Yesterday I had my front door replaced and, instead of taking the door like they said they would, Home Depot left both the door door and the screen door on my front lawn. Since I have it, I’d like to make a table out of it.
The plan in my head so far: make a rectangle with 1/2" X maybe 2" wood, glue & screw this to the ‘bottom’ of the ‘table’ and attach 2X4s at the corners for legs. The big problem is, well,here’s the door in question.
It has holes were the hardware used to be and the surface is far from flat. The surface doesn’t have to be absolutely flat since I plan to use it outside for flowerpots. I would sure love some ideas on any part of this plan but especially any crazy design ideas for the table top and on evening it out.
And what are you going to do with the glass? About the only practical way to use it as a table would be to cover the glass with plywood,and by then, you may as well just make the table out of that sheet of plywood and get rid of the door.
You can knock out the glass if you don’t want to preserve it and build a rectangular or circular planter box that will fit down inside the hole where the glass was, even if it leaves a small area open to the ground below. Plant plants in the box. In the open bits you might be able to fit in some galvanized steel buckets that you bang into the right shape to plant more stuff in or to store gardening tools.
Oh and personally I’d sand it, prime with Kilz, paint it white, distress it a bit and then do a few coats of polyurithane to make it more durable. A door like that is probably alread treated to withstand the elements but not for rain and snow etc to land right on it and puddle.
You might be able to yeah. If you can cut the holes in around the glass and get them the size a terra cotta pot is just below the lip, they’d rest in there and look pretty. If the door is hollow-core I don’t know if that would work as well. Might a hollow-core door be more likely to shatter the glass as you drill in to cut the circles…not sure.
(Oh and someone upthread said building a potting table from scratch would be easier and more functional - that is probably true. But if you don’t want to use the door/table for a real work table but just as an element in the garden I don’t think it matters much if the surface isn’t flat. )
Wish I could come help you! I might have to go find a door at my local recycling yard, just to try this project!
The table wouldn’t do anything but be something decorative to put small pots on. And if I bought materials to build a potting table, well then I’d still have a door that I’d want to do something with.
Another thought that struck me-- mosaic-ing the panel indentation thingies. For extra sparkle.
Would the mosaic-ing be weather-proof? It sounds pretty, but I still think a large sheet of plexiglass over the whole thing would be good. The pretty door would show through, but be somewhat protected fom the weather and drips and dirt.
I have a semi-half-formed project in mind that is going to use plexiglass. And maybe acid and/or paint of some kind (but that part is even less formed than the “I think I want to cover this in plexiglass”) You can buy sheets at Home Depot.
I’m all for other people trying things before I do and letting me know how it goes.
I was thinking of polyhoweveryouspellithaning over the whole thing after priming and painting it. I do already own sealant for mosaic but I think the poly would work just as well.
It’s not metal, that’s for sure and it’s too light to be wood. It’s either fiberglass or composite.
I would not use it for the top, because of the fragility of the glass. I would stand it up and use that for the back, then build teh potting table in front of it.
Sort of like this, only then at table height and not chair height. It would be a low table, but still attractive.
I would just put the door up on Ebay or Craigslist, and then look for a potting table, also on e-bay or craigslist.
No use making a perfectly servicable door into a bad table.
Now, if you were going to use the table indoor, I would recommend putting some small beams like a frame on the edges, and putting a (plexi)glass plate over it. Then you can exhibit beautiful little stuff between the door and the glass, like shells or postcards etc.
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