Can't Afford New Doors? Fake It!
If you are living with boring hollow core doors here's how you can quickly give them an elegant look without too much cost.
16/05/2021
Having been down the road of transforming hollow core doors until I could afford to fit new ones, I know firsthand how easy it is to transform them into almost new doors with a few tricks. Having these tricks up your sleeve makes it a snap to turn hollow core doors into expensive look-alikes and it's a quick and easy project to do.
In my house, I have taken a hollow core door and added a glass panel to allow light through the door in a dark passage. It has been 7-years since I did the project and the door is still there and looks good. I have also added trim to interior doors to give them a more elegant, modern look.
For those who prefer to replace old doors with modern doors, you will find step-by-step instructions in this article. You may be surprised to discover that interior doors are not that expensive and you might decide that this is a better option.
There are so many tricks that you can use to add detail to interior doors, from adding mirror panels and trim, adding wood panelling to doors, adding framed burlap panels to interior doors to cutting hollow core doors in half for a space-saving feature door. And there are plenty more ideas for transforming plain hollow core doors - take a look at some of the ideas below.
1. ADD WOOD STRIPS TO HOLLOW CORE DOOR
Adding flat wooden strips to an interior door has to be one of the quickest ways to update doors. These flat strips are cut at 45-degree angles at the corners - and for which you can use a mitre box and saw or mitre saw - and then glued onto the face of the door. What makes this particular door look so good is the chalk paint finish and flat black doorknob.
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2. ADD BEADBOARD PANEL AND TRIM TO INTERIOR DOOR
This design requires that you have a few more tools in your DIY arsenal. By using a router on 6mm-thick SupaWood {MDF} panel, you can create a beadboard effect that can be glued onto the door face and trimmed with pine moulding. I do have an article on the website that covers how to do beadboard but you will have to excuse the fact that it is an old article with smaller images. While I used a Dremel Trio to do the grooves, you can achieve the exact same effect using a router.
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3. ADD PINE MOULDING TO INTERIOR DOOR
This one is my personal favourite as it gives a plain hollow core door an elegant touch and transforms a cheap door into one that looks anything but. Surprisingly, this door finish is also one of the easiest to do. Purchase thin strips of pine moulding at your local Builders store, cut 45-degree corners and glue the frames onto the door. You can also glue pine moulding strips on the door frame for even more effect. Paint everything in a solid colour to complete the elegant look.
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4. FIT GLASS PANELS TO INTERIOR DOOR
As mentioned at the top of the page, I have previously cut out panels in a hollow core door to be able to add a glass panel. There are plenty of variations on this and you can choose one that will look good in your home. To insert glass panels in a hollow core door, first cut out the openings and glue 32 x 32mm PAR pine battens into the cut ends. Find detailed instructions here for adding a glass panel to a hollow core door.
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You can add even more trim if you want to break up the solid glass panel. Pine moulding can be cut to fit and glued onto the glass for a stylish door finish.
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5. INSTALL SLIDING MECHANISM TO HOLLOW CORE DOOR
The lightweight construction of hollow core doors make them ideal for mounting on a sliding-door track to replicate a sliding barn door - and it's easier than you think. Cover the door face with thin wood panels that have been distressed and stained in various wood tints.
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Using reclaimed wood - if you can find it thin enough - is an inexpensive way of giving a hollow core door a new look. For a larger opening, you can fit two solid core doors.
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BOTTOM LINE
Now you can see how easy it is to make any hollow core door a more fitting accessory to your home. By spending a small amount of money you achieve a big improvement. We have only touched on a few of the many ways to update interior doors and you will find plenty more on Pinterest and Instagram.