How to turn a builder basic glass shower door into an industrial style factory window shower door under $60.
I am so, so excited to finally be sharing my tutorial for my DIY Industrial Factory Window Shower Doors from our bathroom makeover. This one will blow your mind, y’all! My inbox has been flooded with some of you asking for me to spill the beans, so I’ve kept my secret until today.
- Approximately 3 cans of Rustoleum Universal Hammered Black spray paint
- Painter’s tape (I really like this brand.)
- Plastic drop cloth
- Respirator mask
- Putty knife
- 5 lengths of 1/4″ x 3/4″ x 96″ Polystyrene Lattice Moulding
- Tape measure
- Level
- Black permanent marker
- Loctite GO2 Glue
- Loctite 2 in 1 Clear Latex Window and Door Caulk
- Caulk gun
- Caulk finishing tool
*I already had the tools and tape on hand since they’re usual staples in our workshop.






Even though I had to fix my mistakes, it turned out great!


Step 6. Spray paint the 3 cut moulding pieces with the hammered black. I did these in my garage.



I used the black marker so it wouldn’t show later on the inside of the glass against the black moulding pieces.
If you make mistakes, just wipe away any permanent marker with nail polish remover.

This adhesive dries completely clear, is extremely strong, and is temperature and moisture resistant to make it durable against the humidity in a bathroom.



Step 11. I used the same process with the Loctite GO2 Glue for the horizontal pieces to place over my door markings. I used a small level again to double check them and adjust as needed before setting them in place.
(That level, by the way, is older than I am since it was handed down from my husband’s grandfather. It’s seen a lot of action, so it’s looking a bit shabby.)

Step 12. To seal any cracks behind the moulding pieces and prevent mold or mildew from settling between the polystyrene and the glass, I used clear latex caulk.






