How to Make Doors for an Existing Bookcase

Spice up that tired-looking, ratty old bookcase sitting in the corner with custom and creative doors. Custom doors will hide the bookcase clutter, make a design statement and let you exercise your artistic ability.

Make traditional doors with some unusual materials. Better yet, make some very non-traditional doors for a completely custom look. Leave the top shelf open for display, customize with lighting, or make the doors to coordinate with your drapery fabric.

Things You'll Need

• 1-inch x 3-inch wood
• Staples
• Hinges
• Magnetic door catches
• Paint or stain
• Wooden windows
• Stained glass
• Plywood
• Clear silicone adhesive
• Molding
• Fabric
• Batting
• Screen frames

Instructions

1. Check your existing bookcase for flaws, scratches and dents. Use stain, paint or faux finish on the bookcase, including the back and the shelves. Warped shelves can be turned upside down to force them to straighten.

2. Make woven front doors for a bookcase using a frame of 1-inch by 3-inch wood and strips of thin wood, bamboo, copper, galvanized steel, laminate material, rope, or plastic. Make a pair of frames for the weaving using the 1-inch by 3-inch wood. Cut the wooden weaving material into narrow strips. Use an over and under weave. Secure the strips on the back side of the frame with staples or brad nails. Attach to the bookcase with hinges. Add cabinet handles.

3. Use reclaimed windows to make doors for bookcases. Wooden windows with divided panes have the most visual impact. Find a window that is smaller than the opening of the existing bookcase. Square or rectangular windows are the easiest to retrofit. Round, arched, and octagon windows require more expert woodworking. Add wood to the sides, top and bottom of the window in order to cover the entire bookcase opening. Distress or antique the new wood to closely match the old wood of the window. Add hinges and cabinet handles.

4. Make single or double doors with stained glass insets using plywood doors. Cut openings in the plywood to allow the glass to show. Glass panels can be solid color glass or pieced leaded glass. Matching glass panels are difficult to find. Find panels with some common characteristic or color. Use clear silicone adhesive to hold the glass in place. Add a small decorative molding to the front side of the stained glass to hide the silicone. Screw in hinges and cabinet pulls. Add cabinet lights to the inside of the bookcase for the maximum impact of the stained glass panels.

5. Upholster doors for existing bookcases in children's rooms. Padded doors have a soft close so little fingers don't get hurt. Cut plywood 2 inches narrower and 2 inches shorter than the opening size of the bookcase. Use heavy fabric or upholstery material and upholstery batting to pad the doors. Cut fabric and batting 4 inches wider and 4 inches longer than the doors. Stretch the fabric and batting over the front of the door and staple to the back side. Keep the fabric straight and stretch evenly. Add upholstered buttons by drilling through fabric, batting and the plywood and attaching a button to the front through the back of the door. Glue a cover over staples with ribbon or upholstery gimp. Add hinges, magnetic catches, and handles.

6. Create lightweight doors for an existing bookcase using window screens and fabric. Buy or make a pair of window screens sized to fit the opening of your bookcase. Remove the screen and save the rubber rope holding the screen in place. Use light to medium weight fabric. Lay the fabric over the screen frame and push the rubber rope into the channel holding the fabric in place. Keep the fabric tight and straight. Look at the results before cutting the fabric. Remove the rubber rope and start again if necessary. Trim off excess fabric. Add hinges and magnetic closers.

References

• "Use What You Have Decorating," Lauri Ward; 1998
• "The Complete Book of Paint Techniques," Penny Swift and Janek Szymanowski; 1997