Barn doors are making a comeback, but not on barns. Barn doors, much like pocket doors from yesteryear, are now being used in homes where a regular swinging door may be inappropriate.

For sliding closet doors, they’re also a good option.

The industrial look that many individuals are adopting for their residences and offices matches well with the barn door style.

Existing trim may be used to install sliding or swinging barn doors. The only thing that matters is whether the door can pass the trim without making contact.

Barn Door Design

Barn-style doors are one of the few styles of doors that a homeowner may create for himself or herself.

Barn doors are easy to build with typical construction-quality dimensional lumber, while true panel doors need complex router bits to create.

Here are some of our favorite sliding barn door ideas to try out to get you started.

Hide Your Pantry

Consider building a pantry out of shelves and a barn door if your home doesn’t have one. There should be enough room on the shelves for you.

The shelves should also appear to be more unique than what you might find in a regular cupboard, thanks to the barn door visually grouping them together.

A sliding barn door conceals the pantry in this light-filled Leura home, which is set amid the spectacular undulating wilderness of the Blue Mountains.

Cover Appliances for Better View

What’s the best thing a barn door can do for your room? Must-haves like appliances must be hidden in order to look better.

Consider tucking a laundry room behind a striking barn door if you need to sneak one into your kitchen.

With the sliding door open, you may quickly access your washing machines while preserving the carefully designed atmosphere.

In her riverside home, interiors queen Tara Dennis understands how to make a barn door work. The laundry and family bathroom are separated from the living areas through this door.

A clever barn door in the living room solves one of the most common living room styling problems in a stylish and convenient way during the restoration of an historic homestead.

Make Grand Entrance with Barn Door

Barn doors are often seen as interior embellishments. Nevertheless, they may compliment your exterior quite nicely. Consider layering a pair of barn doors over your front door to give your home’s entrance a more special look.

The owner of this gorgeous guest house, which includes the double barn doors, has opted to stick with white-on-white for the entire exterior, proving that it works wonderfully.

Match Door Color with Walls

Consider painting the door the same color as your walls if you’re using a barn door to save space. You may visually clutter the area by matching the two accents, drawing less notice to the area’s borders.

The owners chose for barn-like design via sliding doors, stonework, and steel ceiling beams in this sumptuous home on the Mornington Peninsula.

The design blends contemporary and functionality with a nod to the property’s rural origins.

After years of negligence, this modern shaker home was renovated in the 1970s and had fallen into disrepair once again.

Its innovative owners, on the other hand, undertook a two-year restoration project with a passion for design. The rustic style of the home perfectly complement the classic white barn door.

Use Patterned Panels

Wood panels are often used to construct barn doors, and they may be rearranged to create stunning designs and patterns.

So if you want your barn door to stand out but don’t want to paint it bright, trade color for pattern and grab a striped, zigzag, or chevron paneled barn door.

French doors were discovered in the shed and rehung as barn-style doors to replace the previous aluminum ones in this restored beach shack in Esperance.

This sliding barn door serves to divide the bedroom from the bathroom, while also giving the space a rustic touch. It mirrors the coastal aesthetic of the rest of the house.

The dark statement barn door covers the bathroom from the hallway, and this serene beach house features a natural material palette throughout.

Match Door with Accents in Your Space

There isn’t a requirement for your barn door to match anything else. Yet, if you want to, consider combining your door with a different accent.

Painting or staining your door the same color as a bold piece of furniture or a wood-lined fireplace is an easy way to tie it all together.

You can add cohesiveness to your area by simply matching two items, yet without making it seem too matchy-matchy.

In this retro mid-century modern style home, a statement wood barn door was custom made to divide areas. A dynamic visual effect is created by the contrasting wood tones and grains.

Choose Door with Glass

Snag a door with windows if you don’t want your barn door to create too much separation. You may make the areas on both sides of a door seem more flowing and linked by selecting a door that permits you to see through.

Scandinavian style home with black steel-framed barn door | Photo by Armelle Habib

In keeping with the contemporary glass expansion in this Scandi-style house, this contemporary interpretation of a traditional barn door replaces the conventional wood with black steel-framed glass.

The black rails and steel frame give the glass a dramatic appearance, while the glass allows plenty of natural light to enter the rest of the house.

Conclusion

Barn doors may appear to be solely suited for rural houses and other rustic residences. Barn doors, on the other hand, are far more versatile than people expect.

They may also be used as pet and baby gates, as well as separating living areas in lieu of bi-fold doors in bedrooms and kitchens.

Barn doors aren’t just attractive, they’re also a fantastic way to conserve space in a smaller area.