Two tutorials: one for how to make an easy farmhouse-cottage beadboard electrical panel cover for an exposed panel to make it disappear, and how to create a faux double door to use an upcycled cabinet.
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When we created a mudroom from a garage and then finally finished it with with a laundry-mudroom makeover, one of the things we needed to deal with was an electrical panel and an upcycled cabinet that had been cut down to fit the space.
Happily, we found a farmhouse cottage way to cover the exposed utility area by creating a beadboard electrical panel cover. And we came up with a sweet faux double door to solve the problem of the cut-down cabinet without room for all four hinges. I love, love how these two fixes took care of a couple items that had been keeping us from completely finishing the mudroom.
Which of course made me want to share it with you! They were easy DIYs that I hope will inspire you to think outside the box when making over areas of your own home!
Simple Beadboard Electrical Panel Cover
I had planned for us to create a beadboard cover for the electrical panel from the beginning of our remodel to match the high wainscoting in the mudroom, since we had made a similar cover for a panel in our Portland bungalow. The difference with this panel was the fact that it is huge - there is the original panel, a smaller one for a generator (which we don't have - it was installed by the previous owners) as well as a septic tank warning alarm with it's own plug that stuck out some.
It spent quite awhile (a-hem, years…) covered with coats and jackets, which is a classic diy-er "outta sight, outta mind" phenomenon (which we've experienced many times). When we finally got to it, it turned out to be fairly simple. (affiliate links included to provide examples - thank you if you use them!)
Steps to Make the Cover
- Frame the entire opening with 1 x 2 pine boards with mitered corners. This allows a 3/4" clearance from the doors that are attached flush with the top of the frame, perfect for the various things sticking out a bit. We added a short extension cord with a flat plug-in for the alarm plug so that would only need 1/2" clearance.
- Carefully and precisely measure the door opening, then purchase beadboard and have it cut-to-fit at a home store.
- Fill corners of frame as needed with wood putty, then paint frame and beadboard doors to match.
Finishing
- To attach the doors flush with the frame, use simple 1 in. narrow utility hinges, two on each side.
- In order for the doors to stay completely closed, attach a cabinet magnetic catch set with metal piece on the inside of one of the doors.
- Because this doesn't get opened much, apply a simple hook-and-eye type of cabinet closure, similar to this one.
Pretty straightforward, right? I LOVE how it turned out and this is definitely a case of "why didn't we do this earlier?" Oh well, we're enjoying it now!
Now on to one of my favorite things about this room- the 'secret' double cabinet door!
Faux Double Cabinet Door
This is the cabinet we moved from the main bathroom when we remodeled it (moving a cabinet from the master bath to that room, which left room for the dresser-vanity next to the new clawfoot tub.). At first glance all seems normal, right?
The cabinet now looks great in it's 'after' state, but before we got here it needed to be cut down to fit next to the stand-up freezer. Look to the right and you can see that it's c.l.o.s.e. It's even easier to see in it's before stage:
Since it's a mudroom and needed to hold gardening supplies, dog towels, and other things I'm sure you can imagine keeping in a mudroom, I wanted both sets of double doors reattached to keep it looking cleaner. To which Brian always said, "uh, can't be done, there's not enough room for hinges on the right."
Which is never what I want to hear when it comes to finagling things - I want to explore every option before just giving up (poor Brian, right?). So I asked if there was a way to just make it look like there were double doors in the section on the right...
And that's what he did! I love this secret little door - both for the fact that it gives me the look I want, keeping the area looking neat, and because Brian figured out a way to make it work. #allthefeels
How to Make a Faux Double Cabinet Door
- Lay the two cabinet doors face down on a flat surface (knobs removed, of course).
- Cut two pieces of scrap wood or plywood, measuring the length of the two doors, making sure to leave room for the one set of hinges you will be using.
- Spread one side of the cut wood pieces with wood glue and set in place, glue side down.
- Pre-drill holes where you want the screws to be (on the outer edges of the door frame as well as where the doors come together, as shown above). Using 3/4-inch wood screws, carefully attach screws, one at a time, realigning the doors as needed to keep the opening closed and the doors even.
- Let the glue dry and then attach the door with one set of hinges. (You may need to add a magnetic door clasp if it doesn't stay closed, but ours didn't need that.)
And that's it - another thinking-outside-the-box victory! (And while I'm getting tired of that phrase, when it fits, it fits, right?)
I hope these two easy DIY's that solved eyesore areas for us inspires you in your own do-it-yourself adventures. Let us know if you do anything similar!
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