Barn Door. National Hardware. Best Christmas Ever.

National Hardware gave me the best Christmas present ever this year, BARN DOORS! Thrilled doesn’t begin to describe how I feel about the new doors and the hardware that made it all possible. My bedroom is completely transformed.  Here is what the room looked like when we bought the house:

And here’s what the add-on looked like before:

And here is the room now:

We bought this house sight unseen (pretty crazy I know) and it needed paint, carpet, and other work, but this little add-on was always the quandary. For those of you just chiming in, the previous owners added-on a 10×15 foot room to the master bedroom. They never took down the exterior sliding glass doors, so it was pretty random to have a bedroom then a sliding glass door that lead into a room that looked like it should have plastic fish everywhere. On the first day my husband and I walked into the room and just kept looking at it saying “huh” a lot. Then he said, “kinda looks like a crab shack,” thus the name was born.

I considered several options on what to do with the room, but I immediately wanted the doors down and barn doors in it’s place. There are some truly beautiful DIY barn door projects out there, but I have wondered if they are 1. super loud and squeaky when you’re opening and closing 2. if the hardware really can support the weight of the doors and 3. if the doors are truly functional. These doors were surely going to be functional. I needed something sturdy, industrial looking and top quality. National Hardware met all the criteria.

This hardware is the “box rail” variety, go to this page and scroll down to see this diagram ad how the hardware all fits together.

Photo credit: National Hardware

If you follow the steps on the page you’ll learn gathering supplies is just a 3-step process: choose your door and rail, select your hanger, add accessories. Here is a breakdown of the parts I used:

1. Box Rail, the bar on the top that your sliders go into. There are different types, mine is part #5114 “plain box rail”.
2. Box Rail Bracket, to attach the box rail to the wall. I used part #DP51F, Single Box Rail Brackets
3. End Caps, so your doors don’t slide out of the box rail, part #51EDBC
4. Box Rail Hangers. These are the rollers you attach to your door, part 5005B. These parts are my favorite. I think they are really pretty. The bracket can be attached on the back or the front of your door.
5. Also helpful would definitely be pulls and stay rollers to keep your doors from swinging onto walls.

Other tools you will need:

1. Level
2. Drill, with drill bits
3. Stud Finder
4. Ladder

The most time consuming part of this project was making the doors, so if you already have doors, you’re way ahead and with someone to help you a DIY hang is definitely doable. Plus you’ll feel awesome when you can say, “I did it.”  Installing double doors is definitely a two person job. If you have the hardware, but don’t want to attempt a DIY hang, call a carpenter.

You will need to decide how far off the ground to attach the box rail and how far apart the brackets will be. For the height we wanted it to just touch the top of the carpet, so we measured that height (including the hangers) and used a level to draw a line where the bottom of the box rail would hang. That line became our guide. For the brackets, the doors are each 8′ tall and 3′ wide, the box rail is 12′ exactly.

First step, find the studs. I used my stud finder (the yellow tool in my hand) that you can buy at any hardware store, mine was $7 and it has never failed me. I drilled a small pilot hole just to make sure it was a stud. Make sure you hang your doors into a stud, doors crashing down because they are in drywall no esta bueno. Be careful out there.

We used FIVE brackets on our box rail, each 34″ apart with one in the center. After marking the studs I had to calculate where to put the brackets– and of course that means math, here’s me trying to do some, I was “trying” for like 20 minutes:

We slid brackets on the box rail, I held the rail while my husband screwed the first bracket into the center. (P.S. I love that he borrows my tool belt.)

After attaching all five brackets we slid each door into place. When the rollers hit the rail I was soooooooo excited. It was the icing on the bedroom cake. We stepped back and just admired for a while, so fun to have the project almost completed!

Finally, the end caps. Put them on with a mallet or hammer.

This morning I ate my cereal on the bed just so I could gaze out on the beautiful barn doors.

One of my favorite parts of having the doors, besides that they look so amazingly cool, is when they are closed our room is like an all out black out at night! I could sleep forever, if it wasn’t for all the kids and the darling puppy to take me out of my lovely pitch black slumber.

National Hardware makes a superb product. I am all raves for the quality, fit, function and style. The door is quiet, sturdy and smooth, what more could a girl want in a barn door?! If you are considering a barn door in your home YOU CAN DO IT! Check out all National Hardware has to offer, I highly recommend!

Merry Christmas and Happy Creating!