Making Waves
Throw a curve into your room's décor with whimsical bifold doors that mimic the motion of ocean waves. Here, scalloped trim punctuates the blue-on-green doors' lighthearted dimension. You'll find trims in specialty catalogs and home supply stores.
What You Need:
- Bifold closet doors
- Sawhorses
- Paint matching your room color
- Yard-long level
- Scalloped trim
- 2-inch painter's tape
- Paintbrush
- Molding strips
- Miter box
- Miter saw
- Hand saw
- Hammer
- 1-inch brads
- Wood putty or touch-up stick
Instructions:
1. Set the doors on sawhorses, and paint the panels to match the room's wall color.
2. After the paint dries, use a yard-long level and 2-inch painter's tape to define the center panel. The tape protects outer door edges from inadvertent paint splashes. Roll the center with a contrasting hue that matches your color scheme. Remove painter's tape.
3. Cut four molding strips to fit the perimeter of each painted panel, mitering the corners. Paint the molding white.
4. With curves facing in, line up molding on the outer edges of the painted panel. Nail the molding in place with 1-inch brads. Set nails and fill with wood putty or a touch-up stick, and paint.
Door Dressing
Just like windows, closet doors can benefit from a fabric flourish. These bifolds take on French-door appeal when outfitted in simple stripes and ribbon bows. Choose a fabric pattern with a small repeat, such as a stripe or small geometric or floral, that lends itself to a long, vertical application.
What You Need:
- Bifold closet doors
- Patterned fabric
- Paint
- Paintbrush
- Scissors
- Sewing machine
- Thread
- Café rods and mounting brackets
- Braided cording and tassel (or ribbon)
Instructions:
1. Determine the length and width of the gathered panels, leaving roughly 6 inches of door at the top and bottom, and 2 inches on each side.
2. Measure and cut the fabric, allowing for one and a half to two times the finished panel width, as well as 1-inch rod pockets and 1-inch headers at the top and bottom. Sew hems and rod pockets.
3. Center caf? rods on the doors and mount them so that the space between the rods is 1/2 inch shorter than the length of the fabric panel (i.e. if your panel is 70 inches long, mount rods 69-1/2 inches apart).
4. Hang the panels and gather middle with a wired ribbon and bow, a fabric tieback, or braided cording and a tassel.
Fence It In
For a cheerful country backdrop, use barnyard texture and field-fresh posies to blanket sections of a door. Gingham fabric and chicken wire are the principle ingredients for this down-home look.
What You Need:
- Bifold closet doors
- Primer
- Paint
- Paintbrush
- Fabric
- Scissors
- Spray adhesive
- Protective gloves
- Wire-clippers
- Chicken wire
- Staple gun
- White screen molding
Instructions:
1. Prime and paint the bifold doors a hue that subtly contrasts with walls and trim.
2. Cut fabric to fit your desired size of recessed panels. Lightly coat the backs of the fabric panels with spray adhesive, and smooth into place.
3. Wearing protective gloves and using sharp wire-clippers, cut chicken wire to fit over the fabric panels. Staple the wire along the edges.
4. To create the recessed look (and to hide the wire's stapled edges), frame each flower-and-wire block with white-painted screen molding.
Copyright 2007, Meredith Corporation. All Rights Reserved