The big wardrobe build using reclaimed doors, part 2

Last week I showed you part 1 of my big wardrobe build and today it's time for part 2!! I build the wardrobe at the beginning of autumn and it has been in use for about 4 weeks now and I absolutely love it!! 

Like I said in the previous post I needed a wardrobe in my bedroom and due to the sloping ceilings my old wardrobes didn't fit. I decided to build one myself! Initially I wanted to make doors from ply or pine but then Mr. Handmade home suggested I'd use reclaimed doors. A brilliant idea as I love how the aged timber adds a nice rustic charm to the bedroom. I love reclaimed timber, the wear& tear, the patina and the odd shapes, I think an old door is just so much more interesting then a new door. They tie in nicely as well with the stripped pine doors our house has (one of the only things in the house I didn't change)

For the wardrobe I used 4 doors I bought in a furniture mart/reclamation yard. I just looked for doors with the most character, as in chipped paint, and that roughly had the right size. The two big doors were both already stripped and the white doors on top of the large ones and the bottom two on the right are all one door I simply cut into smaller pieces.  Where possible I left the original hardware on the doors to add to the rustic look, like the top left door has a handle and lock showing as has the middle door.

Don't you just love the door with the holes? I found this hidden behind a pile of timber and absolutely love it's quirkiness! Do you know what these doors were used for? Maybe a food cupboard? Or an airing cupboard? Please let me know if you come across these before.  I bought my doors from RG Scotts in Margate the place for anything reclaimed, they have a mountain of doors in their warehouse so perfect for this build. When you use reclaimed doors you do have to make sure they are woodworm and rot free so use the proper treatment on them before you bring old timber into your house.

Okey enough talking have a look at how I finished my big wardrobe build!

What do you think? Do you like it? Is this something you would do? Maybe on a smaller scale? This would be also a great project for under the stairs or a build in cupboard in an alcove. I love the combination of the old pine doors with the smooth white frame, the frame is there to make the build look neat but also so I had somewhere to hang the door on to. The timber for the frame around the whole wardrobe is around 8cm wide. I could have gone more narrow on the bottom but I like that you have a band of white between the doors and the floor. As you could see in the video I simply screwed the planks into the Ivar stands, then filled the screw holes with polyfiller and painted the whole frame white. 

The hinges I used are large T hinges, slightly smaller ones for the smaller doors. You want your hinge to be around 1/3 of the width of your door. You screw the hinges to the door and then you can attach them to the frame. Use as long a screw as possible and screw them through the frame and through the Ivar stand making sure the hinge (and frame) can hold the weight of the door. When you have the door in place you use a more narrow timber, mine was roughly 5cm, to build a frame around your door. Once again screwing it into the Ivar stands and planks, filling the screw holes with polyfiller and painting the frame white. Once the paint is dry you can hang door 2 and continue this way for door 3, 4,5 etc.

I had to cut the doors to size which wasn't to tricky to do, I did all this with a hand saw as I feel you have more control that way and I simply couldn't get asked carrying the doors up and down two flights of stairs to my workshop where my power tools are ;)

When the last bit of outer framing and door hanging was done all that was left were the door handles. Both big doors got a metal handle for easy opening and a magnet inside keeping the door shut. The smaller doors got a sliding bolt that keeps the doors shut and also acts as a door handle. The hardware I used on this build are things you normally see on a shed or a gate but I love the rustic chunky look it gives the wardrobe. If you want you could opt for something more elegant.

Would love to hear what you think of my biggest build to date! Is this something you would like in your bedroom? If you need anymore building details please send me an email on leave a comment below.

I need to ask you a big favour, my old time favourite interior magazine the Dutch VT Wonen has put me in their final of the 'Blogger gezocht' competition. Me and 5 other bloggers are up for becoming VT wonen's new blogger who will create special content for their website. I would love to win! You can follow this link, click on my photo and hit the box 'stem' (vote) it will ask you to vote for an other blogger as well and after you left your email address in the pop up box it will send you an email asking you to confirm your votes. You simply click on the blue link in the email and that's it. You are then in the chance to win a €50 gift voucher to the VT Wonen interior shop!! I would love to win this competition and every vote will help, thank you so much!!!

I'll be back next week with a new tutorial, see you then xx Hester

Photo's and video by Hester van Overbeek, the reclaimed doors wardrobe build appeared first her eon HestersHandmadeHome