Wallpapered Barn Door

4 Materials
$120
2 Days
Easy

I've made a few barn doors for our home, and this one was by far the easiest - despite being the largest. We had a five-foot opening in our basement we wanted to close off, but I didn't want to build a standard size door frame, because I still wanted to be able to get large objects and lumber through the opening. A barn door seemed like the perfect solution, and after brainstorming a few options, we decided a door matching the wall would look cool in this spot. It would also still provide the functionality we were looking for. Here is how we got it done.

3/4 inch plywood is the key "ingredient" for this door. In most cases, one 4x8 sheet should be enough. But, because we had that large five-foot opening, we needed a one-foot strip to attach to the four-foot board. I had them cut the plywood sheet to the proper height at Home Depot. I always feel a bit guilty bugging them, but the folks there are always so nice and helpful!

Next, I put pocket holes in the one-foot strip so I could attach it to the larger piece and make one big five-foot door. Don't forget to use wood glue while attaching the boards together as well.

I added wood filler in the holes and caulked the crack on both sides of the door.

I added some supports to the backside of the door. The one-foot strip wasn't particularly sturdy with only pocket hole screws holding it on. These strips, ripped down from a 2x4, did the trick. Again, if your door is four-feet wide or less, you can skip the pockets holes, supports, etc. Just skip down to the painting step. (it's even easier with. smaller door!)

This is the backside of the finished door, but it's a good look at the supports. I added a few horizontal pieces and then a piece on each of the four sides.

Once the door was good and sturdy, I painted two blue strips where the wallpaper seams would be. Whether you need to do this or not totally depends on the type of wallpaper you are using. Some of the peel and stick patterns recommend overlapping the edges. Someone who'd already used the wallpaper we bought recommended doing this - painting the wall (in this case the door) the same color as the wallpaper and then applying it edge to edge without an overlap. We found this easier than stressing over matching up the pattern.

Applying the wallpaper was a two-person job. One person keeping things straight while pushing out the air bubbles and the other holding the roll. We read quite a few tutorials and watched a few videos before attempting this step. We didn't want to waste the wallpaper!!

Next, I put moulding around all four edges of the door. You can use whatever kind of moulding you like, but I picked something simple with no pattern or grooves. I mitered the edges and popped a few nails in each piece of trim to hold them on. If you don't have a nail gun, don't let it stop you. I pounded finishing nails into quite a few pieces of moulding before finally taking the plunge and buying a nail gun a year ago.

At this point, the majority of your door is done! Just follow the instructions on a standard barn door hardware kit to get it ready to hang. One thing we did differently on this door was attach the rollers facing the backside of the door instead of the front. We did this because the door will slide open and shut on the backside of the door opening.

The final step was to attach a handle to the door.

Here is the finished product! It almost looks like an extension of the wall, which was our goal. And, I'll say it again, this whole process gets even easier if you are making a door for an opening four-feet wide or smaller.

Check out the door in action! You can see the nice, large opening when the door is pulled all the way open. It will be great for getting long pieces of lumber in and out or if (let's hope not anytime soon!) we need to get something like a washer or dryer through.


Follow me on Instagram at   @woodyworking for more woodworking DIY or home improvement projects. Happy building!

Resources for this project:
See all materials
Any price and availability information displayed on [relevant Amazon Site(s), as applicable] at the time of purchase will apply to the purchase of this product.
Hometalk may collect a small share of sales from the links on this page.More info
Frequently asked questions
Have a question about this project?
  2 questions
Comments
Join the conversation
2 of 37 comments
  • Cindy H. Cindy H. on Oct 12, 2022

    Great job! I love it!...and with easy to follow directions...👍️

  • Terri Terri on Oct 12, 2022

    I almost didn't watch this video but I am sure glad I did. That is one of the best ideas I have ever seen, and you really have to look for the door handle. Excellent work. Great Job! 👏


Next