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Updated: Apr 4, 2022 by Kris Jarrett

Cork Board Closet Doors: Boring, Flat Doors No More!

Let’s talk closet doors – exciting stuff right?! Actually I think the ones I’m sharing today are pretty fun 😂 – I’m sharing the details of how I transformed my daughter’s ugly, yellowed, flat closet doors into these beauties with framed cork boards:

Such a fun idea for closet doors of adding molding and cork boards!

Unless you’re new to the blog (if you are, welcome!), you probably remember that I did this closet door makeover as part of the makeover of my teen daughter’s bedroom a few years ago:

Loving this blue and white bedroom with block print bedding, grasscloth wallpaper, Taylor Swift wall art, and quatrefoil pendant lighting!

Let’s flash back to what I started with – flat doors that had yellowed with time (due to oil based paint), rusted hinges, and the tiniest little cabinet knobs as pulls:

Before of closet doors

Prettying up these doors took just a couple of hours (it’s a good weekend project) and the following supplies (includes affiliate links – see my full disclosure statement {here}):

  • Low profile molding (more on that below)
  • ¼″ plywood sheet
  • Two 24″ x 36″ ¼ cork sheets
  • Double sided duct tape
  • Compound miter saw (or a simple miter box and saw)
  • Tape measure & level
  • Liquid Nails adhesive
  • Brad nailer (I recently bought {this one} and love it) and compressor or you can hand nail molding with brad nails
  • Wood filler, sandpaper, paintable caulk, painter’s tape, scissors, and paint

The molding I used is a type of chair rail molding that has a ¼″ high notched out area at the bottom that is perfect for the ¼″ cork sheets to fit right underneath and be held in place on the door:

Profile of chair rail molding used to trim out closet doors

The first step in the project is deciding on the size of your molding boxes (my cork board boxes were 36″ tall measured from the outside edges, the bottom boxes were 24″ tall, and all four boxes were 21″ wide) and then cutting the molding to size with mitered corners. Then cut the cork sheets (I found that scissors work better than a razor for cutting them) and the ¼″ plywood sheets to the exact size for them to tightly fit under the notched edge of the molding. Handle the cork sheets with care – they’re thin so would likely crack if bent. Use painter’s tape to tape the molding into place on the door, using a level to ensure everything is straight. Once in place, trace the outline of each molding box with a pencil.

Adding molding to a flat paneled door

Remove the taped molding from the door. Place double sided duct tape on the back of each of the two cork sheets and adhere them to the doors, centering them in the middle of the outline that you traced. Update: after about a year of pinning and repinning to the corkboards, one of them isn’t adhered to the door as well any longer – if redoing this project I would brush a small amount of glue or liquid nails to the back of the cork boards or use a spray adhesive to make them adhere more strongly than with the tape alone.

Corkboard with double sided duct tape on the back

Once your cork sheet is in place, place the molding back on the door (follow the lines you outlined) and nail it in place with a nail gun. Do the exact same thing with the bottom two molding boxes, using ¼″ plywood instead of cork sheets. Now all that’s left is to fill and sand the nail holes, caulk the corners and edges of molding, and paint the entire door (you can see just how yellow our old doors were when you compare it to the new white molding!).

In-progress transformation of closet doors!

And don’t forget about new door hardware if you have anything crazy strange like our little bitty cabinet knobs. I switched out our old hinges and found some new knobs from Hobby Lobby:

Love these closet door knobs (from Hobby Lobby!)

And…done!!

Love this upgrade of flat closet doors! Panel molding was added to both doors, including framed cork boards! So fun for a kid's room!

My daughter loves it and has slowly been filling the cork boards up. And I love it because having the cork boards on the closet doors means one less thing to hang on those grasscloth walls!

Love this for a kids room - cork boards and molding added to flat closet doors!

These cork board closet doors are perfect for a kid's room!!

