Secret Armoire Doorway

Have you ever seen a picture in a magazine and just fallen in love with an idea? Something that makes you say “I have to have that. I don’t know how, but I will make it happen.” When I saw a picture of an armoire that turned out to be a doorway, I knew it would be perfect for my crazy, whimsical, fairytale style.

I searched for over two years before I found an armoire that was tall enough (almost) to walk through and didn’t have a drawer at the bottom. Almost all the tall ones have drawers, and I wanted the doors to go all the way down. In the end, I found it on craigslist. It was part of a set that included my mantle, my bathroom vanity, and a smaller armoire I haven’t fixed up yet. For the full story, read my mantle post. Luckily, we can drive right up to my French doors, because this sucker is heavy!

It took four of us to get her out of the truck and lay her down in the great room, where she looked like a beached whale. We affectionately call her “the beast”.

Even the doors on this thing are massively heavy. It was hard to get them open at this angle, but we propped them up with chairs. There was also some fancy skirting that needed to be removed from the base and reattached to the bottoms of the doors.

First my uncle cut the bottom out first. It was a little scary to take it apart, but we had faith in the vision we were trying to create.

Then the back came out. At this point I was nervous about standing it back up, but it is very solidly made.

My uncle routed spots for hinges and used them to reattach the skirting on the doors. Sorry, I forgot to get a picture of them on.

Now it was time to paint! I used a grayish color called Stonehenge by Heirloom Traditions All-In-One-Paint.

I gave it two coats. Here’s a picture of the reattached skirting on the doors.

Next I watered down some Rust-Oleum Chalked Paint in Linen White and painted small sections one at a time before dabbing the excess off with a shop towel.

The white paint acted like a glaze and settled into the carved details.

There were a few little drips, but I sanded them away. I also sanded back to bare wood in spots to give it a more aged look.

I added a coat of Rust-Oleum Chalked Aged Glaze, and sealed it with two coats of Varathane Polyurethane in Satin.

My Dad, uncle, and Marc anchored it to the wall in front of the bedroom doorway.

The top of the armoire has a pair of carved birds that remind me of the ones on the cuckoo clock I bought in Germany.

The carved grapes are perfect for an armoire in a room with a view of a vineyard.

I added the same mercury glass knobs I used on the bathroom vanity. I’d like to find some larger glass knobs eventually, but these look good for now.

I love how beautifully this turned out. It makes me think of something that came from an old chateau in France. It just looks like a regular piece of furniture, and you’d never guess that it has a secret.

But its like stepping through the wardrobe into Narnia. Exactly what I was hoping for!