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DIY Wood Beam Doorway

Written by Lauren

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Hi Remodelaholics!  I’m Lauren from Bless’er House, and I’m always excited to be back here to share our latest DIY shenanigans.

If you’ve never visited my little corner of the blogosphere, my handy hubby Robert and I have made it our mission to give our “builder blah” house plenty of character.  We already managed to bring some personality into our home with our statement-making faux fireplace and our DIY factory window shower door recently.

Today, we’re bringing more rustic style into our living room and kitchen with our DIY wood beam doorway.

Rustic DIY Wood Beam Doorway -- no major contruction or demolition, all for $80!

This space actually used to look like this a little over a year ago:

kitchen before

It’s thankfully less like a white box now.  We started with a plain doorway that had so much potential for some wow factor.

DIY Wood Beam Doorway (2 of 23)

(By the way, I caught our two year-old feeding our dog from the table in that shot right there. Sneaky.)

How to Make a Rustic DIY Wood Beam Doorway

DIY Wood Beam Doorway Materials:

  • 3 sheets of 4’x8′ pine sheathing plywood
  • Stain of your choice (I used a homemade stain solution using tea, steel wool, and apple cider vinegar.)
  • Table saw or circular saw
  • Hack saw
  • Pneumatic brad nailer gun
  • Brad nails
  • 6′ length of 1/16″ x 1″ aluminum strip
  • Drill
  • Wood screws (8 total)
  • Small pry bar and mallet/hammer
  • Measuring tape and pencil
  • Oil Rubbed Bronze spray paint

We had to pry off the baseboard on either side of the doorway first using a small pry bar.  We set them aside to cut and reattach later.

DIY Wood Beam Doorway (3 of 23)

At this point, I had an “Ohhh Lordy. What have I done?” kind of moment.  Then, we took a deep breath and dove in to the beam part.

DIY Wood Beam Doorway (4 of 23)

Before we purchased our wood for the beam, we measured our doorway opening for the lengths we needed.

We wanted our header to be 10 inches high, and our posts on the side of the opening to be 6 inches wide.  To save time and lots of headaches, we had our plywood cut into the size strips we needed at the hardware store.

DIY Wood Beam Doorway (5 of 23)

Once we got the wood home, I stained all of the pieces using the same DIY stain I used on our locker basket mail organizer.

DIY Wood Beam Doorway (6 of 23)

After all of the wood was stained and dried, we busted out our brad nailer to attach a wood strip on the interior side of the doorway.

DIY Wood Beam Doorway (7 of 23)

(Side note:  I promise we didn’t change clothes constantly in one day.  We worked a little at a time throughout the week.  My husband was still in his office attire for part of the work…we’re fancy around here.)

After nailing up both interior side strips, we finished out the posts on the walls for either side.

DIY Wood Beam Doorway (8 of 23)

We made sure to cut the length of the strip for the sides just shy of meeting the top of the doorway to leave room for the plywood thickness in the next step.

DIY Wood Beam Doorway (9 of 23)

Once the side posts were up, we measured to find the very center of the doorway and marked it.

DIY Wood Beam Doorway (11 of 23)

Since our doorway is much wider than a length of plywood, we had to work in sections on the header.  We chose to segment the header into thirds and cut the wood strip for a third of the width of the doorway.

We used two ladders, one for Robert and one for me, to place the plywood strip at the center we’d marked and attach it with the brad nailer.  (I promise, I didn’t just stand around and watch him do all the dirty work. Wink wink.)

DIY Wood Beam Doorway (12 of 23)

Whew! One down…  We got an arm workout here.

DIY Wood Beam Doorway (13 of 23)

After the center strip was up, we were able to measure and find the exact length we needed for either side.

 DIY Wood Beam Doorway (14 of 23)

Then, we attached the strips we’d cut using those measurements.

DIY Wood Beam Doorway (15 of 23)

For the header, we cut our 10″ wide center strips the exact same length as the one we’d already attached to the middle of the doorway.

We nailed them in on the living room side and kitchen side of the doorway.

DIY Wood Beam Doorway (16 of 23)

We measured the remaining header lengths we needed from the edge of the center strip to the outer edge of the side post.

Then we cut the plywood for the measurement we found and nailed them in.

DIY Wood Beam Doorway (17 of 23)

We repeated the steps for the header on the kitchen side of the doorway.

DIY Wood Beam Doorway (18 of 23)

To hide the seams of the “beam” header, I found an idea from Jenna Sue Design to make beam straps using aluminum strips.

