Repurposed Cabinet Door into Ornate Wall Decor

Hey friends! Do you like ornate wall decor but can’t find the size and/or color you want for a certain wall in your home? That was my problem with the wall on the right side of our dining room hutch.

Before this DIY I had chalk painted vintage pie pans hanging on that patch of wall. They filled the area well enough, but they’d been there for a while and it was time for a change. I wanted something with a little more pop, but I never found anything that would fit the bill.

And because everyone always asks where I got it, the drug store sign is from Decor Steals 🙂

I bought this cabinet door for 2 dollars at the Habitat For Humanity ReStore. If you’ve never been, the ReStores are a great place to buy doors (both cabinet and the walk-though kind) as well as windows, hardware, paint, stain, and many other goodies perfect for using in DIY projects.

I got this wood applique (also known as an onlay) from Amazon. Amazon has a wide selection of these in many sizes and styles.

Some of the links in this post are Amazon affiliate links. If you make a purchase through one of these links, I may make a small commission at no additional cost to you. If you do purchase through one of my links, thank you so much for helping keep my blog content free for everyone to enjoy!

What’s super fun about this project is I only used wax! The waxes I used are Miss Mustard Seed’s White Wax and Antiquing Wax.

I cleaned the cabinet door thoroughly with Krud Kutter (my favorite stuff for getting crud off of other stuff) and then sanded the polyurethane coat off the front of the door using a hand sander. I then used Famowood Wood Filler to fill in the holes where the door handle used to be. I really like Famowood Wood Filler because it’s easy to use, dries in 15 minutes and you can sand it once it’s dry.

I then applied the antiquing wax to the door using a soft cloth. I did the same with the wood applique, but used a small brush instead of a cloth to get the wax into all the nooks and crannies.

Once the antiquing wax was thoroughly dry, I used Gorilla Wood Glue to attach the applique to the cabinet door and left it dry overnight.

I think it looks pretty good like this! But I wanted a lighter and softer finish to work with the decor already in our dining room, so on to the white wax.

Instead of using the white wax like you’d normally use wax (working it into the cracks and crevices) I used it to highlight the raised parts of the applique. I then applied the white wax to the cabinet door and wiped it off with a soft cloth to mute the color a bit.

I love how it turned out!

I think it looks so much better now! It is a little small for the area, but next time I’m at the ReStore I’ll pick up a longer cabinet door and do the same finish to fill in the space better. But for now I’m very happy with the result!

The drug store sign is still from Decor Steals 🙂

I hope you enjoyed this tutorial! If you have any questions or comments, please leave them in the comments section below.

Thanks for stopping by to check out this project! See you next time!

Michelle