Upgrading the doors in your house can really change the overall look and feel of your home. We’ve installed numerous doors (vintage and new) throughout several of the homes we’ve owned over the years. Recently we decided to upgrade a door that was at the top of the staircase in our new home. It’s a 1978 Sanibel Island, Florida bungalow that has had many updates over the years, but there is still plenty to do.

Easy DIY House Upgrade: How to Install a Door + HandleGraphic and Image by Carolyn J. Braden, Project design and execution by Tommy and Carolyn BradenPin me! carolynsbloomingcreations.com — Easy DIY House Upgrade: How to Install a Door + Handle
Graphic and Image by Carolyn J. Braden, Project design and execution by Tommy and Carolyn Braden
Pin me! carolynsbloomingcreations.com

This one old door got on my husband’s nerves like nothing else. It was an original door with the original handle. Compared to the rest of the house, it was quite old and boring. It also didn’t allow for any light at the top of the stairwell. There is a window on the other side of the door and we wanted to see some of the light from the window pour into the stairwell.

After looking through several websites, we decided on a modern wood and glass solid core Jeld Wen door from Lowe’s. This door fit the feel of the house and solved the issue of the darkness at the top of our stairwell. Since the upstairs of the home is our master suite, we definitely needed to keep the door. We also have to keep the cats out of our room at night (they are night stalkers that drive our dogs crazy!) so again, the door is important.

When choosing a door for your home, we recommend that you chose one that matches the overall style of your house. Our last house was an 1800’s urban revival and we always chose doors that fit with the time period of the house. We often purchased doors from salvage yards to make sure they all matched the overall aesthetic.

Front doors matter too! When we had a new door front installed on our current home, we made sure we chose one that fit the style of our house and of the island environment we live in.

Here are the products we used for this project:

Our Amazon Basics Door Handle (we chose a black matte handle)
Handle Template + Hole Bit (we used a similar one to this)
3.5 Inch Amazon Basics Black Matte Hinges (we bought a pack of 18 as we plan to change out all the door hinges and handles in our house eventually)
Door: Jeld Wen from Lowe's (we bought this in-store)

Installing a door can be easy as long as you take lots of measurements and take your time. I could try to write out all the steps, but we thought it would be easier and faster if we just showed you! My husband and I made this short YouTube video tutorial for anyone interested in DIY-ing a door installation themselves.

Watch the full step-by-step video below:

More of our DIY’s and other inspirations can be found on our YouTube channel, “Carolyn Braden”.

If you have any questions for us, visit our Contact Us page and send us a note! We love helping other DIYer’s out there!

It's a Bradenful Life

A Smart and Stylish LiFestyle

Watch the full step-by-step video below:

Archives

Select from the drop-down menus below to explore more articles within Carolyn's blogs.

Carolyn's Daily Dishes (Recipes)

It's a Bradenful Life (organized and creative lifestyle)

the ABC (Art and a Blog by Carolyn-art and Self Help)

View our Privacy Policy by clicking here.