Barn Door/ Sliding Door With a Vintage Door & Low Ceilings

Lora Bloomquist
by Lora Bloomquist
5 Materials
$300
6 Hours
Medium

Old house bathrooms are usually space challenged. Ours also had low ceilings, too. A low clearance barn door/ sliding door mechanism was a great option to solve both of the issues. Using a vintage door kept the old house character, and the slider improved the functionality. Here's how we did it.

Choose a Vintage Door and Refinish to your Style


We found a 5 panel old door. The stain was kind of orange, so I sanded it down and stained it with a darker brown stain. A coat of water based poly was the final sealer.

Next, Read the Instructions


We used a Barn door/ sliding door hardware from Reclaimed Lumber Products because it was the lowest clearance slider we could find-only 2" needed at the top. We printed off their detailed instructions and also watched a few of their youtube videos.

Install Track


We wanted the door to closely match the rest of our trim, so we installed the V track on a larger header board. We got it temporarily in place before painting the board. We made sure the V track was into studs.

Prepare the Door for the Slider


We attached the slider brackets to the top of the door and made a groove in the bottom of the door for the door glide.

Optional: Add Filler Board and Door Lock


Since we were putting this slider door on a bathroom, we wanted a bit more privacy. We added a filler board to the backside to fill the space between the door and the wall. We also installed a door lock mechanism from Reclaimed Lumber Products (check my full blog post HERE for a special offer on this, plus more install details).

Finish off with Hardware


To keep that classic old house vibe, we put old knobs and plates (that are stationary) on the door. Old house character with modern usability! Getting rid of that door swing helped the bathroom and the hallway!

For More New Ideas for Old Things...


If you enjoyed this project, you would probably enjoy the rest of my vintage junk repurposing projects. See them HERE. Thanks for reading!

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Lora Bloomquist
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  2 questions
  • Doreen Kennedy Doreen Kennedy on Apr 24, 2020

    I forgot to ask you about the filler board. Is it possible for you to take a picture of it? Our bathroom is tiny so the sliding barn door really gives us a lot more wall space, but we need to close the gap for privacy reasons. Our house is very old so all the bedrooms are also small. If we can solve the gap problem then we could hang some of the bedroom doors on sliders. Maybe filler board framing would solve the gap issue. Thanks a bunch.

  • Lovesunique Lovesunique on May 07, 2020

    I noticed you didn't finish off the side of the door where the old hinges were. Is there a reason you didn't fill in the screw holes and filler? Thanks.

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  • Ann48742136 Ann48742136 on Jun 01, 2022

    This is such a wonderful project! I absolutely love it! It doesn't seem like an easy job, but the efforts paid off, and the result - totally worth it! My mom is obsessed with renovating or redecorating vintage items. She recently did a wonderful job with a vanity. I was so impressed! She likes all the unique pieces, with intricate carvings and ornaments, and she is really good at it too! And although they truly are aesthetically pleasing, I am more of a minimalism fan. So I was looking for ideas to repurpose shaker doors, and I find your guide useful! Thank you so much for sharing these great tips!


  • Lora Bloomquist Lora Bloomquist on Jun 01, 2022

    Your welcome!

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