Article Summary
- An unfinished door costs less but requires elbow grease to suit your home.
- A prepainted or prestained product has a higher price tag but is ready to install when it arrives.
- The Hidden Door Store offers a wide range of unfinished preassembled secret doors and DIY kits with optional painted or stained options.
How to Paint or Stain Your Hidden Door: Tips, Supplies, and Costs
Many Hidden Door Store customers choose unfinished secret doors for their versatility. You can paint or stain them however you like, giving you considerable latitude in beautifying your home. Here’s everything customers need to know to DIY their hidden door finish and decide if they’d rather have the Hidden Door Store do it for you.
Understanding The Available Materials & Finish Options
Hidden Door Store’s DIY hidden door kits and preassembled hidden doors consist of precut wood components from different timber species. Keep reading to explore the different wood and finish options to find what’s best for you.
American Hard Maple
American hard maple or sugar maple is a dense hardwood native to North America — the fourth-most abundant species in the eastern United States. Its durability helps to make warping and shrinking less of a concern and ensures uncompromising structural integrity over the long term.
Its creamy white sapwood, reddish brown heartwood, and fine, straight grain make it the best choice if you plan to paint your door. The smooth, uniform grain creates a flawless finish.
The Hidden Door Store uses real maple for all their DIY and preassembled doors. They exclusively use this species for the veneer of their DIY hidden bookcase and mirror door kits to avoid shrinking and warping.
Clear Alder
Clear alder is a light-colored, high-grade hardwood popular for its fine-textured, uniform grain, which can resemble cherry. This versatile material works well with paints, but discerning customers love staining it.
It accepts the finish evenly, and its warm, natural grain gives it more character when stained. The veneer of Hidden Door Store’s DIY secret panel door kit and preassembled bookcase, mirror, wall panel, hutch, linen closet, wine rack, shoe rack and bookshelf doors are all available in clear alder.
Finish Options When Ordering
Hidden Door Store products can be unfinished, painted or stained:
- Unfinished secret doors: These will arrive sanded and ready for you to paint or stain.
- Painted doors: DIY hidden door kits and preassembled models are available in white, gray or black, and can match a specific color based on a sample you send in via email. They are then finished with professional-grade precatalyzed lacquer.
- Stained hidden doors: You can choose from light, medium or dark stain, or ask to match your preferred wood stain color. The finish is completed with a satin topcoat.
What Supplies Do I Need to Finish My Door?
Here’s what you need to finish your hidden bookcase or secret mirror door.
If Painting
You need the following:
- A high-quality primer to seal the porous surface, reduce moisture absorption, and improve paint adhesion, especially when painting over clear alder
- A sanding block with 180-220 grit to achieve a smooth, refined surface
- A tack cloth or a clean rag to manage dust and keep your work area spotless
- A high-quality satin or semi-gloss interior paint to balance durability and reflectivity
- A lacquer topcoat for enhanced durability, if your chosen paint requires it.
- A paintbrush to cover more surface area with precision — or a sprayer to finish the job with speed and efficiency
If Staining
Get these supplies:
- A wood conditioner for even absorption
- Your stain of choice
- A stain applicator to complete the job more quickly
- A lint-free rag to perform more detailed work, especially when finishing a 48-by-94-inch unit with various surfaces like a hidden door that masquerades as a bookcase
- A clear satin polyurethane or lacquer topcoat to protect against scratches, moisture damage and fading
- A 220-grit sanding block to smooth the surface between coats
Recommended Paints & Stains
Hidden Door Store recommends premium products, but not necessarily high-end ones. The most expensive paints and stains on the market don’t yield outstanding results without the proper equipment and skills.
What kind of paint do you use for doors? The best interior paint for a hidden door is a high-quality cabinet-grade enamel or lacquer to enjoy excellent durability and appearance.
Regarding the stain, you can select either oil-based or water-based. Rubio Monocoat is a solid brand. Its finishes accentuate the beauty of interior wood features of award-winning homes, but they don’t require application expertise. Rubio Monocoat rub-on finishes are DIY-friendly.
DIY Cost vs. Letting Us Finish It
Many people want to know how to DIY hidden door finishing to cut costs, while others are willing to spend extra to let the professionals do the heavy lifting.
DIY
Doing it yourself allows you to match exact colors or choose a fully custom finish. Painting or staining your hidden bookshelf door can cost $50 to $150. The more products and tools you already have, the less costly your project will be.
The job can take three to six hours, not including the drying time. Depending on the additives in the product and your work area’s temperature and humidity, finished wood can take several hours to a day to dry.
Have HDS Finish It
The Hidden Door Store can stain your bookshelf door for a set price, be it a light, medium or dark stain. They can provide you with a quote if you prefer a custom stain color or paint your unit.
The team professionally applies the finishing product in a controlled environment to ensure proper adhesion and even coverage. Entrusting the job to professionals means you can avoid the mess and fumes at home. More importantly, your hidden door arrives with a flawless finish and is ready to install.
The Hidden Door Store offers a 10-year warranty on all parts and materials. No other hidden door company can match this level of protection with their warranty. Read more about how not all hidden doors are created equal.
Tips for Best Results
If you take the DIY route, clean your work area to ensure it’s dust-free. Is it better to roll or brush a door? Use a combination of both. Always sand surfaces lightly between coats of paint or stain. Take your time — multiple thin coats look better and last longer than one heavy coat.
Place Your Secret Door Order Today
Choose the Hidden Door Store to buy a high-quality concealed door, unfinished or not. Contact the team now to discuss your finish options for your chosen product.