Including a barn door in my basement was really high on my wish list. During the process I was hoping to have it in another space, the door leading to the utility/storage area. This didn’t work out because of the baseboard heating on either side of the doorway. There wouldn’t be room for the door to roll on either side. The only other doorway which was not a closet was the laundry room. There was enough space to roll either way, there was no baseboard heating and it is actually very functional. You know when you are walking around the house with a full basket of laundry and there is a closed door in front of you. Unless you are extremely talented you have to put the basket down to open the door. I have tried to wedge the basket between the door frame and my hip but that just hurts. With a barn door all I do is slide the door open with my foot. And I just wanted it because it was pretty. I never thought of the functional aspect of it!

I’ve shown the door in it’s finished stages but never showed you how I got there. The door was built out of pieces of pine. The planks were laid out and then held together with a z frame. A wooden valance was then installed along the top to hide the hardware. I originally wanted the incredible barn door hardware that is out there but there but this raised two issues. One being that it is expensive, the second is that my ceilings are not high enough. A simple track was built along the top and then hidden by the white valance. A stopper was added to the track as well as a rubber wheel placed on the bottom to guide the door. Altogether, wood included, it cost about $120 to make. Just the barn door hardware alone can cost three times that amount. 

After it was all constructed I stained it. The floors were not down yet so making a mess was not a problem. I decided on a stain since painting it a bold color would have made quite the statement, but would have restricted the design of the rest of the room. I used one coat of Pre-Stain Wood Conditioner to help seal the door, then two coats of Minwax White Wash Picking Stain, which creates a slightly white stain and lets the wood show through. Using a rag helped get a less perfect look, which is what I was going for. All this helps add a slightly rustic touch to the rest of the room. 

All that was left was the door handle. I wanted something with a back plate to give it a more substantial look.This took some searching because most of the door handles with back plates are huge.  I found this handle from Pottery Barn. Perfect dimensions and finish to match with the rest of the room. 

It is definitely the conversation piece of the whole space. It is not your typical barn door, but getting the barn door look and feel was more important to me than using the hardware you usually see. It also was a great way to cut corners and get the look you want without spending too much.