Hello friends,

In this blog post, I’m giving you a tutorial on how I made a modern barn door for our basement bedroom. However, many of you who are reading this may be desiring to purchase an “already made” barn door and if so, I recommend you check out White Shanty. They are the largest sliding barn door manufacturer in America and they have so many amazing styles to choose from including reclaimed wood, metal and even glass!

For my barn door, I used these tips from my IG friend, Rachel @thewoodedlane who not only has great design style but also has a thriving sign business. Check out her shop here!

Here are the instructions to make this barn door:

Materials Needed:

Door: Measure the distance between your walls to make sure the door is large enough and will overlap the entrance by at least 2-3” on either side. I used a 36” x 80” hollow core door. Here is the link for the one I found at Lowe’s.

Trim: I used 1/4” x 2” trim (strapping) to make the design in the door.

Wood Glue: from Lowe’s

Pin Nailer: This is not necessary but we added a few nails for added support.

Door Guide (for bottom of door): I found this one from Amazon.

Sliding Door Kit (for top of door): I found this one from Amazon.

Primer: I primed the trim with Zinsser Primer prior to painting.

Paint: I used Sherwin Williams Iron Ore in Satin.

Table saw to cut the trim pieces (or you can measure your pieces first and ask the kind person at your local hardware store to cut them for you).

Steps to put the Barn Door Together:

1. Lay your door on the ground or a flat surface and measure 5 equal sections and mark them. This will show you where to place the horizontal pieces.

2. Measure and cut 4 pieces of trim that go between the 5 sections. Glue them on your door.

3. Measure and cut 15 pieces of trim (3 pieces that go in between each section) at a 30 degree angle. Begin to space them out and then glue them down. I used a pin nailer to secure them in a few places.

4. Continue on until all of the pieces are inside the door creating a beautiful inlay. Let it dry overnight.

5. Caulk in between the pieces of trim if there are gaps and then prime the trim pieces.

6. Paint your door using the color of your choice!

6. Add your Hardware and hang your door.

I followed Rachel’s tips and used a 3/4” dowel for the handle and secured it with a copper bell hanger (found in the plumbing section).

We love how our modern barn door turned out! It adds so much character and fun to this basement bedroom. Make sure you go over to Rachel’s feed and follow her! She has so many great design tips!

Sending hugs from afar -