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Lilies and Life - Interior Decorating | Blog | Home Decor | DIY

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DIY Barn Door Tutorial

in DIY & Home Decor on 02/13/19

Building a unique sliding barn door for the doorway between our master bedroom and the bathroom was something I have wanted to do since we moved in. At first, I thought I wanted to use an old antique barn door, but then realized I wanted something more modern. Below I have my full tutorial on how I built our modern DIY Barn Door!

Here is a shot of the doorway where we are putting the barn door:

This post contains affiliate links. For more information, see my disclosures here.

Supplies
  • 1- cut to 35″W X 85″L X 3/4″thick plywood (this was specific to the size of the door we needed)
  • 2- 85″ L X 3 1/2″W X 3/4″ thick- maple pieces of wood (border pieces)
  • 4- 30″L X 3 1/2″W X 3/4″thick- maple pieces of wood (border pieces and centerpieces)
  • 10-12- 4’L X 1 1/2″W X 1/2″thick- maple pieces of wood (for diagonal strips)
  • Liquid Nails
  • Painter’s Tape (I like Frog Tape)
  • Miter Saw
  • Lots of Clamps (these clamps will save your life!)
  • Primer & Paint Niebla Azul (I got both from Sherwin Williams)
  • Optional: Paint Sprayer (Love this product)
  • Sliding barn door hardware
  • Barn door handle

*Something to remember: these measurements were based on the specific size of door we needed so make sure to consider that if you are making your own door.

Design

I came up with the design by doing some brainstorming and using Pinterest inspiration. I actually had about four designs I really liked and then I went to my Instagram followers to vote on their favorite.

In the end Instagram chose this design and I love it!

Onto my DIY Barn Door Tutorial:

Step 1: Cut Wood to Correct Sizes

We had Lowe’s cut a large piece of plywood into the exact size the door needed to be 35″ x 85″ X 3/4″. We cut the rest of the wood pieces (the pieces that make the design on the front of the door) to the correct sizes with our miter saw at home.

DIY Barn Door full tutorial using plywood from Lowe's.
DIY Barn Door full tutorial using plywood from Lowe's.

*Make sure to sand your large piece of plywood before the following steps

Step 2: Glue Border Wood Pieces to Plywood

Once you have your border pieces cut, use liquid nails and clamps to secure the border wood pieces to the base of the door. Make sure everything is lined up and looking straight! I also recommend lightly sanding every piece of wood before gluing them to the door.

DIY Barn Door full tutorial using plywood, maple wood pieces and liquid nails from Lowe's
Step 3: Measure Spacing for Center Wood Pieces

Use your head and calculate the spacing you need for the two center wood pieces 🙂 This is my Dad’s specialty so we usually let him do this part.

Step 4: Secure Center Wood Pieces to Base

Use liquid nails and clamps to secure the border wood pieces to the base of the door. Again, make sure everything is lined up and looking straight!

DIY Barn Door full tutorial using plywood, maple wood pieces and liquid nails from Lowe's
(Please ignore our messy garage LOL WOWZER!)
Step 5: Measure for Diagonal Wood Pieces

This was probably the scariest part of building this door! It was very difficult to calculate the spacing between the diagonal pieces. Since we aren’t mathletes, we actually figured out the spacing by using trial and error HA! Yep, we laid the diagonal pieces on the door and kept moving and measuring each space until we ended up with the same space between all four pieces. It actually only took about five minutes!

DIY Barn Door full tutorial using plywood, maple wood pieces and liquid nails from Lowe's

Once we found the spacing (about 5 3/4″) we cut 45 degree angles on both ends of each diagonal piece and then laid them out to make sure they fit properly… They did! It was literally a miracle sent from God that the pieces fit! LOL

Since we knew the three sections of the door were the exact same size we cut three copies of each of the four diagonal pieces. I then flipped the center diagonal pieces so that they were going the opposite way.

DIY Barn Door full tutorial using plywood, maple wood pieces and liquid nails from Lowe's
Step 6: Secure Diagonal Wood Pieces to Base

Use Liquid nails and painter’s tape to secure the diagonal wood pieces to the base of the door. Again, make sure everything is lined up correctly.

Step 7: Let Dry & Remove Clamps and Painter’s Tape

We let our door dry for about 15 hours. By then the Liquid Nails had hardened and we were ready to take the clamps and painter’s tape off! This was the most exciting part, we finally got to see the design finished!

DIY Barn Door full tutorial using plywood, maple wood pieces and liquid nails from Lowe's.  This is a very simple tutorial.
Step 8: Paint

This step starts out fun because you get to see the color make its appearance, but waiting for the paint to dry, cleaning the sprayer, and making a spray station indoors (because it is -30 degrees outside) is not really that fun ha!

