DIY Big Bang Theory Inspired Door

Remember how I said I was updating the back of our front door when I asked for your opinion on color choices? Well I finally finished it over the weekend!

A little backstory: I'm a huge fan of The Big Bang Theory and have always loved the look of their studded apartment doors.

[ Image via Wikia ]

I love them so much that I made a Big Bang Theory inspired studded door of my own!

I started the project by measuring the height and width of our front door as well as the height and width of the top and bottom panels. I created a life-sized version of the door in Illustrator for two reasons – A) so I could figure out the exact spacing of each stud and B) so I'd know how many studs to order:

It took a lot of math to nail down the spacing but I finally figured it out after a lot of trial and error...and headaches. My spacing will differ from yours (unless we have the same door) so I'm not going to explain mine in detail but if you have any questions about it, let me know!

After I figured out the spacing and the total amount of studs I needed, I started searching for bulk quantities of them. I found the cheapest ones here:

I ordered 200 3/4" Maple roundhead plugs. They were $5 for a bag of 100 studs so I ordered two bags for $10...and paid $8.95 in shipping :(

After they arrived, I started to transfer the measurements from my illustration to my door by measuring 1 3/8" in from each side and drawing a light pencil mark:

Then I started measuring out the placement of my studs:

This part was fairly easy since all of my math was figured out in my illustration!

I checked and double-checked each measurement, took a deep breath, and started gluing the studs to my door:

The studs are lightweight so I just used wood glue to stick them to my door.

 After I finished the top row, I started on the left and right sides:

I taped a smaller level to the left of my pencil mark so each stud would line up perfectly:

I wanted both the left and right sides to line up exactly so I taped two levels together to act as one larger one that could span both rows.

Don't judge me haha I have a 36" level that I could have used but it hit the door's trim and made it stick out away from the panel's so I had to get creative. I don't own a laser level but it would really come in handy if you decide to tackle this project yourself!

Anyway, after the glue on the left stud had started to get tacky and it was no longer wiggling, I lined the makeshift level up to the bottom of it and leveled the level. I added some glue to the back of another stud and lined it up with the bottom of the level. As soon as it was no longer wiggly, I used another smaller level to make sure it was in line with the previous studs above it. I double checked everything a few times before moving onto the next row:

A few repetitive hours passed until I had the full top panel and top row of the bottom panel done:

I repeated the same glue, level, check process for the rest of the bottom panel's studs:

See? Proof I own a larger level ;)

I finished adding the studs on Friday night. I taped everything off and prepped the door for painting the next morning:

In case you're wondering, I painted it navy (Valspar's "Indigo Streamer"):

The door turned out much better than I expected! I love it so much that I'm thinking about adding the studs to the front of our door too!

I hate to break this post up into two but I want to focus on the DIY details today and will share all of the after photos tomorrow! UPDATE: Click here to see the after photos :)

Are you a Big Bang Theory fan? If so, what do you think of our "new" front door?

SOCIALIZE WITH ME!