EASY DIY Pantry Barn Doors

30 Materials
$150
1 Day
Medium

In this HT tutorial, I show you how to build DIY double sliding barn doors for a pantry. These rustic barn doors are made with walnut wood and have a matching walnut dining table.

These double sliding barn doors are used as pantry doors and they were super easy to build. This video is an overview of the entire process. The following steps are covered in this HT post:


  • Straight Sides
  • Joinery Method Used
  • Apply Glue
  • Glue Up & Clamping
  • Sanding
  • Outer Stile & Rail (H Style)
  • Finish Application
  • Sliding Barn Door Hardware Kit
  • Barn Door Magnets and Bumpers
  • DIY Barn Door Floor Guide
  • Conclusion

Straight Sides

In order to get 2 straight sides on each of the 4 walnut panels for the double sliding barn doors, I used my festool track saw.

First, I lined up my track saw about 1″ from the edge and made a cut. Next, I referenced the straight line I just cut, measured the final width of the board, and made another cut. Keep in mind, I purchased these boards as S3S (Surface 3 Sides) lumber. Essentially, this means the wood was planed on both surfaces and one side was straightened. However, I like to make certain each board has straight sides.

Joinery Method

In order to get 2 straight sides on each of the 4 walnut panels for the double sliding barn doors, I used my festool track saw.

First, I lined up my track saw about 1″ from the edge and made a cut. Next, I referenced the straight line I just cut, measured the final width of the board, and made another cut. Keep in mind, I purchased these boards as S3S (Surface 3 Sides) lumber. Essentially, this means the wood was planed on both surfaces and one side was straightened. However, I like to make certain each board has straight sides.

Before I spread glue, I placed each board next to one another as I did in a previous step when I made the marks.

First, I liberally spread glue on each edge. Next, I inserted the dominos and used my glue spreader to wipe glue on them. Then, I joined the first two boards by pushing them together and I made certain they were snug.Quick Tip: Edge Joining Panels

To make edge joining panels for this DIY double sliding barn doors, I join 2 boards at a time. Since each DIY barn door has 4 boards, I join each of the 2 outer boards. Then, I join each pair to each other. Ultimately, I find this process helps ensure the panels remain flat.

Glue Up

Once I glued each door, I clamped them together and let the glue dry for roughly 4 hours.

Next, I removed the clamps and used my glue scraper to remove any excess glue. If you applied glue and clamped properly, you should have a small amount of excess which squeezed out.

Sanding

Love the process or loathe the process, sanding is vitally important to woodworking project.

Essentially, I followed the same sanding process for these DIY double sliding barn doors as the matching DIY Walnut dining table project. Visit that post for more detail.

Outer Stile and Rail

To make the flat wood panels look like barn doors, I used an ‘H’ design pattern. Essentially, this design consists of smaller boards around the perimeter and one perpendicular board in the middle.

I verified my measurements on each panel and cut the boards to size.

I used my speed square to keep the vertical and perpendicular boards square.

While holding the square in place, I clamped each board in place and used my brad nailer with 1″ brad nails (2 per board) from the underside of the DIY barn doors to hold everything in place while the glue dried. Furthermore, the underside of the double sliding barn doors will not be visible which is the reason I drove the brad nails from the underside of the barn doors.

Finish Application

Due to my careless error, I do not have video footage of the barn door finish process.

In summary, I applied the finish at the same time and using the same procedure as the  Walnut dining table.

Sliding Barn Door Hardware Kit

After I the rubio monocoat finish dried, I installed the hardware for the DIY double sliding barn doors.

Essentially, I installed 3 pieces of barn door hardware.

I forgot to mention earlier in the article that I cut a 84″ x 4″ piece of walnut to hold the rail. Also, I secured this piece of Walnut to the studs on the wall before installation.

First, I used this sliding barn door hardware kit. The kit comes in different sizes – I chose the 6.6′ kit. Furthermore, I used 2 kits because a single kit contains the hardware for 1 door (2 rollers and 1 rail).

After I completed the installation of the barn door hardware kit, I decided to use these neodymium magnets to keep the barn doors closed.

Next, I used my drill and a 1.5″ forstner bit to recess the magnets in each door. Additionally, I used clear cabinet bumpers to prevent the barn doors from slamming together. These magnets are super strong.

For the last piece of barn door hardware, I installed a barn door floor guide to prevent the barn doors from swinging out.

Keep in mind, the DIY barn door floor guides are not required. Ultimately, it keeps the barn doors aligned and prevents them from hitting the baseboards when they are opened and closed.

In conclusion, I hope you enjoyed reading this post and it brought you some form of value. Visit my blog for free tutorials and downloads - link within this post.


Leave a comment below and let me know what you think about this project.


Consider   subscribing to my YouTube channel to be notified of future videos and visiting my website for other DIY projects.

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
Jeremy Hoffpauir
Want more details about this and other DIY projects? Check out my blog post!
Go
Frequently asked questions
Have a question about this project?
  2 questions
  • Kym Kym on Mar 09, 2019

    How much was the overall cost to do this?

  • Bonnie Bonnie on Apr 13, 2020

    Could this be done on plain glass maybe an old window? Would look like stained glass if hung in a window?

Comments
Join the conversation
5 of 15 comments
  • Linda Abate Linda Abate on Mar 09, 2020

    I absolutely love the barn door look. Makes me envious that I don't have a pantry to make these for myself. BEAUTIFUL WORK.

  • Johanne Palange Johanne Palange on Mar 10, 2021

    I hate barn doors. I find them so heavy looking. However, yours are very well done, and I must say that a split barn door is much nicer looking, lightens up the look and gives symmetry. I lived on a couple of farms in the 70's, and I had never in my life seen what people are calling barn doors: we used hinges.

    • See 1 previous
    • Lydia Lydia on Mar 10, 2021

      Hahaha! Coming from New England, I have also seen my share of barns! Some have sliding doors and some have hinges. I think the "barn door" look is overdone these days. Maybe it should go back to the barn! Lol! These doors are pretty in walnut, though.

Next