DIY Modern Barn Door

I’m super excited to share this blog post because Josh and I are so proud of how this DIY barn door turned out. It was our first home project in quarantine and we absolutely love how it looks in our bedroom.

We had discussed doing a barn door in the space for so long. With the extra time on our hands, it was the perfect time to get to work. And while I think the country-style barn doors are beautiful, this modern pattern fit our aesthetic best.

I love the look of the matte black but you could totally make it your own and add a pop of color to a room with this door. I even toyed with the idea of doing a dark turquoise or something like that but thought black would be safest. Especially with my ever-changing home decor ideas.

We ran into some minor hiccups along the way with this project but I will only share what we would recommend if you decide to try it out for yourself. I would say we spent about $250 on this door which includes the sliding track/hardware for hanging it. We were inspired to do this project after seeing a post from Angela Rose Home but made some changes of our own which I will call out below.

P.S. shout out to JT – if it weren’t for all of his tools and knowing how to practically build a house from the ground up, I would have been lost up until the painting part. But all in all, this wasn’t too bad if you have someone that kind of knows what they’re doing + some tools sitting around!

BEFORE YOU START:

Measure the door opening (WxH)

Add on 1-2 inches of overlap (preference) to each of those numbers and this will be your barn door size. Note it.

SUPPLIES NEEDED:

One 3/4″ MDF plywood 4’x8′ sheet

Ten 1″x4″x8′ primed MDF trim

Three 1″x2″x8′ pine boards

Wood Glue

Finishing Nails

Hammer OR Air Compressor

Spackle

Putty Knife

Primer Spray Paint – we used Zinsser Bulls Eye 1-2-3 Primer in Bright White

Paint – we used Rustoleum High Performance Enamel in Flat Black

4 Inch Paint Roller

Table Saw

Clamps

Measuring Tape

Sand paper

Pencil

Floor Guide

Barn Door Soft Close Hardware Kit

DIRECTIONS:

We followed Angela Rose Home’s building tutorial here but ended up painting ours instead of spraying it like she did. We did attempt to spray ours but it ended up spotty with a strange sheen. So we ultimately ended up just roller painting it to get it even. We think that this happened because we did not have a professional paint sprayer and used the spray cans instead.

ANYWAY, HERE’S WHAT WE DID DIFFERENTLY AFTER WE FOLLOWED HER BUILDING TUTORIAL:

Spackle the nail holes using the putty knife and sand once it’s dry so everything is smooth

Prime the door with a priming spray paint

Once that’s dry, you can paint with your chosen color using a roller brush

We did 2-3 coats, allowing for dry time in between

Install the barn door hardware to hang according to the directions that come with it

Install the floor guide according to the directions that come with it

OPTIONAL:

Add a handle