One of my all-time favorite builds is a sliding barn door. They make such a statement in any room and are a great way to fill a space. The barn door becomes the decor.
With so many styles to choose from, here’s a look at a few of them I have built for my own home…
My family room. (This is the one I’m giving the tutorial on in this post 🙂 My favorite!!)….
My first sliding barn door build in my youngest boys’ room….
My latest sliding barn door build in my teenage daughter’s room makeover...
Because this is such a fun build, I know I want to do more. Oh the plans I have….so many barn doors in my future. 🙂
My family room barn door came together, after recently completing a board and batten treatment…
and updating the corner cabinet in my family room…
It only made sense to work on the sliding barn door for this room. So off to Home Depot I went…
How to Build a Sliding Barn Door:
Supplies Needed: (affiliate links)
(12) 1×6 (8foot) pinewood boards
(1) 1×4 (8foot) pinewood boards (for the cross boards)
80-grit sandpaper
1-1/4″ Kreg screws
Wood filler (affiliate link)
8 x 1 1/4″ screws (affiliate link)
Primer
Paint (color of your choice)
Sliding door tracking (my favorite tracking–the most affordable option, I’ve found 🙂 )
Sliding door hardware (handle)(Here’s the one I used for this door)
Constructing the Door:
(Affiliate links added)
Step One:
Determine the length and width you want your door to be. Then cut all of your 1×6’s to the length that you have decided upon.
Step Two:
Sand all of your boards. They don’t need to be super smooth. After all, it is a barn door, so some imperfections are expected.
Step Three:
Drill all of your pocket holes into your 1×6 door boards. Each board needs a set of two pocket holes, every 9 inches apart, on one length of the board. As shown below….
I highly recommend a Kreg Jig for this. Don’t let the sight of this scare you…
I’ll do an upcoming post on how to use a kreg jig and link it to this post. You’ll be amazed at how easy it is to make pocket holes with a kreg jig. Maybe you’re wondering, what the heck are pocket holes? That would have been me a few years ago. 🙂 They are holes drilled at an angle, to securely join two pieces of wood together. With the Kreg Jig, it looks like this…
Step Four:
Clamp two boards together (one clamp on each end). Drill 1 1/4″ kreg screws into each of your pocket holes…
Step Five:
Repeat Step Four until all boards are joined together…
Step Six:
Use wood filler to fill in all of your pocket holes. Once dry, sand…
Adding the Trim:
Now that you have the barn door built, you’re ready to add the trim. With so many different designs to choose from, the hardest part is narrowing it down to one design. I chose this design…
Step One:
Cut outside length pieces (1×6 boards) to fit your door and clamp them on…
Attach using 8 x 1 1/4″ screws. This brand of screws is my personal favorite…
Step Two:
Cut width pieces (3 of them) (1×6 boards) to fit inside your length pieces. Clamp and attach to door using the same screws in Step One…
Step Three:
Cut cross boards (1×4 boards) to make your X. Getting these cuts perfect proved to be somewhat challenging. There is probably an easier way. But I eyeballed it by placing my board where I wanted it and drawing my lines…
For the most part, my technique worked out. Any spaces can be filled with wood filler, so it doesn’t have to be perfect.
After attaching all of your trim pieces, your barn door is ready for paint. I put a coat of primer (Zinsser Fast Prime 2) down first…
After applying two coats of paint (Sherwin Williams Peppercorn) and letting it dry, I flipped the door over and attached 4 brackets to the back of the door to reinforce it. This turned out to be a wasted step, I believe. The pocket holes are really what’s holding the 1×6’s together. It’s a very solid door and not the least bit flimsy, even without the brackets. I then threw on a coat of paint to the back of the door…
And voila..another sliding barn door built.
Last step:
Your barn door is now ready to hang. Check out this post for a great tutorial on how to hang your sliding barn door. Much easier to do than you might think. 🙂
To finish it off, I added a 14″ square cast iron handle pull. (In the pictures below, my handle had not yet come). I love this sliding barn door so much!! It looks like it was always meant to be there…
This little photo-bomber is pretty adorable too…
And this big photo-bomber wanted his moment in lights…
A look at it with the door shut…
Most of the time, it will be open.
The big picture…
Here it is with the cast iron handle pull…
A little closer look…
A more recent look….
And just for fun, here’s a long view of our family room as you enter through the front door (Notice we got rid of the red couches 🙂 ) Happy day!!! Loving the neutral couches, much better….
And a more recent look at the sliding barn door closed…
As I said before, these doors are so much fun to build. And the statement they make is bold and beautiful. As always, if you have any questions, please ask. I love to help people realize they can do this stuff and see how much fun it is.
Until next time,
Happy Building!!
ANOTHER UPDATE: I accepted a challenge from Home Depot to try out their Everbilt Sliding Barn Door Hardware. I have to admit, they make it super easy to hang your own sliding barn door! Check out the easy to follow tutorial below:
If not already a friend of the blog, please join my email list below….
One more thing…Some of you have asked about the track I use for my barn doors. I order them off of Amazon and have found them to be the best price for the best quality. Here are a couple different sizes….
TC Bunny 6.6 feet Sliding Door Hardware Set Antique Style (Black)….approximately $55
TC Bunny 8 feet Sliding Door Hardware Set Antique (Black)….approximately $60
