You don’t have to have previous woodworking experience to build a barn door. An easy-to-follow and well-detailed DIY barn door plan should do the job.
Not so surprisingly, it has been discovered that people spend as much as $700 on a simple barn door when they can DIY one under as little as $40.
The multiple free DIY barn door plans online, and the hassle-free availability of power tools are of great assistance, making your task much less complicated.
If the task of finding good plans seem daunting, you’ve come to the right place!
17 Best DIY Barn Door Plans that exist on the Internet
1. Sliding Barn Door Plan
Building a sliding door allows you to add a door to your barn without having to reframe and rip open a wall. Moreover, it adds a rustic look to your barn owing to its paneling decoration. Furthermore, the rollers attached to the door make the sliding mechanism pretty smooth.
This door is meant to cover a 30-inch-wide opening and requires no prior woodworking experience. However, fitting in the pallet boards can be a bit tricky, so we will advise you to be careful!
It will approximately take you $350 to buy all the materials for building and fitting the door. Additionally, you will be able to complete the task in 2-3 days. If you ask us, this plan is a great way to get some woodworking experience and economize on household expenses!
2. “Beneath My Heart” Barn Door Plan
A barn door in the middle of your house? It doesn’t sound like an appealing idea until you see what this plan has to offer. The barn door has been used in place of a traditional interior door, and its white color adds to the aesthetic of the place.
Moreover, the door is thick and sturdy owing to the raw materials used, making it a great option to use outdoors too. Even better, the little Christmas ornament adds to the charm of this beautiful white barn door.
Bonus Read: Check out these reviews for the 10 best chainsaws under $200 to make your woodworking experience even smoother.
3. Modern Style Barn Door
Originally built with the intent to separate two different spaces in a home, this barn door combines style and functionality perfectly. Not to mention, it is heavy, sturdy, glides perfectly, and it even helps save up on space by sliding instead of swinging open. Therefore, eliminating the need to move the furniture.
If you are looking to add a barn door to your workspace, search no further than this plan!
4. Rustic Barn Door Plan
Rustic barn doors cost a fortune when searched up on the internet, but not this one. This plan comes with a step-by-step tutorial, pictures, and some amazing pro-tips for you to get the perfect-looking rustic barn door. Get some standard DIY tools, barn door hardware, and you’re all set to go!
A few tips to keep in mind for better efficiency are:
- One side of the opening will need to have an area-wide enough for the door to open
- Make sure the length-spacers are right for your situation
- Double-check your dimensions before mounting the track
Tip: When applying the stain to your door, don’t worry about the variation; it just adds to the overall look of your door.
5. Advanced Barn Door Plan
While most DIY barn doors do not require a lot of woodworking skills, if you are looking for a challenge, this plan is your answer. It has some advanced methods and a lot of new woodworking techniques.
Moreover, the plan does not have any specific measurements, allowing you to customize according to your home design needs. Used as a separation between the bedroom and bathroom, it is a convenient option to install inside or outside your home.
This plan gives some brilliant intel on what stain to use, how to mount without readjustments, and how to design the door. What’s the best part about it is the step-by-step video tutorial for anyone who is struggling to understand the text.
Bonus Read: Confused regarding what table saw to get? Check these reviews for the best portable Jobsite table saws.
6. Double Pantry Barn Door
Used as a replacement for boring bi-fold doors, this barn door is budget-friendly and apt for smaller spaces. However, the structure for this barn door is different from others. It has two narrow doors instead of a large sliding one and has magnetic cabinet closures to make the doors close. But it’s this structure that allows you to economize on space and have the barn door of your dreams.
An important tip while building this door is to make sure the paint is perfectly diluted. If the paint is too diluted, it will be ineffective and will lead to a huge mess. Whereas, if not diluted enough, it will cover the wood finish. Therefore, it is best to test the paint on a separate patch before painting the door.
7. Jenna Sue’s Barn Door Plan
With blueprints for each layer of the door, this plan is bound to give you precision when building your barn door. Moreover, considering how all barn doors can’t fit all spaces, this plan is mindful of diversity. It gives you diagrams to build doors of different sizes as per your requirement. Furthermore, it even discusses the different material options you can use.
While this plan has originally used inexpensive whitewood to work within their budget, you could look for more suitable material options. One reason for this is because whitewood is tough to paint and takes plenty of layering to get a proper, captivating finishing. However, once finished and polished, this barn door looks sleek and modern wherever mounted.
8. Wide Rustic Barn Door
Made to cover larger doorways, this barn door is 6 feet wide. However, its unusually large size doesn’t act as a barrier to it being rustic and multi-functional.
Although it is a large project which might take some time, it is simple to build. If you’re hesitant about a large door matching the vibe of your home, you’re not wrong. However, this plan has that figured out too! Read it to find out how they decorated their door to match the coastal vibe of their sitting area.
This barn door is a great option if you want to be able to close off a large area for privacy or from destructive cats (just as the plan owners did!).
9. Simple and Affordable DIY Barn Door
This plan gives some unique suggestions on how to save money using alternative materials instead of mainstream ones. Moreover, it gives great advice for measurements to woodworking beginners. Consequently, this plan is perfect for new woodworking DIYers who are looking to cut down on household expenditure.
