Hey guys, Jamin here today, with a fun little diy double barn doors from our playroom makeover!
As we began dreaming up this space, I came up with an off-the-wall idea. It went something like this……….
Me: “Hey Ashley, you know what would be really fun?”
Ashley: “No Jamin, I am not going SCUBA diving with you so you can swim with sharks.”
Me: “Oh that would be fun, yeah let’s do that.”
Ashley: “Was that seriously what you were thinking?”
Me: (Coming back to reality) “Oh no…..I was thinking we should knock out the wall in the closet between the boys’ room and the playroom.”
Ashley – “Really? That’s a great idea! You’re the best husband ever and such a genius. I am so lucky to be married to you. Let’s go diving with sharks.”
diy double barn doors
So maybe that’s not exactly how it went, but let’s not get caught up in those minute details.
We did decide to knock out the wall (that post coming later) and when that wall was gone, we wanted some barn doors, which are actually super simple. We found a great company, NW Artisan Hardware, that had ton of options to choose from. (Be prepared to drool on your keyboards). And with their help, we created what had once only been in our minds.
And it’s super simple to boot!
So let’s dive in with the supply list. (See what I did there?)
(This will be for replacing one door. If you want to replace two doors, like we have going from one room to another, double everything .)
Supplies
(6) 1 x 3 x8 • (2) 1 x 3 x 6 • (1) 4 x 8 sheet of 1/2 inch MDF
box of 1 inch finish nails and nail gun • wood glue
Cutting
Simply begin by cutting your MDF down to 18 3/4 inch by 86 inches. You can either do this with a skil saw or with a table saw. (Also most local wood suppliers can cut it for you.)
Cut all (6) of your 1 x 3 x 8 down to 86 inches. You can do this with a miter box or a miter saw, I prefer a miter saw. Then trim two of those down to 1 1/4 inches in width using a table saw or a skil saw.
Now cut each of your 1 x 3 x 6 pieces down to (2) 18 3/8 and (1) 13 1/2 inch pieces
On (4) of the 86 inch pieces and (4) of the 18 3/8 inch pieces you will need to make right angle cuts. The cuts should be going opposite ways on both ends. In other words the long side should be on the same edge at both ends or one side should be longer than the other.
** We chose to paint all of our pieces separately, and then assemble. Here you see our barn doors painted in Benjamin Moore’s Eagle Rock in a high gloss.
Assembly
Lay out your MDF.
diy double barn doors – assembly
Take (2) of your 86 inch pieces and (2) of you 18 3/8 inch pieces and use them to form a rectangle on the outer edge of the MDF.
Once you have placed them and they are flush, begin removing them one at a time and placing wood glue under each piece, laying them back down. After you have placed the first one, shoot several nails through it to secure it in place. Repeat this with the other 3 pieces.
Now take the 13 1/2 inch piece and find the center of the door (for our door it is 41 3/4 inches from the top and the bottom that would place it in the center). Apply some wood glue on the 13 1/2 inch piece and lay it in place, shooting nails through it as well.
diy double barn doors – trim
Turn the door on its side, take one of the 1 x 3’s that you trimmed down to a width of 1 1/4 inches and glue/nail it to the side of the door. This gives the side of the door a finished trim look. Repeat this on the opposite side of the door as well.
diy double barn doors – hardware
Now attach the hanging hardware and wheels for the door. How you do this will depend on the door itself. We used the vintage track system. The top bolt to hold our braces and wheels was placed at 3 1/4 inches from the top of the door. We placed our track at 89 inches from the floor. You will need to follow your hardware instructions here, because they may all be different, but we really loved what our friends at NW Artisan Hardware had to say about this.
PS. Little helpers make everything better.
diy double barn doors – mounting
Once the brackets and track are mounted on one of the doors you will add the remaining 86 inch 1 x 3 on the inside of one of the doors so that when it closes, it overlaps the other door. Simply do this by spreading some wood glue down half of the piece, line it up where half of the 1 x 3 is on the door face and the other half is hanging off. Then shoot some nails through it.
Finally, attach your handles at a height and placement that is comfortable for you.
(Repeat the above process, minus the final 86 inch piece added to complete the second door of the set. Also make sure that your handles are on the opposite sides of the door so that they will be close together once closed.)
You are now ready to hang the door and enjoy this cool makeover. Our kids love it, and play in this space and closet more than we thought they would. It feels great to have a place dedicated to just their toys and books and they can actually see what they have!
For more info on the playroom, check out our reveal here, and our sources post here.
Thanks guys, and have a great day!
Yvette Page says
What brand & color is your teal paint love it!!!
ashley @ the handmade home says
Hey Yvette! You can read all about our sources for this space here, but the blue on the walls is pacific palisades. I hope that helps! ;}
Jenna says
I love this!!! 😉
Layla K says
I am loving this. We have a closet like this and I want to try it!
Kathryn says
Love, Love. Double shut the front door love!
You guys are awesome!
Monica says
Loved the double barn doors.Thanks a lot for such a great giveaway for the installation.Keep it up!!!
Sarah says
I love this! We are planning to do this soon. Just a quick question. On the supply list it says
(1) 2 x 4 sheet of 1/2 inch MDF which you cut down to 18 3/4 inch by 86 inches. I have read this over and over again and can not figure out where the 86 inches comes from. Did you use an 8ft sheet maybe? Help! 🙂 Thanks!
jamin says
Sarah, you see, I am magical like that. I am able to stretch a 4 foot piece into an 86 inch piece as I cut it, just with a twinkle of my nose. You can’t imagine how much money this helps save. Ha! OK seriously we are going to pretend that little typo never happened, but yes it should say a 2 x 8 sheet of 1/2 MDF. Thanks for heads up and good luck on the doors, we’d love to see them when they are finished!
Sarah says
I knew magic had to be involved! 😉
Thanks for the clarification!
Kimberly says
Ahhhh! We just ordered the vintage track kit from NWArtisan! Love it! We are using old reclaimed barn wood for our door! Love it so much, it looks so great! 🙂
Jenise @ DIYFunIdeas.com says
Gorgeous barn doors. Totally pinned! 🙂