DIY Barn Door Designs
Updated on August 30, 2019
Like so many home decor enthusiasts as of late, have you fallen completely in love with the idea of installing some kind of barn door inspired feature in your home? We have as well, if we’re being honest with you, which is how we found ourselves scouring the Internet for awesome trips and tricks for making barn door features of all kinds using our very own DIY skills!
Just in case you’re feeling as enamoured with the idea of making your very own barn door style detailing at home just as much as we do, if not more, here are 15 of the very best ideas, designs, and tutorials that we’ve come across so far in our search for inspiration and guidance.
1. DIY sliding barn door plans
When you picture your ideal space, does it feature the classic kind of home installed barn doors that are made of wood and that split in the middle and slide off on their tracks to either side? Well, luckily for all of us, that’s precisely what this tutorial from Jenna Sue Design Co. outlines the process of making! They even provide you with useful illustrated blueprints to help along the way.
2. DIY sliding double barn doors in the hallway
Just in case your ideal version of the above project is a little bigger, with much wider doors, and involves naturally stained wood instead of wood that has been painted, here’s another tutorial that’s slightly more catered to what you had in mind! We’d definitely suggest taking a better look at this tutorial from Infarrantly Creative if them scheme you’re going for is a little more rustic and a little less simple farmhouse.
3. Black barn doors for a formal home office space
Are you intent on building yourself a sliding barn door, but you’d also like to make it look a little more sleek and professional, almost like the kind of sliding door you’d find in a trendy loft space in a big city? In that case, we think you simply must take a look at the way Magic Brush made this slightly altered version that is split in the middle so the doors slide together and collapse into a smaller piece all to one side, rather than splitting in the middle and sliding apart!
4. Single laundry room sliding barn door
Maybe the space you’ve got in mind for this particular farm styled makeover is actually a little smaller and only really has space for a single door over its opening, rather than doubles? In that case, we have a feeling you might get along much better indeed with this sliding single door tutorial from Our House Now A Home that still works like a barn door, but without you having to fit two in one place.
5. Small crawlspace barn doors
Maybe you’re looking to build a door or covering for a small space in your basement that you use as crawl space storage or utilities, but you’re having trouble choosing what kind of door is best since the spot is so short or strapped for space? In that case, we think you might get a kick out of the way The Confran Home turned their own little wall cubby into an opportunity for style by making and installing a miniature version of a barn door, which they then wrote about so you can follow suit!
6. Bleached wood barn doors
Are you already settled on what kind of doors you’re going to make, so you’re fine with any standard tutorial for a double sliding set of barn doors, but you’re just having trouble choosing the actual finish of your wood, since that will help determine the aesthetic? In that case, we have a feeling you’ll really appreciate the way Twelve on Main chose a very light wood look by doing a bleached treatment on their doors before installing them (which they do show you how to mimic).
7. Decorative mantel barn door piece
Maybe you’re intent on including barn doors into your decor scheme somehow but you’re just not sure you currently have the space for an entire sliding set, even though you’d love that? Well, don’t fret, because there are plenty of other ways to make barn doors a part of your home! We’re particularly fond of the way My Life on Kaydeross Creek upcycled just a piece of a barn door and used it as mantel decor, working with the space they had.
8. Round barn door for the pantry
believe it or not, just because you want to install a sliding bracket that makes things work like a barn door doesn’t actually mean that you have to used a large, rustic looking wooden piece like what you’d actually have seen on an old fashioned barn. We’re actually quite in love with the way Lynn Fern used a smaller house door with a rounded top, giving the room a little bit of extra character with the unique blend of aesthetics all tied into one piece!
9. Dutch barn door style baby gate at the stairs
When you actually originally pictured a barn door in your space, did you actually have the smaller classic Dutch style in mind, which splits in the middle so you can open the top and bottom separately, rather than the large sliding kind? In that case, we’d be willing to bet that you’ll get along very well indeed with the way Remodelaholic built precisely that kind of door (with a lovely blue stained finish) and installed it at the bottom of their stairs to serve as a very stylish baby gate.
10. Sliding repurposed wood and glass door on a barn style mount
Have we actually really caught your attention with this whole concept of installing different types of regular sized single doors onto barn door style brackets so they slide but also hold a different aesthetic? In that case, we think you’ll really enjoy the way My Repurposed Life made theirs using a glass topped office door for a vintage newsroom kind of feel!
11. Stained, stylishly weathered barn door
Just in case you’re still looking for guidance when it comes to making a single barn door but you’d prefer a tutorial that will also give you some tips and tricks for staining and weathering it, just so you can get all of your information in one concise place, then we think this guide from Magic Brush might just be precisely what you’re looking for!
12. Rolling door from a plumbing pipe
Perhaps you’re already quite handy around the house so you have no concerns about the possibility of working on the door aspect of your project, but you can’t help feeling like there must be a more low maintenance solution for making your sliding bracket out there than the very heavy duty ones you’re seeing on the double barn door style guidelines? After all, if you’re working with a smaller, lighter door, you arguably don’t need to see the same kind of bracket. See what we mean in more detail by checking out this simple industrial pipe rolling door support outlined carefully on Jenna Burger.
13. DIY wooden chevron barn door
If you’re going tin to invest all of the money, time, and energy it takes to create a lovely barn door that you built and installed yourself, would you rather make it entirely from scratch, including the door? Well, if you’re the kind of person who adores concentrating on fine details, then we have a feeling you’re going to love the way Remodelaholic made themselves a chevron patterned door using differently stained pieces of wood fit together to make the pattern. That’s all before making the bracket and mounting it, so this project is certainly an undertaking, but it’s worth it!
14. Corrugated metal and wood barn door for the closet
Rather than working solely with wood for a completely rustic or old fashioned feeling sense, would you rather incorporate a little extra metal into the mix to really make sure a sense of the industrial comes through in the pieces as well? That’s precisely what Maple Leaves & Sycamore Trees did here when they made their own custom door before mounting it too, framing the edges of two pieces of corrugated metal in wood.
15. Reclaimed French doors on a barn door track
Just in case you’ve actually been scrolling through our list hoping to come across something a little lighter and more delicate looking, rather than just these heavy reclaimed wood and metal ideas, here’s a lovely tutorial that will teach you how to upcycle a set of double French doors! Get the full details for sprucing them up and mounting them properly for easy sliding thanks to The Space Between.
Do you know another avid home crafter or DIY enthusiast who has been feeling intent on putting some type of barn door feature into their home but who could use a little bit of guidance along the way? Share this post with them so they have all kinds of ideas and info to work with!