french door & upstairs hallway complete!

In the last post, I stained the custom-order Home Depot French Door. It was custom order because 28 x 80 -inch is not standard floor stock for French doors. (30 or 36 x 80 is standard). Here I am about to apply the first of 3 coats polyurethane. Polyurethane will protect the finish and give the glossy effect I am going for. Three coats is for protection from moisture because this will be a bathroom door.

The door came with protective plastic film over the tempered glass. Here is a partly-peeled-off film. The stain and polyurethane seal the film to the wood. I cut the seal with a utility knife before peeling. Angle the knife slightly away from the wood, so as to not shave off any finished wood!

Here I am about to apply Light Effects "Texture Twelve" window film. First I cut it into pieces 12 1/4 x 5 5/8 inch, fifteen total windows in the French door.

Here's what Texture Twelve window film looks like off the backing, before applying to window (draped over spray bottle).

Partway through!

After minor planing of the door frame, refitting of the catch plate, and resetting the door jambs, the door fits very well. Project time: 2 weekends + the week in between (lots of waiting for stain/polyurethane to dry). Project cost: Door $150 + knob $70 + "Texture Twelve" $60 + stain/polyurethane say $15 = $300.

The bathroom light gives it a nice glow. Soon I will install drapes, Venetian blinds, or some combination that will still let light through while giving complete privacy!

upstairs hallway

The upstairs hallway was reworked over the past week. The Rust-Oleum "herbal green" on the four door panels (on Andrea & Karl's door) didn't match with the blue hallway. Photo below, herbal green covered with white primer:

Then a homemade lilac (using Glidden high-gloss white base, plus other colors lying around), also did not work with the blue! Here you can see experimenting with a darker homemade color in upper-left panel.

As I developed the ideal upstairs-hall-door-panel-color in my color lab (aka basement), the two doors await.....

About to start color-mixing, photo below.

Experimentation showing swatches. I gradually add blue and black to the white base till getting the right shade. I used one of the original doors for paint-swatches (one of many great uses for the original doors).....

After developing a dark gray-blue color that works with the upstairs hall, I painted the door panels.....

What is not beautiful about refinished old doors????

A detail of the French closet door, showing the Etched Lace window film.....

Doors ready to hang!

Also, I decided that the homemade robin's egg blue (see previous post) on the trim & wainscotting did not work with the darker blue walls! Here is the upstairs wall, taped up & primed for the third time....

There was much anguish in choosing a color for the hall trim. Almond also didn't work. Since I could decide on no one color for the hall trim, I went with a two-tone. In photo below, French door installed, trim & chair rail is Ralph Lauren Pocket-Watch White (same as downstairs parlor trim); wainscotting is a lighter variation of the door-panel blue-gray.

The bare wood door on left, photo above, is the last door I need to replace.

tada!

garden

purple morning-glory

View behind Gilead Congregational Church. It was Gilead Day last Saturday and Gilead goodies were on sale. The CT legislature in the 1700s agreed Gilead was an appropriate name for the area because the biblical Gilead meant place of 1,000 hills.

Furniture Restoration

Photo above shows bench (with cushion on it) that I will refinish into a ligher-colored coffee table.

Before refinishing, it has to be stripped and reshaped. Reshaping involves sanding off some of the ornate detail. The bottom is to be stained light gold or tan natural-wood; for the top slab, a darker tan. Then, a smooth satin polyurethane finish. This will take a few weeks.... In photo below, I've ground off some of the detailed side moldings, using the blue Dremel rotary-tool with mini drum-sander.

Here is table surface (upright) partially stripped. I've rounded the corners and scuplted divots in the sides for a more roughhewn effect, using the orange belt-sander. The concept was inspired by handcrafted furniture from Lancaster County PA, that I saw on sale at Brimfield. The roughhewn cuts will be silky smooth when sanded & finished. The two boards (bottom of photo) are cubby-partitions.

I am off to Colorado for a few days, so look for mountains in the next post Aug 13.

"I know he'd be a poorer man if he never saw an eagle fly"

(......Rocky Mountain High)

John Denver 1943-1997