EASY AND CHEAP CORE HOLLOW DOOR UPDATE

Like many homes built in the 1950's mine have core hollow doors. I'll admit they are bit prettier than those from the 80's, but they are certainly in rough condition. When we first moved in I slapped some white paint on and called it a day, but they never looked right and started quickly peeling.

I thought about replacing the doors all together, but each of my doors is slightly different in size, and custom doors just aren't in the budget right now.

I recently finished adding molding to my hallway and thought- why not use the same technique on the doors? So I did, and I kind of love it. It was quick, cheap, and easy. You can do this update in just one afternoon. Here's how...

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I'm in the midst of a hallway refresh. It's a space that's just been awkward for years. I wasn't really sure what I wanted to do with it. After seeing hundreds of prewar apartments on Pinterest and the Gram I realized that I'm over farmhouse and wanted to add some elegant molding to the hallway.
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Without much of an idea of what I was doing I purchased molding and made a series of boxes. I love how it turned out and so I used the same process on my doors.
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I'm not sure if you've seen the price of wood right now, but it's astronomical, so I actually purchased fake molding at Lowes. If you go past the decorative wood molding to the molding meant for bathrooms and kitchens (high moisture areas) you'll find this:
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It's light weight, easy to cut (if you don't have a miter saw you can easily do it by hand with a miter box) and at a little over $5 for an 8 foot stick it was a fairly affordable update (if you're doing a small area). I couldn't find a link to this exact molding on their website, but they have lots of different styles. They have some (as you can see in the picture) even cheaper that could still make an impact.
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I recommend using blue painters tape to test out different patterns to see what look you like better before actually buying and cutting molding. Once you decide on a pattern you can measure and purchase your molding. 
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I decided to make three boxes. I really relied on how it appeared to my eye to decide how big to make the boxes. I then spaced them evenly between teach other. 

To create the boxes, cut your molding in alternating 45 degree angles to form a box. I used my mitre saw, but if you don't have one you can get a mitre box for around $20 on Amazon, making this truly a no power tools project.  I then used painters tape to tape up all the pieces before securing anything to make sure I liked how everything looked at that the measurements were correct (this also helped when nailing since I only have two hands). 
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To secure you can use liquid nails, finishing nails, or for the best hold a combo of both. My nailgun broke just before I did this, so I actually just hand nailed pin nails into the pieces while they were taped up, and it was super easy. I really like that you don't need power tools to do this project. 
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Once the liquid nails are dry or you've secured the molding with actual nails, caulk the outer seam and fill any nail holes.

Finally, paint! Voila, you now have beautiful doors worthy of any Pre-War or Parisian apartment out there. I ended up using 3 sticks on each of my doors, so for $15 in molding, nails, and paint, I have myself some custom doors!  I used Benjamin Moore's Chantilly Lace on both the walls and trim.

For a little more of a vintage vibe I made DIY Sconces for around $10. 
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I'll be replacing the door handles soon and I found this adorable gold Toilettes sign on sale at Michaels and thought it added the perfect finishing touch. 

What do you think? Would you dress up your doors, or just replace? What pattern would you do? Remember to share if you try this!