DIY Barn Door full, simple tutorial using plywood, maple wood pieces and liquid nails from Lowe's.  Blue painted barn door.

We used this HomeRight sprayer to paint the door. I promise I will do a full blog post reviewing this sprayer so you can see it in action, but for now I hope you wil be content with the finished product 🙂

Step 9: Stare at the Beauty of this DIY Barn Door 🙂

I think this door has now surpassed my favorite DIY project, our DIY Railing! I’m so happy I get to wake up to this beauty every day and feel so proud we made it ourselves 🙂

The sliding barn door hardware we used is amazing! After looking at the instructions for a while and getting a grasp on how it all worked it was actually easier than I thought to install. The key was to make sure everything was level. We also bought a large handle from Amazon to complete the look of our modern barn door 🙂

Hardware | Handle | Paint Sprayer | Liquid Nails | Frog Tape

Miter Saw | Clamps

DIY Barn Door full, simple tutorial using plywood, maple wood pieces and liquid nails from Lowe's.  Blue painted barn door. #Slidingbarndoor #barndoor #moderndoor #DIYdoor
DIY Barn Door full, simple tutorial using plywood, maple wood pieces and liquid nails from Lowe's.  Blue painted barn door. #Slidingbarndoor #barndoor #moderndoor #DIYdoor

I really hope you enjoyed this project! Thanks for following along 🙂

37 Comments

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Comments

  1. Robin Splittstoesser says

    02/14/2019 at 5:30 AM

    Your talent and creativity never ceases to amaze me. Love the door!

    Reply
  2. Susan says

    02/15/2019 at 9:28 PM

    You are great going from idea to done! You have such a great design sense.

    Reply
    • LiliesandLife says

      02/16/2019 at 7:50 PM

      Thank you so much Susan! You are so sweet 🙂

      Reply
      • Debbie mcvadon says

        05/25/2020 at 4:02 PM

        What does the other side of the door look like? Did you do the same design on the other side?

        Reply
        • LiliesandLife says

          05/26/2020 at 8:59 AM

          The back side of the door is just the smooth, painted plywood. We didn’t put a design on the back because it wouldn’t be seen very much.

          Reply
  3. Kyra Rodriguez says

    02/18/2019 at 9:02 PM

    OMG!!! I really love your DIY Skills!
    Kyra Rodriguez recently posted…3 Must Haves for Your Mckinley Hill Condo for SaleMy Profile

    Reply
    • LiliesandLife says

      02/19/2019 at 3:47 PM

      Thank you, Kyra!! I love DIY projects!! And most of the time they turn out haha 🙂

      Reply
      • Cassi Crossman says

        01/24/2020 at 10:32 AM

        Thanks for this DIY tutorial! We are going to use this to build ours this week! So excited 🙂
        Quick question, what did you put on the edges of your door? Or did you leave the plywood and maple wood exposed on the sides? Thanks for your time!
        Cassi

        Reply
        • LiliesandLife says

          01/24/2020 at 3:53 PM

          I’m so excited to see you door! Make sure to send me a picture or tag me on social media 🙂 So we ended up just sanding the edges A LOT and then decided we were fine with it being a little rougher knowing most people wouldn’t see the edges. You could always sand, fill with wood filler and then sand again for a smoother finish. Good luck!

          Reply
  4. Catherine says

    05/08/2019 at 6:31 AM

    Wow, looks so expensive, it’s amazing what one can do in DIY! Love this door, have never seen such a gorgeous sliding door.

    Reply
    • LiliesandLife says

      05/08/2019 at 9:32 AM

      Thank you so much, Catherine! It was definitely a fun project 🙂

      Reply
  5. Abishiktha says

    06/12/2019 at 5:51 PM

    Can you please give me the cost breakdown of the product?

    Reply
    • LiliesandLife says

      06/17/2019 at 3:38 PM

      Hello! I don’t have the entire cost breakdown, cut I do know it was under $200.

      Reply
  6. Ceci says

    06/17/2019 at 5:27 AM

    How did you not end up with an exposed plywood edge all the way around? Looking into ideas for my house and your tutorial is great! Just wondering how the edge was treated.

    Reply
    • LiliesandLife says

      06/17/2019 at 3:40 PM

      Ceci, we just filled in the edges of the plywood as best we could with spackle and then sanded the edges as best we could. It isn’t perfect but I think only I would notice it 🙂 does that help?

