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Friday, March 30, 2012

DIY Barn Door {details}

At the back of our house is this shed.



I know.

Can you say EYESORE!?

But one has to look past the ugliness of it and see the potential.

Potential to turn this:
Outside - weather off white
Inside - rough-sawn

Into this:

If you've been reading my blog for awhile, you will remember that I shared my 
master bedroom design ideas. I shared 3 different 'barn' doors that I liked but was
undecided which to choose. So, I made one side 'raw'. (I actually was going for a little darker
but it didn't darken like I thought it would.) The other side (inside the bathroom) is
white-washed. I LOVE how it turned out! And the best part is, it cost less than $10.

That's right - track and everything - less than $10.
More on that later....

I will attempt to describe how I built it for anyone interested. I was too focused on getting
the job done to take any 'progress' pictures. 
I wanted the door to measure approximately 34" wide so I headed out to that
eyesore out back and scoped out several boards that I thought would work. Then DH
went in demo-mode and started taking off boards. He pulled off more than I thought I 
needed so I would have some room to 'play'.

The boards were f.i.l.t.h.y. so the first thing I did was give them a good scrubbing.
The shed is original to the homestead; estimated to be built
around the turn of the century. The pictures I show above of the boards are 
after I scrubbed them.
The inside had some sort of paper glued to it. The hose and a scrub brush took care of it
and things were starting to look more promising.

I then cut the boards to 80" length. Three of the widest boards measured 34.5" together. 
Perfect.
I laid them on my sawhorses.
 (sorry, no pics of the building process - I was for getting it done.)
Then I took a narrower board and cut 2 34.5" pieces from it. I laid them across the 
wide boards one foot down from the ends. I was careful to keep all the rough-sawn sides up.
After I was sure everything was square, I just screwed them fast.

For the other side I needed extra thickness at the top for the brackets to attach to so I put 
the cross boards at the very top and bottom. Then to give a 'barn door' look, I added a center
brace to make a 'Z'. (Never mind that my 'Z' is backwards!)

The 'inside' was already weathered off white but it wasn't even. Where the lap boards covered
 it, it was wood colored. 
Also, the white had weathered differently on each of the boards. So, I took
some white paint that I had on hand and watered it down. (About half water and half paint.)
Then I took a sponge brush and just 'white-washed' it on. It still allowed the imperfections
 to show but freshened it up and made it look more uniform.
This is what it looks like close up.


For the rough sawn side, I lightly sanded it and applied Antique Oil Finish. I thought this
would darken it down more than it did but I still like the way it looks. 
Finally, I applied clear wax over the whole thing to seal it.

This post is getting rather long but I want to tell you about the track and rollers yet.
Back when we were painting the room I was searching Craigslist and Ebay for
barn door rollers and track. Every one that I found was WAY out of my price range.
One day DH was talking to his uncle and in the course of conversation
it came up about me wanting barn door track and rollers.
Well, it just happens that Uncle was commissioned to build a new door for a barn.
The old door, rollers, and track were just being junked. So Uncle told DH to 
check it out and see if anything was salvageable. It was all rusty and most of the rollers were
worn out but DH found one roller in fairly good condition and another that is still OK for 
light usage. If you look at the pictures, you can see which one is more worn out. 
It tilts a little.
But for FREE, who's complaining?! NOT ME!

DH sanded them down and primed and painted them for me. He also helped hang the track
on the wall after I nearly knocked myself senseless (wait, maybe I am already) by falling
backward off a stool while attempting to hang it myself.



Cost of project:
Wood - Free
Rollers and track - Free
Paint for rollers and track - <$5
Fasteners - $5

Less than $10 for my 'barn door' bathroom door - I'm loving it!
(Thanks Uncle!!)



See bedroom reveal here.

Linking to:


44 comments:

  1. That turned out fantastic. You are really handy with a hammer and saw.

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  2. Forgot to mention I kinda like the looks of your eyesore. I can see a "boys only" club in the future, maybe.

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  3. Beautiful Rachel! And how awesome to be able to get free rollers. :) Can't wait to see the completed project.

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  4. Oh, I'm crazy jealous of your shed AND hardware! If that were in my back yard, I'd fix 'er up and have a crafting/guest/oasis room! And that hardware for free? I've been searching for a good deal and have yet to find one. I DH comes across any more, let me know :)I'd love you to link this up to my link party on Monday: http://BurlapAndDenim.com

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    Replies
    1. Thanks for the invitation to your party, Amanda! I'll be there. :)

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  5. This is SUCH a cool project! I love barn doors in the home...how great that you actually made one!! And the price can't be beat. Love this! :)

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  6. LOVE this!! Very cool...thanks for sharing :) Laurel

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  7. I love that door! Great job! :)

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  8. WOW-this looks amazing-following you from Beneath My Heart-stop by for a visit!

