Interior Hollow Core Door Makeover

Heather Cammack
by Heather Cammack
4 Materials
$200
2 Days
Medium

Give your ugly hollow core doors an impressive makeover that wont break the bank. This DIY will completely transform your space!

Check out the video for the full tutorial.

Or check out my blog post.

Before our doors were in pretty rough shape. I had started a painting project that I abandoned for this more dramatic transformation. They also had super cheap gold handles that weren't working well.


Sand

Move your doors into an open space with good airflow. Sand the entire surface of the doors with a course grit sandpaper. I used 50 grit. Make sure to clean them we'll before gluing down the planks.

Make the Planks

Use 1/4 in Sande Plywood to create planks for your door makeover. We cut our planks out at a six inches wide. This is lightweight, inexpensive and will look good stained or painted.

Glue

Glue your planks onto your door using wood glue. Make sure to spread the glue out evenly for maximum adhesive power. Use a nickel as a spacer between planks. This will give you about a 1/16 of an inch gap.

Finished Product

Prime, paint and rehang your door. I also replaced my door hardware. If new hardware isn't in the budget, you can save some money by giving your knobs a spray paint update instead.

Resources for this project:
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Heather Cammack
Want more details about this and other DIY projects? Check out my blog post!
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Frequently asked questions
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3 of 35 questions
  • Rub10921677 Rub10921677 on Apr 29, 2023

    How do I get a shiny black brown finish on my dark dining room chairs?

  • Bobbie Fitzpatrick Bobbie Fitzpatrick on May 07, 2023

    Adding that quarter inch on each side

    is a half inch increase.

    . What do but your door jams?

  • Susan Susan on Aug 06, 2023

    Adding 1/4" to the thickness...won't that keep the door from closing on the latch? Won't it affect the hinges too?

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2 of 117 comments
  • 56680139 56680139 on Apr 29, 2023

    Love this.

    For those of us (or husbands) that are not this skilled in carpentry, I would suggest a paint pen and do a faux finish. Maybe even consider a ship lap wall paper or contact paper.

    But if you just want to update your doors, do what we did....go to Home Depot and buy the 6 panel hollow doors for $70-$80 a door. Not that much more than you are paying to do all this work. It's not ship lap, but they do look more updated.

    I do have 3 closet doors we didn't replace.....just haven't gotten to them yet. Not priority right now. I am going to give the paint pen a try!!


  • Merelyn sale Merelyn sale on Apr 30, 2023

    Cool idea

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