Boring Bi-Fold to Beautiful Barn Door

Is that ugly bi-fold door in your hallway glaring at you? Do you walk by it every day and hate it? Or maybe every time you open it it falls off the track? How about the struggle to get all the way in the closet? Well friends, I'm here to tell you there's a better way to live!

I turned this ugly, nonfunctional bi-fold door...

Into this!

If you want to know how easy and fast this project is keep reading!

If your current door is mostly working you're in luck. Mine kinda was, but mostly wasn't. I had purchased a new track a while back, and it sat in my garage waiting on my todo list, so l had that on hand already. I took the old track off and put the new one on. Some of you might ask why? Well, I knew I wanted a swinging door, not a bi-fold, but I have no idea how to do things like notch out trim for new hinges and install the things that hold a door closed, or be sure it all is level and square so it works...

I'm new, don't judge! My plan was to get the door I wanted with a faction of the amount of work and a fraction of the cost of a new door.

So the very first thing I did was take the front part of the slider out of the track and removed it from the door.

Once you do that your door should swing freely like a regular door. It should still be connected to the top and bottom on one side. At this point make sure you have the clearance to have a full swing door. I hope you do because this makes life so much better! You would think I have a distaste for bi-fold doors or something. Ha! I do. I find them to be a pain in the you know what.

Using the existing track you're going to want to make sure the screw at the top is tight so this part of the door doesn't slide.

Tighten this screw.

Once you've made sure your door is secure, you need to brace it so it doesn't fold in half anymore.

I used scrap 1x4s, but you could really used anything strong enough to brace the door. I used a nail gun to attach the 1x4s to the back of the door. Now this side of the door is done. It isn't pretty, but unless my company is going in there to change the litter box, no one will really see it. I'm sure you could paint it or make it "pretty", but I only cared about function on this particular door.

Once your door is secure and no longer flopping around (if you try this project you'll know what I mean) you can start building your barn door. Or whatever kind of door you would like! I think you could do so many different things with this "base". You can do any design of wood, any color, any style, AS LONG as it fits on the pre-existing door. The other thing that you have to make sure of is that you don't put anything on the door that is too close to the wall on the anchored side or the door won't open. So you'll have to play around with the track and the wall to make it work for your specific door.

I don't have pictures of this process because I didn't really think about blogging until after I made this door. And that before picture is literally the ONLY picture I have of the door before.

The wood cuts I used were:

1x8

1x12

1x4

3 pieces of cedar fencing ( Found at Home Depot for $1.87)

You'll have to measure your door and cut accordingly. I used my mitre saw to make all the cuts. If you don't have a saw, Lowes and Home Depot will cut your boards for you if you know the measurements. I will tell you from personal experience, at least at my stores, Home Depot is much more accommodating for this.

Once I had my boards cut, it was time to stain.

The stains I used were:

I just kinda put it on in a way I liked. If you're not sure how you want it to look, play around on some scrap wood until you find your desired color.

Once everything was stained and dry, I used my nail gun to attach the wood pieces to the door.

One thing to make sure you do is to attach your 1x8 about half an inch higher than the top of the door. This will hide part of the track and also prevent your door from falling backwards into the closet. I also attached a magnetic catch to the inside of the door to hold the door closed, as the weight from the wood on the front would cause the door to swing open.

From there it was time to attach the gate handle to the front of the door. To do this I drilled two holes where I wanted to attach the handle, through BOTH the 1x4 AND the existing door. I used 2 1/2 inch bolts, I wish I would have gotten 3 inch bolts, but I made it work. I spray painted the bolts black to match the handle and attached them to the back of the door with nuts.

I thought this gate handle added just the perfect touch of a rustic outdoor barn door. And the fact that it is extra secure makes the door easy to open.

I love how in this picture you can really see the distinction between the 1x4 and the cedar fence. Don't be afraid to used different woods, it makes your door more unique!

So that's it! My easy door transformation that ANYONE could do! If you make your own door let me know! I'd love to see everyones creative ideas. I wish I had another door to do this with in my house, but this was the only one :(

Thanks for stopping by! Make sure you check back every now and then for new blog post.

Louie checkin out the new hardware.

Poor Spooky, always waiting for the boys to be done.