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  9. That is unbelievable. I LOVE IT!!!!!! I have a walk in closet door and the door opens up into a narrow hall. Drives me crazy cuz my hubbies bifolds are directly across. BANG BANG constantly. In my dreams I would do this. But, I may possibly look to see if we could do tracking on the exterior of both closets to have sliders. WOOT WOOT! Stop by my place @ redheadcandecorate-Thank you so much for the inspiration!

    ~Julie

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    Replies
    1. I love it too. Before, the door swung into the corner effectively blocking or banging whatever sat in the corner. I have a closet door dilemma in my master too. Oh the joys of an old house. :)

      Stopped by your blog (love it) and I'm your newest Linky follower. Have fun decorating! :)

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  10. Now following you, found you at funky junk linky party. Love your blog and that barn door!!! Come visit me sometime. :) Linsey

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  11. I wondered over from Traci's party! Your door is STUNNING!! You did such a great job!!! I love the idea you have & how you were soooo resourceful! What a blessing!

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  12. Wow, wonderful.....thanks for sharing! Wondering what the wall color is? So pretty!

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    1. Thanks, Stephanie! The wall color is Gravity (by Valspar).

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  13. Your door turned out awesome! I told my hubs that I want a barn door for our bedroom and like you I have the old sheds all around the farm to rob "junk" from to make it. Great blog, I am following you!! Please hop over and check out my blog.

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    1. Thanks!

      I did check out your blog...and I love it. :) Following you, too. ;)

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  14. Oh you lucky duck! Your barn door is fabulous. I really like the whitewash and the Z bracing (backwards and all).

    Have a lovely week!
    Deborah

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  15. Wow, that looks so awesome! And the price? Unbelievable. I would take all that wood and keep making stuff, wood like that is hard to come by. Wish I lived closer, I would come over and take some off your hands :)

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  16. Love that barn door!!! I'm gonna feature it on my blog tomorrow. Thanks for linking up to my party. :)
    Traci

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  17. I love the look. You did an awesome job.

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  18. This is absolutely fabulous! What a great score with the track! Can't wait to see what else you come up with in that old house of yours!
    New Linky follower
    Kelly

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  19. Wow amazing! I'm a sucker for old barn doors- and I love this one even more because it's from an old barn. LOVE! If you have some time I'd love it if you'd stop by my blog to check out the giveaway I'm having for a Ramsign Home Sign!

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  20. Wow! I wish we could have built a barn door for that price! Super jealous! It came out great :)

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  21. Loving that hardware story. Does your uncle want to adopt another niece to bestow hardware on? If so, I'm volunteering! I love your project!

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  22. So gorgeous. It's just perfection!

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  23. a fantastic post! we're looking into barn doors for a few spots in our new house so thanks for the helpful info! your door looks amazing... i had to pin it!

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  24. I am in love with sliding barn doors. Yours included!

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  25. Rachel, your barn doors turned out fabulous!!! I'm kicking myself because we moved from one old farmhouse to another last fall and I meant to remove the door rollers from our old shed before we sold it and I forgot to have my husband do it. By the way, I don't think your old shed is awful - it's got timeless appeal!

    I hope you'll drop in and visit me at Knick of Time. I host a vintage-style party every Tuesday!

    Blessings,
    Angie @ Knick of Time

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  26. Just found you on Tatertots and Jello and LOVE the project! I have set a goal to create a sliding barn type door for the bathroom entry in my master and I w ill definitely be referring back tot his post! Great job
    xxx
    Kim
    http://t00-much-time.com

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  27. Can you spell lucky? That fabulous creation can easily be sold to anyone! And what’s more incredible is that turn-of-the-century wood that just screams “I’m an original barn door, you can’t just copy me”. I raise my hat to the both of you!

    Regards,
    Willene Fagen

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  28. You have a good eye for design, I can give you that, Rachel! :D I really love it! The new door can probably last for a hundred years if you weatherproof it. And if that happens, I’m sure it would be a happy door, since he had a more pleasant stay than if he was to remain a rotting part of a shed. Really nice!

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  29. DIY Barn Door {details}. At the back of our house is this shed. I know. Can you say EYESORE!? But one has to look past the ugliness of it and ... bbarndoor.blogspot.com

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  30. I shared 3 different 'barn' doors that I liked but was. undecided ... bbarndoors.blogspot.com

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  32. Thank you! What thickness was the barnboard that you used?

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  33. Hi Heather! The wood I used is about 1/2 thick. Which is great because it makes the door lighter weight. Thanks for visiting! :)

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