I was so excited to start the barn doors for our office. Monte and I had a lot of discussion about how to build our very large barn doors. We made several trips to Home Depot to see what the options were. They sell pretty barn doors at the big box stores but we needed doors much larger then the standard options.
I wanted doors I could wax so the wood needed to be pretty. We finally settled on blue pine tongue n groove. We were able to purchase boards that would be long enough, they needed to be straight but I didn’t mind them having some chips and dings that add character.
I had a vision but the final design was going to be determined along the way. After purchasing the necessary wood and supplies we headed home to start building the doors in our garage. The doors were going to be massive each one was 50″ x 100″. They were going to take up a lot of space through the creating process.
Making and creating the doors
Monte started by cutting the boards the appropriate length. Since we were using tongue n groove putting them together went fairly smoothly. One of Monte’s biggest concerns was nailing, gluing and holding them together. We decided to purchase 2 very large clamps to hold the pieces together while the glue set. Getting them secure before we were able to add the support boards was very important.
The clamps we just long enough. They seriously went together quite quickly. I was very surprised. It is worth taking the time to choose straight pine. Because it is tongue n groove we needed to cut the lip off the outer board so it was smooth on the end. I decided I wanted the doors to be classic. We trimmed all four sides of the door and added two boards across the middle. I wanted a wider trim on the bottom. One thing to note about the blue pine tongue n groove is each side of the door will look a little different. It will be quite smooth on the one side but some ridges on the other side.
Sanding and Waxing
After the construction was complete I gave the door a quick sanding. There were a couple chips that needed a little extra attention. Most of it just required a quick sanding with my mouse sander. I don’t mind some imperfections they add character.
I had the best little helper. She is so much like her daddy. Always wanting to be in on the action.
To get the finished look I wanted we used one of my favorite products Annie Sloan Soft Dark Wax. It is not a hard process but the doors are so large it took some time brushing on the wax and wiping it off. It takes less time when you have several helpers. I usually brush while Monte does the rubbing. The blue shop towels you can purchase at Home Depot are my favorite to use when wiping off the excess wax. They aren’t expensive which is good because you do go through a few of them and most important they don’t lint.
Installing
We had installed the beam and the track so the hope was they would hang really quickly. Monte and I were the only ones around when we carried them in and tried to hang them. They are so large it was a struggle for me to carry them in. Since they are bypass doors we came across a few challenges we didn’t for see. This was our first attempt building and installing barn doors.
After the doors were built we realized they were too deep to work properly with the track. The outside door was good. But the one against the wall was too wide for the brackets to hang on the exterior of the door and on the track. It was decided to saw through the top of the door and drop the bracket in the middle of the door. I wasn’t thrilled because I had been very particular about the hardware I chose. But you need to be flexible when you are a DIYer. I was nervous when Monte was explaining what he was going to do. I didn’t understand how he was going to pull it off and not make it look like a DIY project gone wrong.
Monte and I thought hanging the doors would only take an hour. A few hours later when it was very late we actually hung one of the doors backward and had to take it down and fix the mistake. Crazy what happens when it gets late and you get tired.
The Charming Result
This is how the doors are 90% of the time. Open and looking so pretty. A real feature piece in our home. They look stylish and classy which I love.
When we pull them closed the beam from the living area is less noticeable. You can see where we hid the bracket on the second door. But I think everything looks amazing. I’m beyond happy with how they turned out.
You can see the pretty track and bracket hanging on the beautiful beam we installed. There are so many options I am thrilled with the end result.
The look of the door is a little different from inside the office but still very pretty . On this side there is more texture from the tongue n groove wood. It leaves deeper ridges between the boards.
It took me some time trying to figure out which side I like better. We leaned both doors agains the wall facing different directions while I tried to decide. (I think this is how we managed to hang one door backwards … plus it was getting very late) I would have been happy hanging them either way. They look beautiful from both sides.
The wood for the barn doors cost $300 and the track was $150. A can of Annie Sloan dark soft wax costs $25. I had some left over for additional projects.
This project took a few steps and a bit of time but the results are worth the financial and time investment.
