DIY: Sliding Wooden Country Doors

Double Entry Way

Single Entry Way

We recently rearranged our living room furniture, which resulted in a blocked double entry way. I was trying to find a creative solution to closing off the entry way, without making it permanent. I also wanted to add a special decorative element to a single door entry in the kitchen. I had seen pictures of barn doors, used as decorative doors before, so I decided to give it a shot...with the help of my hubby of course! I used the process below to make the doors for both the double and single entry way. The only difference is the single entry way door is slightly smaller, by one plank. The project pictures below are of the double entry way doors. You can customize these to your own door size by simply removing or adding planks. Take all of your door way measurements first, to see what size works best for the space! Each completed door ended up costing approximately $75, and all of the material was purchased at Home Depot. Obviously, your cost will vary depending on the size of your door, and the specific materials you buy.

 Bought 8-foot fencing planks, so we could cut them down closer to 7-foot. (6-foot planks would not of covered the whole door frame, including the molding.)

 Using a sanding belt, I took off some of  the roughness on both sides of each of the planks. I did not sand it completely smooth, as I wanted the rough, distressed look.

Cut the planks down to size. I recommend you only cut what you need in each step, as you go along! We found the width of each plank to be 1/4"-1/2" in variation, causing the overall measurements to be off (if you pre-cut all of them at once).

Screw a frame together. We used 1-1/4" Course Thread Drywall Screws. It is important that this frame be square! You can check that by measuring diagonally from one corner to the other. Both diagonals should measure the same. Also, be mindful as to where you place the screws, keeping uniformity on the door.

 Screw the planks down, to fill the center of the frame. This is where it can get tricky! If any of the planks are wider than originally measured, then you may have to unscrew the outside frame and make adjustments.

Screw a bottom and top piece to the planks.

 Now screw the outer two pieces to complete the frame. By framing the door out, it gives a look of depth.

 Add one additional plank to the center of the door, for added support.

Now flip the door over and screw on the two outside planks to complete the frame and one center plank again (replicating what you did on the other side).

 Apply a wood stain, to achieve the color you want for the door. (No, I did not stain my doors dark black. Once the stain was rubbed in and dried, it is more of an antiqued ash color.)

Attach a door handle and any decorative elements to the door you would like. I picked up this garage door package, which included 2 handles and 4 decorative straps, to give me a hinge look on the outer edge of each door.

We used Deep Strut (found in the electrical dept. of the store), to hang our doors. You can use regular strut if you have a flat surfaced wall. Since we have molding around our door frames, we needed the deep strut, so the door would hang outside of it. You can hang the strut as is or spray paint it. If you prefer, you can purchase actual barn door sliders, but they can cost $65+ for the rail and $45 for the wheels, verses $18 for a 10-foot piece of strut. If you want a working sliding door, that you will be opening and closing on a regular basis, then you may want to purchase the barn door rail system instead. We chose the strut, as our doors are just decorative, and won't be used on a regular basis. You can still open them with the strut, it just won't be as smooth as a rail on wheels.

 Hang the strut above the molding of your door frame, being sure to get the bolt into your studs.

You want the strut to be long enough to cover the door frame and beyond, so when you open the door, it still has a rail to sit on.

Attach a second deep strut to the top section, on the back of the door.

Hook the back of the door into the strut on your wall.

All done!

Tip: If you are going to use the doors on a regular basis, then you may want to purchase a roller for the ground, to keep you door from swinging when you open and close it.