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That is seriously gorgeous!
Thank you! We really love it.
Gorgeous, all of it! Your shower is definitely better than builder grade with six shelves, but now it is industrial chic! Love your home. You can tell you have put your heart and soul into it! I really like your moulding in your entry! I would love to try that!
Thank you so much! Yes, those six shelves are really great. We’re thankful to have “builder grade” that’s still a bit on the higher end of the basic.
This is such an awesome diy! Thank you so much for the inspiration and keep up the amazing posts!!
Thank you, Erica! This one is still one of my faves. 🙂
I am obsessed with this! Out of curiosity–how is it holding up now? I might have to try this at my house too! If so I will definitely share pictures 🙂
It’s held up pretty well! There are a few places on the very bottom of the frame on the inside that my three year old has rubbed her toys up against a lot and scratched it up, so I think to make it stand up to abrasion like that, I’d sand the chrome first and spray a coat of automobile primer followed by the spray paint and a high gloss laquer spray. I used that method on our shower fixtures and it can really withstand a beating. Here the tutorial for that if you need it: https://www.blesserhouse.com/2015/10/how-to-spray-paint-shower-fixtures.html
Love what you have done. We are in the process of looking for land now. We live in Asheville, NC, so not too far from you, lol. I think I will have to steal some of your Ideas, especially the shower door.
Oooh I LOVE Asheville! We went to Biltmore for our honeymoon. Thanks so much for the love, Christine! Hope they come in handy!
Can you post a picture of what it looks like from the inside of the shower? I’m wondering if this technique could be used for some windows without looking weird on the outside. Can the grids be removed if you change your mind?
Hi Kathy! Actually, another blogger friend of mine used this same method on her windows! It’s where I got this idea actually. And hers are removable. Here’s her tutorial: http://www.remodelaholic.com/diy-custom-window-mullions-grids/
Lauren,
Is it still holding up well? I’m currently building a house (within a planned community, so will be similar to yours) and I’m considering doing this to the included chrome shower door instead of paying $600 for them to upgrade to stainless/oil rubbed bronze. My final design selections are due in a few days and this is the only thing holding me up! It’s beautiful!
Do you think your process could possibly work with the older traditional sliding shower doors?
I don’t think it could work on sliding doors unless there is a considerable gap between the two. I’d be afraid of the paint scuffing up from the repetitive sliding and the grids coming off from rubbing against the other door.
Can you see the glue from the inside? I am wondering if that would look funny. I love this btw!
Thanks, Jamie! You really can’t see the liquid glue at all since it’s clear. It blends right in with the black grids on the other side.
I’m new to your blog and I have to say that I love your ideas! Keep ’em coming girl.
Thank you, Lorree!
You are a genius! This is so awesome!
This looks amazing!! Trying to figure out how many nap times this would take me to do? Did you paint the frame from the inside of the shower too or just the outside? Thanks.
Haha! I think it took me about 4 nap times. Totally do-able, right? 😉 I painted the inside of the shower too.
Very nice job; I also spray painted our ugly gold frame and fixtures in the master bath with Rust-oleum Oil Rubbed Bronze, except I totally disassembled the frame and carried it to the garage to spray, easy peasy. It allowed me to clean out the grungy nooks and crannies before reassembling and new caulking. If I had to touch up, I just sprayed some paint into a cup and with a tiny brush touched up. It helped sell our house quickly.
See… you were the smart one. I tried a shortcut and it ended up being more work than if I’d just done it your way. Lesson learned. Haha! But I still love ours too. 🙂 Glad it helped you sell your house!
Quick question…how does it look from inside the shower? Can you see where it’s been glued? Thanks in advance! Absolutely LOVE the idea!
Hi Haley! The glue is very clear, so you really can’t tell unless you’re really trying to look for it.
Hello Lauren,
Your shower doors look awesome! I been looking at tutorials on this for a couple days and your tutorial is the only one I seen that includes applying some type of top coat. Can you post which high gloss laquer spray you used please?
Maia
Love this idea but am having trouble finding the molding could you please give me some suggestions.Esther
Hi Esther! Here’s the molding at Home Depot: https://rstyle.me/n/cycfwgb5ky7
I love this and have been looking for a tutorial for our shower. Did you add trim to the inside of the shower as well? If not what does it look like from inside the shower? Can you see the glue?
Nope! Only trim on the outside to keep the inside easier to clean. The glue on the inside is totally clear, so you shouldn’t be able to see it.
Holy crap. This looks incredible!! I’ve been trying to convince my stubborn husband that, since he won’t let me gut-out and remodel our bathroom, to AT LEAST allow me to paint our horrible chrome trim! He thinks it’s a trick, though. He thinks it’ll look so bad that he’ll cave and let me replace the shower doors (which may or may not have been true until I saw this post). When you went into the project, did you have a plan B if this looked awful? Were you willing to live with a not-so-great outcome? I would like to bash my husband over the head with these pictures to show him how gorgeous it could be, but I know he’ll ask about durability. I saw you mention in a reply above that you’d recommend sandpaper + automotive primer were you to do it again, but how durable would that be?
Thanks for being such a gracious guinea pig for all these gorgeous upgrades!!
Haha! Yes, the plan B was to get a new shower door if it went to crap. But thankfully, it didn’t. We painted our tub/shower faucet in another bathroom using the sanding/primer/sealer method and I did not have any issues with it peeling or scratching at all in the two years we lived there. We did experience scuffs on the metal parts of the shower door where I didn’t sand/prime/seal, so that’s why I recommend those extra steps. Just don’t scrub with anything too abrasive on the painted metal. Clean them with a sponge or rag instead.
I luv, luv, luv the industrial look of this shower! I pinned a pic of one to our new house folder about 2 years ago. We just recently moved into our forever home and my plan the whole time was to have a shower like this until I found out what it would cost! $4200 over what my shower door allowance was. We have 3 showers in our house so I had to settle for just a black framed shower stall in our master bath. I was soooo disappointed until I saw your DIY pin! Thank you, thank you, thank you! I have not tried it yet, we have only been in our house for about 2 weeks and it has rained non-stop since. We have no furniture except what we had in our 825 sq. ft. apartment but thinking I’m gonna try this this weekend while my hubby is gone to the ranch.
I’m not easily impressed. I’m impressed. This is creative and really adds charm to your bathroom!
I’m going to remake my ugly gold 1980’s mirrored closet doors. Think this idea would work on them? As long as there is enough room between the doors?
Absolutely! It can totally be done. 🙂
Lauren, did you attach the trim to the rubber gasket around the perimeter of tge door and side glass, or did you cut it to butt up to it? I’m totally doing this to our sorry okd shower enclosurw!
I am currently in prep stages of attempting this project and had a question! Did you paint the clear sealant around the glass too? Our shower has clear tubing (not silicone but don’t know what it’s called) and trying to decide if I should paint that as well? And did you remove rubber or magnets from door?
Hi Elena! No, I didn’t paint the clear caulk. It likely won’t stick well since those don’t really take paint. It would peel over time. And I left the magnets on the door.