An alternative material used in this plan was tongue and groove wood, which is what gives the door its rustic look. Additionally, it even helps in considerably lowering your costs. Using tongue and groove wood has many more benefits which you will discover upon reading the plan.
All in all, this 55” wide and 8 feet tall barn door costs $80 to construct.
10. British Brace Barn Door
This barn door built on a budget is known for its simplicity and style. Costing under $500 to construct and mount, these doors add a great sense of vibrance wherever placed.
Follow these few additional simple steps for getting the barn door you’ve always wanted:
- Add an inch to your door to account for cutting errors and for covering the opening
- Always check hardware instructions for height adjustments
- Edging is important to give a sleek and uniform look to the wood
It is advisable to get handles that are meant for a barn door. Other handles might feel heavy and look disproportionate on the door.
Bonus Read: Read through these reviews of the 10 best benchtop drill press to decide which one to add to your woodworking kit!
11. Building a Barn Door within 30 Minutes Plan
Built with 8 simple steps, this barn door plan is your answer if you are in a rush. What’s best is that even though the process is rushed, the results are impeccable and tasteful. The key was using fewer wooden pieces and making lesser cuts. A few things you could do to construct faster are:
- Use lesser nails
- Try getting wooden planks the same height you want your door to be
- Work with precision
Made to fit in an 8 feet doorway, this is an ideal door to fit in smaller and compacted areas.
12. Closet Sliding Barn Door
This barn door was made in place of bifold doors for a closet. With stylish windows on top and its white color, the door adds a nice charm to your closet while fulfilling its purpose. The windows don’t reveal the closet clutter but allow a little peek into to top part of your closet.
The curved look of this barn door adds a nice farmhouse touch to your room while looking sleek and modern at the same time.
What’s more? This closet sliding barn door was made using pine wood and costs just $120 to construct. The plan proves that you don’t need to have mainstream modern doors to give your room an aesthetic appeal.
13. Upcycled Barn Door
Made from an existing plain door, this barn door adds a rustic appeal to your home while helping you economize on expenses. As long as you have a solid core door to work with, the total cost of the transformation of the door is just $25.
While buying hardware for the door can get slightly expensive, you can easily cut down on costs by using a simple knob instead. This door has the classic barn door “X” design, but you could play with designs to see what suits your home better.
Even better, this project requires some basic tools like:
- Hand Saw
- Nails
- Hammer
- Utility knife
- Miter Box
Bonus Tip: An important point to remember while making this barn door is to do a lead test before removing the existing paint. This is especially essential for people whose homes were built around 1978.
14. Color-Blocked Barn Door
Barn doors don’t always have to be plain white or brown, and rustic looking. This color-blocked barn door proves that. Made using a simple slab door and color blocking technique, this door goes one step forward in achieving a modern look. All in all, the gold-painted and brass hardware adds a nice touch to the overall look of the door.
The quartz pink and nude colors give a subtle yet vibrant look to the door too. Painting the door doesn’t require you to be a professional. All you require is painter’s tape, rollers, and paint, and you are all set to go begin constructing.
Bonus Read: Tools are essential for anyone getting started with woodworking. Check out these best cordless toolsets and combo kits you can invest in!
15. Lightweight Sliding Barn Door
The two main problems people face when attempting to install a barn door in their home are:
- The hardware is expensive
- The doors are heavy
This plan solves both of those problems by making a sliding screen that follows the same purpose as a barn door. Using the inner and outer frames for support, this screen uses fabric instead of heavy wood to keep the door lightweight.
If the multiple advantages of this door haven’t convinced you already, maybe the video attached of its working at the end of the plan will!
16. Bi-Fold Faux Barn Doors
If you aren’t trying to economize on space but simply love the look of barn doors, giving this plan consideration is a good idea. They are standard, flat-panel, hollow core doors that have been decorated using slats to give a barn door appearance. For better DIYing efficiency, you should have your slats pre-painted before hanging them on the door to avoid giving touch-ups.
17. Simple Sliding Barn Door
This door is perfect for larger doorways. Built to cover a 10 feet wide doorway, these doors look simple and elegant wherever placed. However, due to their large size, the doors are more expensive to construct. So if you’re looking for a cheaper project, this is not recommended. However, the coolest part about these doors is that they look enticing, while both, opened or closed.
Conclusion
Woodworking can prove to be fun and help you cut down on costs. A few things to remember when working with power tools and wood are:
- Always wear protective wear like safety glasses
- Do not wear baggy and loose clothes
- Never use blunt blades and bits
- Check stock for existing materials (especially ones that can be repurposed)
Now that you have the DIY barn door plans and precautions all in one place, all you need to do is to make a wise call.
Whether you’re looking for a modern door, a chic one, or a rustic one, these plans have everything covered. With plans ranging from $345 to $25, we have tried our best to be inclusive and diverse. All we want from you is to have fun and be careful!
Bonus Read: Since most of these plans require the use of adhesives, read up on these tips to get rid of gorilla glue from your hand.
By
