Upcycled Cupboard Door into Command Center

Wow, summer came to us with a bang this year!!  My kids have been out of school for a week and are reading up a storm and loving the time to just play.


I have been insanely busy with random things like presenting all day at a girls day camp and then running a service project for the women in my church.  To top it off we are leaving tomorrow for a family reunion and will be gone for a week so I will be MIA in blog land!  And…..before we leave in the morning my husband and I are doing a triathlon.  It will be my first open water swim so please pray I won’t DIE!!!  Eeek!  I am insane.


With all that craziness going on I thought I would share one of my contributor projects that appeared about a month ago on My Repurposed Life, an upcycled cupboard door into command center!

It is perfect for the small spot behind the door from my garage into my kitchen!  I have been wanting a place to hang my purse and jot notes and reminders down in hurry and this is just what I needed! 

I picked up this cupboard door almost a year and a half ago at the Restore for $1.  I figured I could make a cute sign with it or something.  While I was painting another project, my Large DIY Bracket Frame, I decided to paint the door too, why not?!   It has been hanging out for a while now with nothing to do.  Well, not anymore!  I came up with the idea to make this cute little cupboard door into a fun command center!

I was thinking of painting a chalkboard on it and making a cork board,  so I knew I needed a place for chalk, paper, pens and such.  In my kids bathroom I have these cool little plastic drawer organizers.  I remember thinking this will totally help separate my kids tooth brushes and toothpaste, I am so smart…. Wrong!  For some unearthly reason my kids don’t use them, everything is just thrown in as a huge sticky mess  (I say sticky because kids can’t just push out a small amount of toothpaste, it has to be a quarter size, and then the rest gets rubbed all over EVERYWHERE, ready to turn into toothpaste cement once it dries.  Have you ever tried to clean up dried toothpaste?  Ha, now you have an experiment, go ahead give it whirl…have fun!) My pathetic attempt at organizing was completely fruitless. 


Sorry tangent…

Anyway, I saved an “unused” plastic tray from the grasp of the cement hardening toothpaste and scrubbed it really good.  Then I gave it a coat of plastic primer, and then glossy black, both of which I already had on hand.

I taped of the top of the cupboard with painter’s tape, oops ran out of the green.  Then I gave the cupboard and the plastic tray front, three coats of chalkboard paint.  The above photo is after one coat.  I love this stuff!

If you have been reading my previous contributor posts for Gail you know I get a lot of stuff for free.  This cork roll was one of my free finds, and to tell the truth I can’t even remember from where, craig’s list, freecycle…  But, I knew someday I would want to use it!  I cut it to the size I wanted using my paper cutter and mat, and this plastic ruler that has been used more for wood and other projects than quilting.  It is awesome!

I used this (non expanding) gorilla super glue to attach it to my cupboard door.  I just put glue on the back of the cork, set it where I wanted it, put a heavy book on top and held it in place for about a minute.

I predrilled holes and screwed on my plastic tray.  I didn’t take a picture but I used black glossy craft paint to paint over the screws, so they would blend in.

I could have been done at this point but since I never throw anything away…I still had this left over contact paper stencil from when I  made my Halloween Spider Craft.  I used a few chevron stripes to stick on the cork, and pressed them down firmly.

Then I simply painted one coat of white.  When I do stencils I always start, with very minimal paint, on the stencil and paint towards the middle.  This ensures crisp clean lines!

I added three hooks on the bottom for keys and my purse (yay!), and I was done…

Well almost.  I did add two D-ring mounts to the back.  They are nice and strong, and I just had to drill screws into the wall to hang them on.  One screw was in a stud the other was anchored in the drywall.

It is super awesome to be able to hang my purse and keys!  I also love having the cork board for coupons and reminders, and the chalkboard too!

The little tray can hold quite a bit and I don’t have to worry about things falling out!

I am pretty excited about it, and happy I finally found a use for my $1 cupboard door! I am thinking my husband has no excuse now for losing his wallet and keys.  The tray and hooks are perfect for taking care of such a job!

I will be linking to these parties.