Want another idea for dressing up plain, flat doors? Check out {this post} on the door makeover I did in my other daughter’s bedroom that involved small panel molding in a fun geometric design:

I'm so going to do this to our flat closet doors! Love this flat panel door makeover!

You can also find other teen, tween, and kids room decorating ideas in {this post}.

XO,

KJ Signature

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Categories: Bedrooms

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Reader Interactions

Comments

  1. [email protected] Stroll Thru Life says

    January 16, 2016 at 7:16 am

    These looks amazing. I like the idea of the cork.

    Reply
  2. Jeanette Van Wicklen says

    January 16, 2016 at 8:57 am

    Kris, your ideas are always amazing!! love both of these ideas!!

    Reply
  3. Ellyce says

    January 16, 2016 at 10:29 am

    We did something similar to this years ago for our children (now in their 40s). The cork doors let them pin up their special awards, posters, medals, etc. and saved the walls from tape and thumb tacks.

    Reply
  4. Garden, Home and Party says

    January 16, 2016 at 10:33 am

    Kris,
    I remember the redo of your daughter’s room. It turned out so great. Thanks for the tutorial.
    Have a great weekend.
    Karen

    Reply
  5. Mariah says

    January 16, 2016 at 11:17 am

    We have the yellowing, oil-painted doors in our house, too…ugh! Did you strip off the oil paint first or did you just paint over it? We’re trying to decide on a course of action…

    Reply
    • Kris Jarrett says

      January 23, 2016 at 8:57 pm

      Hi Mariah – I actually just lightly sanded the doors and painted over them with Benjamin Moore Advance – I’ve used it many times and it works great. It’s made to coat over oil-based paint and leaves a nice, smooth finish. The only disadvantage of it is that it’s pricey!

      Reply
  6. Rene' says

    January 16, 2016 at 12:39 pm

    Kris, thank you for yet another brilliant idea. I just wish I had known about this when my daughter
    was a teenager…..she had picture frames everywhere which made dusting and cleaning her bedroom a long process, but the idea you have shown….not only keeps those items organized..
    there’s no dusting involved! Looking forward to what you share with us after attending the Kitchen & Show! 🙂

    Reply
    • Kris Jarrett says

      January 23, 2016 at 8:58 pm

      I hadn’t thought of the no-dusting thing Rene but that’s a definitely plus in my book! 🙂

      Reply
  7. Angelica K. says

    January 16, 2016 at 1:00 pm

    Thank you for the tutorial. I remember loving these doors when you first shared the room makeover. Pinning & doing this!

    Reply
  8. classic•casual•home says

    January 16, 2016 at 3:29 pm

    Very fun idea for a kid’s room.

    Reply
  9. Rhonda says

    January 16, 2016 at 5:10 pm

    Kris, this is awesome!! Great job

    Reply
  10. Vel says

    January 18, 2016 at 11:27 am

    Another pretty and practical closet door idea Kris! Love it!

    Reply
  11. Anonymous says

    January 18, 2016 at 8:24 pm

    I can’t get over how awesome those doors look! great job!
    xx, lauren
    laurensparkle.com

    Reply
  12. Christine says

    January 13, 2018 at 8:28 am

    Thanks for your creativity. I am a renter and have 3 sliding closet doors in our bedroom. Do you have a idea for these doors? I would like to make the room look brighter.

    Reply
    • Kris Jarrett says

      January 15, 2018 at 9:51 pm

      That’s a tough one since if you add too much bulk to them, they might not be able to slide by each other. It might be fun to try some temporary wallpaper to cover them in a fun color or pattern!

      Reply
  13. Toni says

    January 29, 2018 at 5:11 pm

    some great ideas thanks for being creative and sharing

    Reply
  14. Phyllis says

    February 26, 2018 at 12:29 pm

    What color blue is that on the bedroom wall.

    Reply
    • Kris Jarrett says

      March 09, 2018 at 12:28 pm

      It’s actually powder blue grasscloth wallpaper!

      Reply

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