Painted Closet Doors

When I was teaching painting  & faux finishing classes, a lot of my students wanted to paint their walls – just some flowers or a touch of ivy. Walls make great canvases, and if you have left-over wall color, you can just paint over your design if you don’t like it. But I’d like to recommend another ‘canvas’ – closet doors.

Besides having to add a couple of extra steps – priming & sealing – closet doors are a great way to add some art to a room, especially children’s.

I painted this Classic Pooh door for my two-year-old niece as a growth chart – see the plank shingles going up the tree?
 

It matches the toy box too.
 

The whole 'Pooh' theme lasted until princess-mania set in last year. Now she's all about The Princess and the Frog.

Mom didn't want to give up the Pooh closet door so we just flipped it over and painted Princess Tiana and some of her friends.

The next one was my husband’s idea. If you visit here often, you’ll notice he comes up with lots of ideas. This one actually was a keeper.

At first glance you might not ‘get’ what this is. It’s the nose of an airplane.
 
Do you see the little planes around the nose? This actually is not my favorite. But the little boy loves it, as does his dad. Maybe it’s a guy thing. Here are some of the planes – the actual ‘art’ – in the rest of the room . . .

 


While I’d encourage you to paint any closet door – shoot, the core doors are only about $24 @ Home Depot – I would definitely not recommend louvered doors.

These took forEVER! Luckily Hubster primed, basecoated & sealed them. But getting in all the nooks and crannies, while trying to keep the integrity of the art was a pain in the *#%.
 
But in this room, three bright white closet doors just wouldn’t have worked. I probably could’ve moved the tree, but still. The stark white would’ve drawn the eye right from the mural, imho.

Not into trying closet doors? Just add some touches around them.
 
That’s a soffit above the doors, with the rose vine hanging down. They used the sunflowers as a growth chart, too. Double duty – I love it!

If you're not brave enough (yet) to paint a mural on your walls, paint a closet door. They're inexpensive, removable, and make a great mural canvas!

Colleen

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