A door no more . . .

This post has absolutely nothing to do with card making but rather with DIY.  I wanted to share it. About two weeks ago we went to Walmart and I bought a magazine that had this idea in it and I asked DH if he could make one for me? He said he could but we would have to find an old solid wood door to make it out of.  On our way home we stopped at a thrift store and I found my door -- it is solid wood, really worn, and has a porcelain door knob with a metal plate behind it. Perfect for what I wanted built but we decided to buy a second door for DH to work on first. Having no pattern he had to figure this all out on his own and I must say he did a great job!

Yesterday we went to the Scrap Exchange in Durham -- where I bought these two Stampin Up punches for $2.00 each:

After we left the Scrap Exchange we headed over to the ReUse Warehouse nearby. This is a warehouse that is filled with house parts --- when they demolish the older homes this place buys anything they can sell to home owners looking for items with character. Real wood floors, wooden fireplace surrounds, claw foot bath tubs, kitchen cabinets, staircase parts, windows, doors, lights, tiles, hardware, etc.. Every time you go there you find something different. You leave with your new found items and all new ideas...

We went over to the aisle with all the doors and it was not long before we found this door and it was perfect --

This is a solid wood door and it was painted blue. I liked the colour as it gives the finished item a different look being a colour rather than cream or white. I must say it certainly did not take DH long to figure this all out and so he began -- first he lightly sanded the door, front and back, and then he cut the door apart so he would have three pieces. Once that was done he began his assembly. He wanted to use left over oak flooring from the floors he put in our house so he was able to put some oak scraps on his project. This is what the door looked like after he made some cuts:

Using the scrap oak flooring he made the seat for the bench:

He also put left over oak pieces on the arms of the bench:

This photo shows a side of the bench that he cut off the door:

This door did not have any hardware on it so it did not come with a door knob. DH has a box of glass door knobs so he put one of those on the door with a circle metal plate under it. He patched holes in the door from previous hardware. He also added molding to the top of the bench to finish it off:

When it was all built he then put poly on the oak arms and the bench seat. Here is his finished bench ready for use or if someone wants to paint it or whatever. It would be perfect in an entryway or a guest room or in a mudroom:

A HUGE thank you to DH for building this so quickly and for doing a great job with it. He is selling this one but his next bench will be ours to keep. Now my job is to sew a quilted pillow to sit on the bench he makes for us.  See below:

Here is a photo of the original door I bought for this door/bench and DH finished it this week. It is now in a bedroom and I am currently working on a shabby chic pillow for it -- roses and such in pinks with greens:

I put a pillow on the bench for the photo but I am making a larger pillow for it. So happy hubby made the changes I wanted --- bigger arm rests, molding at the top with a top piece across the door top, as well as cutting a deeper cut on the bottom of the bench back and sides. After I sew my pillow I will have to find something to hang on the porcelain door knob. Will try to remember to post a photo of it with the new pillow. This is a perfect size for a bench seat in a bedroom to sit and read or put your shoes on and such. A BIG thanks to DH for making this for me from a magazine photo only!! :0)

Also --

I wanted something to hang my purses on in the closet so DH cut a piece of wood and attached four different glass door knobs from his stash to hang the purse handles on. All I have to do is paint or stain the wood. This would be perfect to hang by an entry door or in a bathroom for towels. Happy to have the purses hanging and not laying on a shelf or in a bin. It is much easier to take a purse off the holder and change it out. Another thanks to DH for this holder! TFL