Easy DIY Makeover: Adding Trim to a Flat Door

Follow this easy DIY makeover for adding trim to a flat door. The Quick, Easy, Affordable Way!

If you’ve found your way to this page, I’m sure you have a door that could use some updating. As you can see in the before picture, mine needed some serious help. It was an old, flat, white-turned-yellowish door that was who-knows-how-old.

After painting all the walls in our house, the door stood out like a sore thumb, and it was driving me crazy! I looked into purchasing a new front door but once I discovered how expensive those are, I searched for ways I could update the door myself for as easy and cheap as possible.

Click here to see how I refinished my baseboards and upgraded my other interior doors for under $20.

Step 1 – Design

If you do a quick search, you will see that there are many different designs you can do with trim. I decided on the two boxes because I thought it looked simple while still adding enough design element. View another style I used in my hall cabinet makeover.

You will also want to decide on what color to paint your door. Since I was refinishing the interior of the front door, I wanted it to “pop” and stand out from the other doors in the house. To make sure that the color also went with my walls, I chose one in the same color family that is two shades darker.

Step 2 – Measure

The first thing I did was grab a tape measure and a pencil to mark where I wanted the trim to be placed on the door.

I went 4.5″ in from the sides because that gave me about an inch from the doorknob to the trim. Then I went 4.5″ in from the top of the door and in between the two trim boxes but went 5″ from the bottom of the door. I found that most decorative doors seem to have this slightly larger spacing at the bottom. Also, I ended the top box at the bottom of the door lock which placed the doorknob in between the two boxes.

Once you have the design drawn onto the door, it helps to really bring your vision to life so you can make sure that you like the design and how it looks with the rest of the room.

Then, I measured the outside lengths of all the sides. I also added up those lengths so I knew how much total trim I needed to get.

Step 3 – Gather Materials

Here is a list of everything you will need:

Supplies:

• Trim moulding
• Miter Box with Saw
• Construction adhesive
• Wood filler
• Level
• Paint
• Paint brush

At the store, I went to the trim moulding section and looked at what they had in stock. I went with a small trim which is only about 0.75″ wide and 0.5″ tall and came in 8 ft (96″) pieces. I purchased three strips (at about $6 each) which was enough for my design, with some extra left over. Take into consideration how long each individual side is when deciding how many trim pieces you need.

The miter box with saw is an affordable way to cut your trim pieces if you do not have an electric saw on hand. It is only about $15 and can be found at any local hardware store.

The construction adhesive and wood filler are also affordable items and useful to have around the house for future DIY projects! (Around $5 each). I find it easier to work with wood filler that comes in a squeeze bottle with a tip like this one. For paint, I got a quart of semi-gloss, and it was more than enough to cover both sides of the door in two coats.

Step 4 – Cut Trim to Size and Glue to Door

Once back from the store, I cut my trim into the lengths I needed using the miter box with saw. Cut 45-degree angles at the ends of each piece, but make sure that you have the trim positioned the correct way! For example, my trim was thicker on one side, so I wanted that to be towards the outside of the boxes.

Keep checking your work as you go by laying the pieces on the ground in the shape you want, making sure the corners fit together the correct way.

Once all pieces were cut, I taped them onto the door. I found it helpful to have all the pieces there for reference as I glued them down.

Then one piece at a time, I attached them to the door using the construction adhesive. Hold in place for a couple of minutes. I also recommend adding additional pieces of tape to each side while it dries. I also used a level as I went to make sure each piece was level before the glue dried. Don’t skip this step- You don’t want to end up with it crooked!

I let the pieces dry in place overnight.

Step 5 – Fill in Gaps with Wood Filler

Next, I used the wood filler in all of the corners where the pieces met. Don’t forget to also apply along the inside and outside edges of the trim. Simply squeeze it out along the seams and smooth it out with your fingers.

Step 6 – Paint!

Now it is time for the really fun part- painting the door! Since I knew I wanted to replace/refinish the hardware, I removed the doorknob, lock, and hinges and laid the door down to paint. However, it is not necessary to remove the door to paint it, especially if you are leaving the hardware as-is.

Then, I painted the door with two coats of my desired paint color.

Door Hardware

As I mentioned, I also wanted to fix up the door hardware. I originally bought a new doorknob/lock set but then realized that my lock size is smaller than the standard size, so it did not fit on my door.

So instead, I decided to spray paint them black which turned out FANTASTIC. Find out how I updated all the door hardware in my house for less than $10.

And, voila!

My door was now completely transformed from a boring, ugly, flat door into a beautiful feature in my home!