Robert measured the height of the header and width of the beam to make sure our measurement would be exact for the straps.

DIY Wood Beam Doorway (19 of 23) DIY Wood Beam Doorway (20 of 23)

Then we marked those measurements onto the aluminum strip.

DIY Wood Beam Doorway (21 of 23)

We cut the length we needed using a hack saw.

DIY Wood Beam Doorway (22 of 23)

And we bent the aluminum strip in the places we marked using a hammer.

DIY Wood Beam Doorway (23 of 23)

We repeated the metal cutting and bending process on a second strip since we had two seams to cover.

Then, I gave the two metal pieces a couple light coats of oil rubbed bronze spray paint.

DIY Wood Beam Doorway (1 of 10)

Once the paint was dry later, I marked and drilled two holes on either side of the metal strips to help attach to the beam.  You could do this step before spray painting too, but I just didn’t think about it until after.

DIY Wood Beam Doorway (2 of 10)

Using a Phillips head bit, I attached the metal straps over the beam seams using wood screws.

DIY Wood Beam Doorway (3 of 10)

I’ll later use wood filler to hide those nails in the beam.

DIY Wood Beam Doorway (8 of 10)

We cut our baseboards we’d removed in the beginning to meet up with the wood beam and reattached them to the wall too.

That was it!  We’re SO happy with how it turned out!  In hindsight, I maybe would have used actual wood boards than plywood strips, but the plywood was much easier to work with, lighter, and easier on the wallet.

The project total:  Approximately $80.00

No more builder grade! Rustic DIY Wood Beam Doorway -- no major contruction or demolition, all for $80!

It looks so much like the real deal in person!

Faux rustic wood beam doorway tutorial -- just $80 worth of materials plus some time to update a plain doorway to have some rustic style!

Now that the beam is there though, it makes me even more ready to tackle our kitchen.  That cherry wood color is nice and all, but it’s not what I would have picked for our cabinets.  It was the standard builder package that came with the house though.

I can’t help but dream of creamy white cabinets to contrast with the rough wood doorway…and maybe some dark wood floors.  Okay, I’m really diving deeper into dream land over here.

DIY Wood Beam Doorway (6 of 10)

The carpet and vinyl flooring kind of drive me batty at the moment, but we’ll get there eventually.  Home wasn’t built in a day.

DIY Wood Beam Doorway (5 of 10)

Rustic DIY Wood Beam Doorway -- no major contruction or demolition, all for $80!

This house is starting to feel more and more like “us” all the time.  And after this project, it even feels bigger! (And check out the faux fireplace here)

Adding rustic style to a builder grade house, one step at a time -- Bless'er House added a rustic wood doorway for just $80

Are you as hooked on the rustic wood look as we are?  Is this project something you think you’d try?  Even though it was a bit time consuming, it really was fairly simple.   And I have a feeling it won’t be the last time we try it.

Blessings,

Lauren

————————————-

We’re on a mission to banish the builder blah, and we’re so glad that Lauren is on our team!

If your style is less rustic, build a column and arch like we did in our living room:

Living Room Remodel with yellow accents wood floors and built-in bookcases and columns with arches-35

More budget friendly updates to take you beyond builder grade:

Update the cabinet above the stove to look like an expensive range hood (but with storage!)

hinged range hood with hidden storage, Everyday Enchanting on Remodelaholic

or just build your own range hood:

prime and paint a diy custom range hood, The Rozy Home featured on Remodelaholic

You can also get rid of builder grade bifold doors by turning them into french doors

Turn bifold doors into french doors Sawdust2stitches for Remodelaholic.com

or by using one of these ideas:

Lots of ways to update flat panel hollow core doors @Remodelaholic

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Published: July 20, 2015Filed Under: Before and After, Contributor, Dining Rooms, How To, Living Rooms Tagged: Doors, Rustic, Wood

About Lauren

Hi y'all! I'm Lauren from Bless'erHouse. I'm a builder grade subdivision house owner who dreams up outside-of-the-box ways to create a rustic industrial cottage on a budget. Between chasing my toddler and sweet talking my hubby into helping me with yet another project, you can usually find me with a paint brush in one hand and a big ol' glass of sweet tea in the other.


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Comments

  1. June says

    July 20, 2015 at 10:03 am

    Wow, what a great touch! It looks great without overwhelming the house.

