Coming at you, with another modern sliding barn door! I love to build sliding barn doors and this one I’m sharing today was by far the easiest, most fun one I’ve ever built! I’m not kidding! It looks hard, but is SO simple!
I have had my eye on this spot….
to add modern sliding barn doors and last month I finally decided what design I wanted to go with. If you’ve been here a while, you know that I’m slowly changing out all of my trim to craftsman trim. So that was, of course, step one….
I also decided to spruce up this space a bit more and added shiplap (Check out this tutorial on how easy it is to shiplap a wall)…
And then I painted the entire kitchen Sherwin Williams Repose Gray (my most favorite gray paint color)….and built a couple sliding barn doors. Knocked out both of these barn doors in one day. So easy! Let’s get to it!
How to Build a Modern Sliding Barn Door
Materials Needed: (For 45×89 door dimensions)
1x5x8 (8)
1x6x10 (1)
1x4x8 (2)
1x2x8 (3)
1 1/4″ pocket hole screws (Amazon Affiliate Link)
1 1/4″ nail gun nails
Wood filler (Amazon Affiliate Link)
Paint
Tools Needed:
Miter saw
Kreg Jig (easiest tool for pocket holes) (Amazon Affiliate Link)
Drill (Amazon Affiliate Link)
Nail Gun (Amazon Affiliate Link)
Step One: Cut the frame
Cut three 1×6’s at 38″ each.
Cut two 1×4’s at 89″ each.
Step Two: Build the frame
Using your Kreg Jig, drill four 3/4″ pocket holes into each end of your three 1×6’s.
Attach top and bottom 1×6 to 1×4’s using 1 1/4″ pocket hole screws. (As shown below)…
Attach middle 1×6 (measuring to find the middle of your 1×4) using 1 1/4″ pocket hole screws…
Step Three: Add back trim
Cut two 1×2’s at 89″ each. Attach, using nail gun, to each 89″ 1×4 trim piece. (As shown below)…
Cut two 1×2’s at 38″ each. Attach, using nail gun, to the top and bottom 1×6 trim piece…
The back of your door frame should now look like this…
Step Four: Add diagonal trim
So easy! Simply fit each 1×5 diagonally across the top section; starting with the middle board (As shown below)…
Continue adding boards, attaching with your nail gun on both ends…
Until bottom section is complete…
Now you’re ready to start on the top section. Be sure to switch the direction of your diagonal boards…
Turn it over and that’s it!!
You’re ready for paint or stain and hardware (get the same look-here’s the door handle I installed). (Amazon Affiliate Link) I chose Sherwin Williams Naval for my paint color…
Hang your doors using my favorite (lowest price on earth) modern sliding barn door hardware. (Amazon Affiliate Link) I have used this track for almost all of my sliding barn doors (we now have 5 in our home 🙂 ) and I love it! Rolls so smoothly and easy to install.
Just a quick note….Usually sliding barn doors are not so glamorous on the other side and they’re kept open most of the time. So you don’t have to worry about what the back side looks like. If you are wanting a more appealing back side to your barn door, you could add a thin sheet of plywood and add some trim pieces to it…this would cover up all of your not so pretty cuts. Here’s a view of what the backside of your barn door will look like without adding any plywood or trim (As you can see, mine still has the stickers on some of the boards–we rarely shut this door 🙂 )….
I did however, paint the sides of the door, so that when it’s open you don’t see the bare wood peaking through….
If you follow me on Instagram, you might remember that I was very nervous about these doors right after they were hung. I wasn’t sure if I liked that they were different sizes. I had to make one door bigger than the other because of the size of the entryways-they were not the same. To me, it seemed very noticeable. UNTIL, I added some large pieces to the space and now I love it!!
And, with the changes I made over in this space, (post coming soon-can you believe I painted that chair??!!) these modern sliding barn doors are perfect!! Here’s a more updated view. Notice the difference? Yep, I painted our hardwood floors and love how they turned out!
Ok, so here’s your action step…Pin this on Pinterest and carve out a Saturday to build your own modern sliding barn door. You will LOVE it!!
Quick note! I had a reader email me this morning, saying she was getting ready to build the other sliding barn door I’ve posted but then saw this post and was wondering, what makes this door so much easier to make than other doors? GREAT QUESTION! Two things: First, you have very few pocket holes to drill, making this door a quick one to throw together. And second, the diagonal boards do not have to be precise in their measurements. They just have to fit between your border (1×2’s) on the back and be long enough to nail in on each end….again, making this door a super fast and easy build!
I love engaging with my readers! As always, please don’t hesitate to ask questions or comment on any of my posts. I love helping wherever I can.
Until next time,
Happy Building, Friend!!
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Other sliding barn door posts:
How to Make Your Own Sliding Barn Door
Easy How-To and Hardware for Hanging a Sliding Barn Door
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