Restoring The Closet Door {part one}

One of the things I love about my new house is all of the original 1942 doors. They're one panel, dark stained, with crystal door knobs (that use skeleton keys!) and they have the coolest detailing. I almost have a complete set. However, one of the bedroom closet doors has been replaced with a fake-wood six panel door in white. Ugh. So I took the search for great design into my own hands and ventured down to the Architectural Salvage Warehouse in Detroit on a quest for a replacement door.



And I found one! Hidden in with a huge collection of old doors, windows, and other materials was an almost-match.  So close of a match that if I didn't point out what was different you might never notice.
Update: With closer inspection, it IS an exact match. Even better!

Obviously it's been painted white, but the plan is to get it stripped down and re-stained. What's also cool is that I already have a matching crystal doorknob to put on it. Once completed, no one will ever know the difference.
Update: With closer inspection, it IS an exact match. Even better!

What a neat place to go! The people working there were super helpful and friendly. From their website:  

"The Architectural Salvage Warehouse of Detroit (ASWD), a nonprofit salvage and resale organization, was started in response to the tremendous amount of waste being generated in the demolition of houses in Detroit and its suburbs. In 2004, over 2,600 housing units were demolished in Detroit and over 4,000 were demolished across Southeast Michigan... ASWD decided on a mission to save what we could of our historic regional materials, to salvage perfectly good architectural materials and put them in the hands of those who can use them and to create jobs and training for those interested in learning the skills of deconstruction. Our earnings are to go to historic preservation projects that we initiate and in grants to other historic preservation organizations that we partner with in projects."

I can't wait to show off the finished product!

Happy Sunday!