Ever since we got into real estate investing, remodeling and decorating, Perryville has been in LOVE with barn doors.

So of course when we bought our house we knew we wanted them in our modern farmhouse somewhere, if not multiple somewheres. 

We decided that the first place we would install them was our first floor bedroom that was ultimately going to be our shared office space. One of the very first things we did in the house was have our contractors close up the opening of the office a bit so that it could accommodate the doors. 

Given that this was the first time we were building something like this, we definitely wanted to follow some kind of step by step tutorial to help guide us through the process. (Insert Angela Rose? Or nah? ) I’m not sure we ever were going to just follow-it verbatim, because if you truly know us, we were always going to find a way to do our own thing along the way. Haha

So now with a guide in hand we could get started building these massive amazing barn doors. 

Before I go into the full story of the doors, Kary has truly allowed me to acquire all the necessary tools for DIY projects along this first year of house ownership, so it makes these types of projects possible. On the other side of that coin, it also helps her realize just how much we can do on our own and the project list grows with each new tool I get haha

Okay so back to it. With all of the tools and materials gathered (I won’t bore you with the full list), we were able to get started. I’ll summarize the steps below, and give a rough order of events for the full process for building one door (keep in mind, we built two of these). 

Step-by-Step Instructions

1. Measure and Cut the plywood foundation of the door

2. Prime and Paint plywood (since it’s the part that would be visible between the slats) 

3. Level and Clamp middle board to make sure the diagonal boards get installed correctly

4. Measure and Cut each of the diagonal boards with mitre saw

5. Glue/nail each of the diagonal boards for the door design with spacers

6. Added all of the trim pieces on all 4 sides, the designer trim on the front of the doors, and filled all of the seams. 

7. Sanded door so that it was all even at all corners, and any wood that would be touched (reduce splinters/overlaps/imperfections/etc) 

8. Once the door design was done, we spray/roller painted two coats on each side of the door

9. Lightly sanded each side of the door, and painted inside of the diagonal boards during this step (for any missing spots) 

10. Did one last paint coat on the door

11. Installed Hardware for hanging the door (both above the door entrance, as well as on the door itself) 

12. Hang the door (and make any mini adjustments needed)

13. Install the door hardware for opening and closing the door. 

14. Rinse and repeat all of the above steps for Door #2 

Whew!!!! If you guys are tired from reading it, we can definitely relate 🙂 

All in all, this project was a lengthy project, and we’d certainly make a few changes on the steps when we do them again, but this project was one we absolutely loved doing. Our final product was beyond our wildest dreams honestly, and I can’t believe these are something that we built…with our own hands…#Mindblown

We went into this project, wanting something that was going to be a statement piece for our foyer, and an amazing entryway to our magnificent shared office, and we feel like we nailed it. But we might be just a TAD biased haha. 

How do you guys feel about it? Either way, we hope you guys enjoyed seeing the doors, because despite the work, we absolutely loved doing them!