Shut the Barn Door!

Day #9

I’ve been waiting to show you the BEST part of our dining room turned office makeover.

The BARN DOOR!

We knew last spring when we moved into the new space that the sound from the TV really carried into the office and made homework time a not-so-quiet space.

We were used to our old office having French doors that could shut out the noise. We knew we needed a door and Dad and I talked about making a sliding barn door.

My dad made the barn door and brought it over the same time he brought over my great-grandfather’s desk and a cool hall tree that he made me that I will show you soon.

In other words, he had a TRUCK LOAD. 

And it was like Christmas morning for me.

The wood used for this barn door is from an old covered bridge in my hometown in Indiana that is currently being renovated.

Yeah, a COVERED BRIDGE.

How cool is that?

The wood was piled up on the side of the road and someone called my dad and asked if he could use any of it.

Can you believe someone would throw this awesome wood AWAY?!

When we were home at the end of the summer, Dad drove me by the covered bridge.

Look at the curved beams.

This is what it used to look like with my wood on it.

Monte was able to find some info about it.

I just love that it is now hanging in my office instead of rotting in some dumpster somewhere.

Dad researched barn door equipment that would allow you to hang and slide the doors open and it was WAY cheaper to buy it at an actual tractor/farm supply store than online through some home design company.

The slider bar was metal grey so Dad just spray painted it black.

It involved lots of holding steady and drilling and then taking a break to go get a new metal bit for the drill and then more holding again.

But overall, Dad said it went up WAY faster and easier than he anticipated.

This is my favorite view:

We did realize that the door was scraping the trim around the doorway and leaving a little pile of red paint on the floor when we opened and closed it.

So Dad figured out if we screwed a caster wheel to the wall just above the floor boards, the door would slide clear of the trim.

It worked!

I  picked out handles from the hardware store. The one in the office is bigger and more heavy duty.

The handle facing the kitchen had some width constraints (I think we had 1 1/2” to play with) so the door would still slide freely.

I had to clean spider sacs and dirt off this door. I didn’t do a thorough job because I like the distressed look. 

Except the spider sacs.

 They had to go!

This door is such a focal point now!

We show everyone and use it daily!