I have been sharing peeks at our fixer upper progress on Instagram (@HelloLovelyStudio), so you may already know the door style we chose for both the interior and exterior is…
a 2-panel knotty alder plank door, made by Pacific Entries and ready to customize.
What do we think of them?
The doors are beautiful! We decided on unfinished, solid alder wood doors to replace hollow 6-panel Colonist trim doors and weren’t certain how we wanted to finish them.
We love the character of the knots and wood grain, but we needed to see them in person to narrow down the possibilities.
Alder velvety goodness right here in our basement. The minute we carried the doors into the house, we were certain we had made the right decision because of their solid construction, weight, and gorgeous quality.
The master bath door being installed. I will be sharing more details about this particular door from Pacific Entries, because the company offers something no one else can:
a patented door with a reversible jamb kit
so that handing can be determined at installation.
Know what I’m talking about here? Let’s say you are a DIY type like us and decide to upgrade a door or ten at your house. Maybe you drop by a big box store to check out the selection…but before you buy you must know:
is it right handing or left handing you need?
What a pain when you guess wrong and have to return it, right?
Or maybe you are a contractor, designer, or builder and want to check off “Order Interior Doors” from your long To Do list…how convenient is this reversible system?
Pacific Entries’ patent pending feature is a gamechanger. No more mistakes. You are always right.
I mean.
Where else are you gonna run into those odds? That feature also means you can stay in your PJs, shop online, and know the door you buy will be the right door for your installation.
If you saw my post on beautiful inspiration doors, you’ll know there are an infinite number of options for stain and paint, and in our case, we wanted to add vintage character with the doors since our home came with a bunch of quirky (in a bad way) features.
After experimenting with stains and finishes, we decided on a matte water-based sealer, allowing the natural color of the wood to shine through.
For the bathroom doors, we are painting the side which faces inside the bathroom, white…not yet certain whether we will do this for the bedroom doors, but we can always paint later.
Wait until you see what this alder door looks like painted white with those beautiful oval door knobs!!!!
It looks exactly like the vintage doors I searched the antique markets for, with all the character and rustic charm but without the peel-y paint and poor-fitting sizes that made that option impossible!
I am not showing you its awesomeness yet because I want to give that dreamy white alder side the honor it deserves…there may be an entire devoted post.
But I will show you our new beautiful alder exterior door with its walnut finish and working speakeasy…we can’t wait to see it in place!
The handleset is foxy too.
So why alder then?
We are charmed by alder’s character and how it lends itself especially well to modern farmhouse style.
Because we have so many white walls and new finishes, we think the rustic contrast will achieve the balance and harmony we are after.
Alder is easy to stain…these doors from Pacific Entries are smooth, velvety, and ready to receive their finish.
Let me show you some beautiful alder examples.
Alder cabinetry and doors here are perfect for a casual feel…yet almost everything is rustic so while beautiul, it’s a little one note, and I wonder if modern art, some sleek accessories, and more white might elevate the lovely.
While I love the look of these alder doors above, we are keeping our surrounding trim white for contrast.
I am seeing mainly nice and not much knotty in the gorgeous alder garage doors above.
Carpenters love working with alder. But they hate it when you call them aldermen.
And the character of the knots and grain make it a great choice for farmhouse style projects.
Knotty alder arched panel doors are also beautiful, but I knew there were enough arches happening with the fan windows everywhere here in the cottage.
Do you know anyone who has used alder for kitchen cabinetry?
Or shutters?
Here’s a richly stained alder reminiscent of cherry wood.
I love the warmth of the finish above, the lack of knots has an elegant feel.
A few more alder examples to consider.
The above gives us an idea of the spectrum of stain possibilities.
For your Aspen getaway?
Thanks for stepping into the world of alder wood with me today, and stay tuned for my fixer upper update…we are working hard installing one door at a time, and it will take a Christmas miracle for them all to be in by Christmas, but maybe by the New Year!
I independently selected products in this post—if you buy from one of my links, I may earn a commission.
Peace to you right where you are.
-michele
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Looks like you are making some awesome choices. Here in Texas we use knotty alder a lot! Lots of character and easy to stain! Hope you have a wonderful holiday!!
Thank you for sharing that, Leslie!!! With your mastery in finishes, I am sure you know your way alder and create beautiful finishes for it in Texas. xox
I stumbled across your page and love the finishes you chose! May I ask, what color stain did you select for the kitchen?
Author
Not sure what image you are referring to – our kitchen cabinets have Schuler’s “White Icing” finish over maple, and our floors are left unstained and sealed with a clear matte poly.