Repurposed Vintage Doors with Sconce Lights

When a friend gave me these vintage doors I had no intention of using them with sconce lights. I intended to replace a utility door in our living room or use them as our master bedroom closet doors. They ended up being a wee bit shorter than I expected and they didn’t fit the space. Because of this, I had to get creative and create something else out of them. That’s when I decided to create repurposed vintage doors with sconce lights!

You know I don’t turn down vintage goodies, especially when it’s made of solid wood! The wood wasn’t in the best condition, but that’s what made it more appealing to me.

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Below is what the doors looked like when I received them.

You can see in the image above that they are about 5 inches shorter than normal inside doors. I really wanted to use them in this space to replace our ugly 1980’s bifold doors. Unfortunately I couldn’t figure out a good solution to make them longer.

That’s when I had another idea….

We have two walls in our cottage style dining room that I struggle to decorate- the wall in between the sliding door and laundry room door and also…

the wall in between the door and mirror.

Side note; you can see what our current dining room looks like now with my newly made over cane back chairs.

I also happened to have two random sconce lights that we weren’t using anymore. That’s when a light went off in my head!

I could repurpose the vintage doors and add black sconce lights (the plug in kind) to create two lovely vintage sconce lights!

Of course I had to give the doors a makeover first.

Vintage door makeover

The first thing I did was remove the hardware. The pulls and hinges practically fell off they were so corroded.

Next I gave them a good sanding with my block sander. I used a fine grit sandpaper.

Then I gave them a good wash and sat them in the sun to dry.

I used a paint scraper to scrape off some dirt that was stuck in the crevices.

I decided to get out the liming wax to reduce some of the red tones in the wood.

I love how liming wax gives a subtle white wash look while protecting the surface.

I used my round bristle brush to apply the wax in an x motion on the door.

After the lime wax sat about an hour, I used a lint free cloth to buff out the excess.

Use sparing amounts of lime wax when you do this. Honestly, I caked it on a little too thick and I’m still trying to minimize the “x marks” by buffing them out.

Once I put them up against the wall I got a feel for how they would look. It’s always a good feeling when you start to see your vision come to life!

They are the perfect size for the walls in this space! Also, I need a little more lighting in this area so I’m knocking out two birds with one stone.

I staged the light on the door to see how it looked! Don’t you love the raw wood look?

How do you attach a plug in sconce light to a door?

• Decide where to hang the light and install the back of the sconce light hardware on the door.

• Use a spade drill bit to drill a hole into the door to run the wires through.

• Rather than pulling the entire plug through the door, unscrew the wiring and then re attached it.

• Once the hardware is secure and the wiring re attached, put the sconce on the door.
• Add a wall hanger to the back, plug in the sconce and hang the doors on the wall.

Repurposed doors with sconce lights

I love how the wood doors with vintage light bulbs bring warmth to the room!

I love the matching raw wood on the sliding barn door next to the sconce light.

I think the doors with the sconce lights really blend well with the cottage and farmhouse style decor in our dining room.

Raw wood accents make my heart happy!

We are still loving our new dining table from Wayfair and my new cane back chairs that I made over.

I love mixing the old with the new. I think the blend of the new sconce lights with the old vintage doors adds character and charm to this room.

I hope this DIY door turned sconce light has been easy to follow and inspired you to create your own!

Lindsey**