      Reply
  7. Rachel says

    07/26/2019 at 11:04 AM

    I’ve been considering a barn door between our master and master bath as well. Yours turned out amazing!! I have a couple of questions though – Do you have a handle on the bathroom side? Did you put the diagonal designs on both sides of the door? How is the noise permeability to the bedroom compared to a fitted door? This is a great tutorial and I can’t wait to get started on my barn door!

    Reply
    • LiliesandLife says

      07/26/2019 at 11:28 AM

      Rachel, thank you for reaching out 🙂 There is a handle on the other side, it came with the hardware I linked in my post. The handle is flat against the door so that it doesn’t hit the wall/trim of the doorway. The diagonal design is only on the outside. I wake up before my husband every morning and he doesn’t hear me in the bathroom. It won’t block the noise like your typical fitted door though. I probably wouldn’t put a sliding door on a main bathroom that others use just because it also isn’t as private. But for a master bath, it is perfect! I hope this helps and good luck with your project 🙂

      Reply
  8. Lauren says

    09/09/2019 at 7:02 PM

    My husband and I made ours this weekend! It turned out wonderfully. Thank you for the inspiration! We made ours in white.

    Reply
    • LiliesandLife says

      09/10/2019 at 11:25 AM

      Lauren, this makes me SO happy! I would LOVE to see a picture! Can you email me one at liliesandlife5@gmail.com?

      Reply
  9. window Screens says

    02/03/2020 at 12:01 PM

    I love dIY guys!

    Reply
  10. Phillip Farmer says

    02/18/2020 at 10:53 AM

    Did you screw the mounting hardware into the plywood on the top or into the maple pieces?

    Reply
    • LiliesandLife says

      02/18/2020 at 11:01 AM

      Into the plywood!

      Reply
      • Phillip Farmer says

        02/20/2020 at 11:41 AM

        tnx

        Reply
  11. Liebe says

    04/17/2020 at 6:33 PM

    Did you do the backside of the door as well to match the front?
    Looks great!
    Thanks

    Reply
    • LiliesandLife says

      04/19/2020 at 5:31 PM

      Liebe, We did not. We just sanded the backside and painted it the same blue. 🙂

      Reply
  12. Kara says

    06/20/2020 at 1:13 AM

    I would love to know your paint color for your door! It’s beautiful.

    Reply
    • Kara says

      06/20/2020 at 1:15 AM

      So sorry, I just reread your list and found it there!

      Reply
      • LiliesandLife says

        06/24/2020 at 9:29 AM

        Kara, glad you found it 🙂 Let me know if you have anymore questions!

        Reply
  13. ASH Green says

    07/07/2020 at 11:53 PM

    Thank you so much for such an informative piece of information 🙂
    If anyone interested similar one’s have a look here
    Besttoolsbrand

    Thanks

    Reply
  14. Tanya says

    08/19/2020 at 12:20 PM

    Your tutorial has given me inspiration. One of the best out there and the door is amazing. I plan on putting this in an area where both sides will be visible. Any suggestions on making this two sided but still being within the standard thickness?

    Reply
  15. Bill Corrigan says

    11/28/2020 at 6:27 PM

    I am concerned over time the door will warp or bow. Especially if the door is exposed to cooler or drier environments on one side. Have you noticed and changes after having the door hung for some time? Thanks

    Reply
    • LiliesandLife says

      12/08/2020 at 1:02 PM

      I have not noticed any changes especially because out door is inside out home.

      Reply
  16. Pronto Painters says

    01/26/2021 at 11:41 PM

    Lovely post !!!!
    I like the design of the barn door. I will definitely follow the steps to make barn door.

    Reply
  17. Nicole says

    02/20/2021 at 11:40 AM

    This is beautiful! Could I make two and get hardware for a double track?

    Reply
    • LiliesandLife says

      02/22/2021 at 8:54 AM

      Nicole, You could definitely do that!! Just make sure you take into consideration that your doors may need to be a different size.

      Reply
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    03/29/2021 at 2:48 AM

    For Garage Door Motors, Security Cameras, Alarms, parking items and mobile accessories. Find what you are looking for! Pay up to 6 interest-free installments!

    Reply
  19. Luis Parker says

    04/05/2021 at 4:00 AM

    Wow! Nice job, I really love the details and finish. The color is very warm and cozy.
    Luis Parker recently posted…How to Decorate Wood Paneling without PaintingMy Profile

    Reply

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Hi, I’m Emily! I’m an Interior designer, decorator and blogger.  I help overwhelmed homeowners and DIYers bring timeless design and function into their home so they can love their space and the life they are building within it!  Thank you for visiting 🙂

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