Doorway to Creativity – Garden Feature

You can create an eye-catching garden feature using an innovative paint technique and an old door.

What you will need
Door and door frame
Undercoat or wood primer
PVA paint (choose the colour for your door)
Antique Crackle base and topcoat
Solvent-based sealer
6 mm reinforcing bar
Epoxy
Fencing staples

Tools
Sander, paintbrush, paint pot, drill, 8 mm wood drill bit, hammer

1.Clean your old door, sand it down and paint it with an undercoat, or wood primer if it is plain wood. Allow it to dry.

2.Paint the door with PVA paint in your choice of colour. Allow the paint to dry.

3.Apply two coats of the Antique Crackle base coat, in alternate directions, and allow it to dry. When it is dry, paint the door with the Antique Crackle topcoat, remembering that the thicker the topcoat, the larger the cracks will be. Allow it to dry for five hours. You will need to let the door stand for 72 hours for the cracks to fully appear.

4.Seal the door with a solvent-based sealer and allow it to dry.

Note: Remember to paint all surfaces of the door with the sealer, especially underneath the door, to prevent any moisture from the garden from seeping into the wood.

5.Drill a hole approximately 100 mm deep in the bottom of each side of the frame and push a dollop of epoxy into each hole, followed by the 300 mm reinforcing bar so that 200 mm of the bar is protruding from the bottom of the frame. Allow it to set for 5 hours.

6.Prep the area where you are installing the door by levelling the soil, then place the closed door and doorframe in position. The reinforcing bar will hold the door in place. Open the door halfway to create added support, then hammer in another length of reinforcing bar just behind the open door and secure it to the door with fencing staples.

Make sure this reinforcing is not visible from the front of your garden feature. Note: Any paint technique can be done on the door and then sealed for outdoor enjoyment.