If you have some decent DIY skills, making barn doors from a slab is an affordable approach. I had the opportunity to help out a family friend who is making some updates to her Chicago condo. One of the updates was to replace french doors that open into the room with barn doors. Essentially, trading space in the room with space along the wall. This is a picture of how the area started out. Check out that view!

Five panel doors at the size needed were a custom order or available on Wayfair for about $310/door. This is without the hardware, handles, paint. So, I found these MCM door slabs on Facebook Marketplace for free. These were in really great shape and a good foundation from which to build the barn doors. Such pretty door knobs! I’ll have to figure out how to use those in a project.

To cover the opening, including the casing, the doors needed to be 26” x 84”. So, I ripped down the doors in the table saw to the right width and added to the length. I added wood blocks to the ripped door sides to add stability and added a piece of 1/4 plywood to cover the edge. (Similar to what would be done if shortening a door, but I did this on the side.) I added pieces of 2 x 4 at the top and bottom to add to the height of the door. Both of these steps were a bit tricky to ensure the edges were flush.

I had strips of 1/4 inch plywood cut to 4” for the vertical pieces and 6” for the panel at the bottom. Home Depot cut these pieces which made it much easier than doing this through my table saw. I was careful to ensure the panels were aligned on each door. I also learned that some adhesives do not adhere to varnished surfaces. I was sure to scuff sand the doors and I used wood glue to adhere the plywood. This worked much better! I used a paint stick to fill the hole where the door knob had been.

I used Bondo to cover all the places where the pieces of wood met on a single plain. And, used caulk in the seams that met perpendicularly.

This was quite a bit of work, but not difficult. If the doors were the right size, adding the trim would have been simple. I am very happy to give these mid-century doors a new home! They were beautiful!

My friend chose SW Naval as the paint color. Navy is timeless and beautiful and a perfect choice! I applied the primer and paint with a sprayer! I applied 4 coats for coverage with sanding in between each coat.

Barn door hardware has gotten much more affordable and many more options since I first built a barn door for my son. I got the handles and hardware from Amazon.

Installation was non-eventful. It is a two person job. As with any DIY not done repetitively, it took a bit to read through the instructions and correctly hang the doors at the right height and evenly. We attached a board to studs and then the rail to the board. And, then used the directions to determine the placement of the rollers, etc.

When considering material cost, the estimated cost would have been $813 if the doors were purchased. This includes hardware, handles, paint, misc supplies. Material cost for these doors was $252. Certainly more labor involved but if you have decent skills with the saw, etc., it is a savings!

Lovely doors and lovely view!