    Reply
    • Lauren @BlesserHouse says

      July 21, 2015 at 7:44 pm

      Thank you! We’re really happy how it turned out.

      Reply
      • carol smith says

        May 2, 2019 at 10:50 am

        It looks nice. But it could have been a little better if the boards were mitered so the edges of the plywood weren’t showing. OCD?

        Reply
        • Cass says

          June 8, 2019 at 10:03 pm

          That’s the best part of DIY, you can change it to fit what you like 😉

          Reply
        • Donna says

          November 16, 2020 at 4:07 am

          They were going for beam look not framed.

          Reply
  2. Emily @ Table & Hearth says

    July 20, 2015 at 3:17 pm

    I can’t even Lauren…the change this project made is insane! And it’s so simple!

    Reply
    • Lauren @BlesserHouse says

      July 21, 2015 at 7:45 pm

      Thanks, Emily! I’m sooo excited how it turned out!

      Reply
  3. Tara says

    July 21, 2015 at 6:03 am

    What an awesome detail! Plywood? Genius!

    Reply
  4. Tania says

    July 24, 2015 at 7:58 am

    OMG! I am totally doing this! I’ve been looking for a way to add a rustic beam in the area between my dining and living room. I looked at faux beams that are premade but man, they are kinda spendy! I knew there must be an easier DIY way! Thanks for sharing your great tutorial and for having the good looking man showing us the steps!! ;o)

    Tania

    Reply
  5. Martha says

    April 30, 2016 at 10:24 pm

    I am in love with this idea! I will be doing this soon. Let me know why you would use wood instead you could do it again?

    Reply
  6. FLOR CHAVARRIA says

    May 3, 2016 at 4:36 pm

    Thank you for this. I just had my wall between kitchen and dining rooms removed and have been looking at faux beams, but this is such a great idea for a fraction of the cost

    Reply
  7. Vonda T says

    November 13, 2016 at 12:57 pm

    I’m so glad I saw this!! I’ve wanted to do something like this but couldn’t figure out what to do nor how to remove the trim. Once I get a nail gun ….it’s on!!

    Reply
  8. Diana says

    January 31, 2017 at 6:09 am

    LOVE THIS! I mean like really love this. Now to convince my hubby to do it! Great job. Would you use the plywood again or another type of wood? I need to follow your blog asap!!!!

    Reply
  9. Mrs Bender says

    July 6, 2017 at 9:45 am

    Looks totally awesome! I was wondering what you did with the plywood corners? Did you caulk them? Is there caulk that would match the wood stain? Thanks!

    Reply
  10. Mark Purintun says

    August 8, 2017 at 8:49 pm

    I have a similar passage-way between my dining room and my living room. I was thinking that doing a mitre where the woods come together would make it look like it is a solid piece of wood on each side and on the top. It would have to be glued before the nailing. Is something like this ~easily~ doable?

    Mark

    Reply
  11. Mary says

    August 10, 2017 at 6:30 pm

    Love the table in your living room? Did you make it?

    Reply
  12. Angela says

    August 15, 2017 at 6:05 pm

    Awesome! What a great idea and it upgrades the space beautifully.

    Reply
  13. Linda says

    August 17, 2017 at 10:36 am

    I follow many decor and DIY blogs so many times I see the same or similar ideas……but this is one of the best projects I have seen in a long time! What an impact to your house.

    Reply
  14. Dan says

    September 7, 2017 at 4:13 am

    I don’t like that you can see the cut sides of the plywood. That makes it obvious that it’s a not a real beam and turns me off to the idea.

    Reply
    • Robynne Catheron says

      January 22, 2018 at 8:09 am

      I agree, but there’s got to be a way to cover the edges. I love this project enough to figure out how to fix that!

      Reply
  15. Robynne Catheron says

    January 22, 2018 at 8:13 am

    I think this is such a charming idea! I’ve been wanting to do the same thing. I have the side walls, but I don’t have an existing overhead archway to attach the wood to. Could I just attach it to the side walls, or would that not be strong enough?

    Any suggestions?

    Reply
  16. Jeanine says

    April 15, 2018 at 3:57 pm

    I’m in love with the paint colors around it. What colors did you use?

    Reply
  17. John says

    October 26, 2019 at 5:58 am

    Found your site through another one. Being a woodworker I found this project to be a very clever way of creating a faux beam from plywood. I also like the metal strapping you used to cover the joints.

    I will check out your other projects. Thanks for posting.

    Reply

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Hey there, I am Cassity! Nice to virtually meet you!

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