So you’ve seen those decorative yet functional sliding doors used in a variety of contemporary designs, but you’re not sure how it works or if you could pull it off. Well it’s actually not as hard as you think to install one! We’re going to show you a bunch of design inspirations for door styles and room usages, then provide a brief DIY starter for how to kick off your sliding door project. First, some inspirations:

Pantry Sliding Barn Door

via indulgy

Reclaimed Rustic Wood Sliding Bathroom Door

via indulgy

Contemporary Minimalist Barn Door

via Hafele America Co. on Flickr

Sliding Metal Grand Door

via Patricia Miyamoto on Flickr

Yellow Barn Door for Wine Closet

via Real Sliding Hardware on Houzz

Shared Bedroom Barn Door

via bellon laure on flickr

Rustic Black and White Bathroom Barn Door

via aprilandmaystudio

Just About Any Door Will Work

via thedesignerpad

Barn Doors: a Great Blend of Old and New

via beautifulhome on tumblr

DIY Starter

(with full instructions via links)

1To begin, you’ll want to measure your wall and door space – It’s crucial that you have enough space on your wall to fit the sliding door width when the door isn’t covering the doorway

2Next, decide if you want to have a top-rolling door or a bottom-rolling door:

Top Rolling:

Top rolling doors may require you to get some custom pieces (e.g, steel plating, idler pulley wheels). Because the wheels in this style are also supporting the weight of the door, you’ll need to get the correct type of wheel and connect the steel plate to the wheel and door properly. You’ll also need to get enough space between the wall and the door (harder than it looks).

Bottom Rolling:

Bottom rolling door parts are typically available at a local home improvement store (e.g., casters, pipe hardware, etc). However, you will need to precisely measure and accurately mount the components so the weight is balanced properly and the door slides smoothly.

3Next, locate the studs in your wall – You’ll want to consider how heavy your sliding door is, as top rolling will require more studs than bottom rolling

4If you’re going with the top rolling barn door, you’re going to want to watch some DIY expert videos – here’s a nice starter video with links to the full step-by-step in the description Top Rolling Barn Door DIY

5If you’re going with the bottom rolling style, it’s pretty straight forward:

6Once you’re done, post your project to our Facebook page or via comments below!