In our last house we had a barn door (you can see it here). It was a door I built as much for decoration as for use, but I loved it. In fact after we sold our house, I saw that barn door sitting out on the porch, and no joke I considered dumpster diving for my barn door!
When we moved into our new house, we found we had two spaces that are configured in a really funny way. One place is the downstairs hallway. There is the powder room door, laundry room door and garage door all in arms length. The doors were constantly bumping into us or each other and getting in the way. By making one of these doors a sliding barn door, it instantly made the hallway feel bigger! (And gave it some much needed charm in the process).
The other place is our master bathroom, it’s a funny room with too many doors in a small space, so we are building sliding barn doors for that room too (more on this room makeover to come soon).
Another barn door bonus is that the hardware has become much less expensive in the last few years making this DIY project much more feasible. You can get yourself a custom built and installed barn door for around $200!
So here you go, a full video tutorial:
How to Build a Barn Door:
Let’s rewind for just a second, here’s a full post for you on measuring for both the size of the door and the length of the track you’ll need.
This is my favorite barn door hardware. It’s classic, black, and works great. I’ve used this same set on several different projects now and have not been disappointed. Just find the length of track you need and it will all ship straight to your door.
And this is my favorite handle. It matches the track, it’s just the standard classic black handle, easy to install (you may need to shorten the bolts a bit based on this DIY door, but that’s not hard to do).
Here’s my barn door installed as our powder room door. It really did wonders for the space. I couldn’t be happier with how it came out. I used Walnut Wood Stain to stain the pine this perfect wood tone that goes with everything, and one coat of High Performance Topcoat to seal it.
Well, where are you going to put one of these doors? You can make these in several different ways, designs, colors, the world is your oyster on these fantastic DIY sliding barn doors.
Until next time, stay creative!
Jenni
Hi Jenni. I am staining the top of a dresser& I’m pulling my hair out. I put on 3 coats of java gel stain on top. Then I put a coat of Heilmans Spar indoor/outdoor urethane on it & I ended up with small particles in the finish. I sanded it, cleaned it off and restained this time with a foam brush, same thing happened. I sanded it again cleaned off & did the urethane with a foam brush & still have small particles in the finish. I even stained the urethane, I don’t know what I am doing wrong.
Hi Kathy! I used that Heilmans product once before and had a terrible time with it! I would recommend using General Finishes High Performance topcoat for the final finish. It self levels so nicely, you will love the finish it gives!!