Okay, I’m going to attempt to make a very, very long story short here with this DIY. I had been imagining this awesome, mod sliding door for the new studio, and at first I was picturing it to be white with multi-colored brush strokes like my DIY watercolor cake. Then Jared convinced me that would be too intense and that I should go a different route, so then I was thinking about making it white with gold midcentury starbursts patterned all over, but then those got lost in the mail and finally arrived two weeks late and were NOT cute. I repeat, not cute (I can’t stand mismatched golds close together!). Alas, I went with an old favorite, colorblocking, to bring you this DIY colorblock barn door.

I tell you all of this just to reassure myself that I’ve not completely lost my mind in the middle of all of this renovating business, and I’m not-so-secretly hoping you’re going to tell me that you have all made a million and one changes to your home improvement strategies (and a million trips to Lowe’s) before you got to “the one”. Sheesh! A thousand hours on Pinterest couldn’t even have prepped me for that amount of on the spot decision making, my friends!

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Before we get started, I’m going to give you some info for installing the barn door without pretending to be a total professional at the process, so I’ll leave that part to the real pros:

Before doing anything else, spray paint the barn door hardware gold prior to assembling any of the pieces so that all sides are gold when constructing the frame and attaching it to the slab door. Secondly, use the sandpaper to sand the rough surfaces of the slab door, then paint it a good coat of white on all sides. Even though you’ll be painting the face of the door, the other sides will still need coated since this is an unfinished slab door, which will make for a smooth final surface in the end.

For installing the hardware, this is a great video tutorial on how to install a barn door track (plus a PDF version of the instructions here), and the kit from Lowe’s actually gives really detailed instruction on how to install it properly as well. You’ll follow the instructions included with the kit just as they are, EXCEPT FOR the height to which you’ll install the track to be the right distance from the ground for the door to slide properly without hitting. Instead, you’ll need to add an additional inch to that measurement for this particular slab door to not rub on the ground.

Now because I changed my mind soooo many times, we had installed the door thinking I would just be adding a few pieces of starburst hardware to the outside. Since that didn’t happen, I ended up painting the colorblocking while the door was hanging and had to be super careful around the gold edges, but you can avoid that same problem by painting yours before installing.

To do the colorblocking, I used the painter’s tape to section off from the bottom left corner diagonally at about a 45 degree angle to the other side, then painted the bottom portion the Pantone Quartz Pink. Once the bottom color had dried and set for about 24 hours, I taped along the same line on the painted pink side to make a clear line for the Pantone Nude color to be painted opposite. Once you’ve painted the second color, let it dry and set again for another 24 hours. This will make sure it’s cured enough so it’s more durable for handling without getting marks on it as easily.

Now you’ll install the handle. For this exact handle, you’ll measure three inches from the side of the door and mark. From that mark, you’ll measure down 3 3/4 inches to be able to mark for the second hole, double checking that both holes are three inches from the side of the door  (or equal distance if you’d prefer a different location).

Next, drill two holes all the way through the door from the front (so that any excess wood pieces that get shoved through will be covered by screws in the back) where you measured and marked.

Now install the handle (on the two outer most holes), using the #8 round screws instead of the ones the handles come with since the original, included screws aren’t long enough to fit through the slab door.

Once your handle is installed, you’re ready to impress! I realllllly love the look of the solid, painted slab door as opposed to the usual, traditional textured doors that get associated with the barn door functionality.

So what do you think?! Do like where we’re headed with the space so far? If you’re new to the #sugarandclothstudio renovating, you can see how it from the very beginning here, and our most recent update on the kitchenette right here.

sources: white retro cut out metal stool, Lowe’s // metallic gold planter, old home decor DIY // colored crepe paper, Poppies for Grace

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