How To Make an Affordable Barn Door for the Bathroom

6 Materials
$125
1 Day
Easy

Welcome to week 6 of the Spring 2021 One Room Challenge! This week not only will we share a sneak peek of the bathroom progress, but you’ll also learn how to make an affordable barn door for the bathroom.

If you’re new here, WELCOME! You can learn more about us here. As a reminder you can easily navigate through each week of this coastal inspired bathroom project.

-1st week: The Design Plan

-2nd week: How To Install Shiplap the Easy Way

-3rd week: How To Tile a Shower

-4th week: How To Grout Tile stress free!

-5th week: How To Install a Hexagon Bathroom Floor Tile

-6th week: you are here.

Even though this post is mainly focused on how to make an affordable barn door for the bathroom, we thought it would be fun to give a little sneak peek of all the progress.

We’ve also been busy installing all of the trim work and a functional board and batten wall to hang bath towels.

-old door

– palm sander

– drill

– hole saw

– bondo

– paint

– paint brush

– barn door hardware kit

– barn door handle


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If you’ve been following along for any time at all, you know that we love to use vintage items throughout our homes.

I snagged this old door off the Facebook marketplace for only $5!

Initially I bought it to use for the “dream house” under the stairs, but decided it was the perfect fit for this modern coastal bathroom.

Using an existing door to convert into a barn door is a cheap alternative to buying a new door.

First you’ll need to remove all of the hardware and give the door a light sanding around the hinges and doorknob.

Second, you’ll need to decide how to fill in the holes created by the hardware.

For the doorknob hole, we used a hole bit with our drill to cut a circular shape of wood to fill the majority of the hole.

In all we cut 3 pieces of wood to equal the thickness of the door.

If using multiple pieces of wood be sure to secure them together using wood glue and brads.

Third, after the pieces of wood are joined together, secure them inside the doorknob hole.

First tacking it into place with a brad nailer, then applying plenty of wood glue around the edges.

Once the wood glue has dried you’ll need to fill in any remaining holes or gaps. To achieve the most durable bond we used bondo.

For best results, carefully follow the mixing and application directions.

Working with bondo, you have a short window of 3-4 minutes before it hardens. You’ll also want to mix the bondo with something disposable such as a stir stick.

After the allotted dry time, use coarse sand paper to smooth the bondo creating a flat surface.

Prior to painting, smooth over the entire surface of the door with a fine grit sandpaper. Apply paint of your choice and allow to cure completely.

We’re using Behr cabinet and trim enamel color matched to Hale Navy by Benjamin Moore.

Barn door hardware can be purchased multiple places from your local home improvement store, Amazon and other online vendors.

Follow specific instructions per the hardware kit you choose.

Use the hardware template provided with the kit, or the hardware itself to accurately mark placement for the bolts.

To hang the barn door for the bathroom, you’ll first need to determine the rail placement on the wall. To aid in this step, we placed scrap wood 1/4″ thick under the door to raise it off the ground. This allowed us to accurately mark the wall for the mounting hardware.

Be sure to secure the lag bolts into wall studs for a secure hold.

Attach a handle if desired and hang the barn door.

Thanks for stopping by! We hope you’ve enjoyed following along as we share our progress for this One Room Challenge.

Be sure to check back in next week to see the progress on our bathroom and the One Room Challenge.

Remember we love hearing from you. Be sure to drop any questions or comments below!

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And as always here at Sunny Side Design

WE HOPE TO BRING YOUR HOME TO THE SUNNY SIDE OF THE STREET!

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You can also find our video tutorials on our YouTube channel.

Resources for this project:
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Frequently asked questions
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  1 question
  • Judith E Harmon Judith E Harmon on Jul 03, 2022

    Does it hang on top of the door opening or drop down into it for more privacy? It looks like it simply hangs out(?). I don’t know but I would love to implement one in my small bathroom.

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