun. In fact, if I remember correctly, that's how I found your blog! I think it was the lovely art piece you painted with shoe polish? For this round of the challenge I sewed my first pillow, complete with pom poms. If you'd like to check it out, the link is http://www.becomingwhitney.com/elephants-and-pom-poms/
Oh. My. Goodness. That pillow couldn't be more chic. I am obsessed!! Nice work, Whitney!
I love the glossy black, even with the brush strokes. Hey- the brush strokes just make it look like a cool old salvaged door with tons of character- esp with the brass knobs. Love it.
Oh Julie! Let's just pretend that's the truth. ;)
I see some green color under black in a first pic.and you don't have to use oil primer ! You send first,spray can Primer white,dry and use black glidden base trim and door....By the stricks on the door,I can tell you use too much paint and no in good derection!