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I have wanted to share this post with you for almost 2 years (procrastinate much?), but we took forever to get the finishing touches done on this project. Let’s go WAY back to November 2015. We had just made over our laundry room for $85, and I was in love with the results. Let’s take a quick look at the before and after…
We really wanted to replace the bifold doors with a barn door, but there was truly no room, as this laundry closet takes up the entire wall. So, for months we left the doors off so we could admire our new space. Fast forward to Sept. 2016… we finally figured out what we were going to do. (Yay!) We decided to create faux barn doors using the bifold doors we already had! No really. Just wait.
We started by taking the doors out to the garage, and here’s a picture of what they looked like when we started (at least this is half of the door 🙂 )
They are your average builder-grade, hollow-core, bi-fold, doors. Kinda blah. Kinda boring. A little ugly.
The first thing we did was cut some underlayment into strips. You can choose whatever width you like, whether wide or narrow.
Then we cut other pieces to create the “barn door design”. Once cut, we laid them out on the door in an arrangement we liked. Remember not to cover the part of the door that folds out or you wouldn’t be able to open the door 🙂
The next step was to apply liquid nails to the back of the strips and adhere them to the door.
To add a little authenticity (and security), we also used some nails.
I then stained the whole thing with Kona colored stain.
If I were to do this again, I would stain all the pieces before applying them to the door. Some of the little crevasses were hard to get to, so I grabbed a sponge brush and some cotton swabs to get the stain to cover those little areas.
We then hung the doors and stopped… for a very long time 🙂
Last week, we finally got around to putting on the knobs and replacing the old trim with thick wood pieces, stained to match the doors.
For the knobs, we drilled holes all the way through the door. I did need to purchase different screws, as the ones that came with the knobs were not long enough.
(No idea why it looks like there’s a huge scratch under the right hole, as it is not like that in real life 🙂 )
The trim was a simple project. We just cut strips of wood, stained them, and used a brad nailer to adhere them to the wall… and this is how the space looks now!
How fun is that?! And the total cost for this project was probably around $30-40 (I wish I could remember how much we spent 1 1/2 years ago so I could be more precise 🙂 )
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40.1K 248
Lisa Casarella says
February 11, 2019 at 7:47 AMHello.
I love what you did with your laundry bi-fold doors. I’ve been trying now fir over a month to try and find someone to do this for me under $700-800!!! It’s crazy considering it only cost you less than $100. I live in Naples Fl. I cannot seem to get this done from anyone. Please help!! 😀
Lisa
Joni Post says
February 2, 2019 at 11:49 PMLove this and did it but now door wont close together..any ideas?
Margaret Nott says
January 18, 2019 at 1:58 PMI fell in love with these…. So adorable …I am going to try and do this on my own… Wish me luck
Lorna says
January 13, 2019 at 1:35 PMDid it cause any problems with the different weight and thickness of the doors when they were rehung?
Sally Veliquette says
January 12, 2019 at 4:08 PMI’m wondering if you remember what type of wood (or at least the thickness) that you used to trim out the doors (not the part actually on the doors)? We are in the process of an almost exact re-do or our pantry doors.
Taylor Meador says
October 20, 2018 at 8:11 AMHow was your laundry closet ventilated? I’d love to do this but mine came with louverd doors. I’m afraid not having the ventilation would cause my dryer to run very inefficient.
Maybe just leave the door open when the dryer’s running?
Tracy says
October 17, 2018 at 8:12 PMLooks great! It totally changes the look of the door.
Diane Drake says
August 20, 2018 at 1:07 PMCould you do this with solid bifold doors ?
Erin Meyer says
August 21, 2018 at 7:58 AMI don’t see why it wouldn’t work. Many have asked about the added weight when applying the layer of underlayment; while I had no problem with it, I would think having a solid door with the extra weight might be the only concern, as the door is already going to be heavier than my hollow-core door.
Penny Hullette says
August 1, 2018 at 2:52 PMYou inspired me! I have had my husband make me some! Not exactly like yours but kind of! Question, did you put a varnish or polyurethane over the stain? I can’t remember if we did. Ours was 21 years old! Thank you! Yours are beautiful!!
Larissa ~ Prodigal Pieces says
July 30, 2018 at 5:50 AMWhat a fabulous update and DIY tutorial!
Erin Meyer says
July 30, 2018 at 2:04 PMThank you so much… and thank you for sharing on Facebook today!
Sarah H says
July 27, 2018 at 10:24 PMLOVE the door make over (and the laundry room, too!) I made the door today, but it seems to heavy for the hardware that came with it! did you notice your doors being to heavy? Did you have to get heavy duty hardware?
Erin Meyer says
July 29, 2018 at 9:33 PMWe didn’t have any problems with the added weight. We simply used the same hardware that had been original to the door.
Sarah says
June 27, 2018 at 9:02 PMI am in love with this idea and want to try it for our pantry doors in our new kitchen. Did you have any problems on the very outer edges opening and closing the doors with the added depth of the underlayment on top? Did you have to trim the doors down at all? I hope this makes sense…
Erin Meyer says
June 29, 2018 at 4:03 PMWe didn’t have any difficulty with the added underlayment, nor did we have to trim the door. Our door did have some spacing around it already, however. I would take a close look at whether an added 1/4″, or so, would inhibit your ability to properly open and close your pantry door.
Joan says
May 14, 2018 at 7:46 AMI definitely like this, but how did you get it to be flush with wall. I may just have to try it.
Thanks
Joan
Cindy says
April 29, 2018 at 11:47 AMHi did you use two pieces of board to get the raised trim? If that makes sense 🤔
Erin Meyer says
April 30, 2018 at 10:55 AMYes. We put the strips down first (over the whole door) and then added another layer to create the trim.
Glenda says
April 25, 2018 at 9:48 PMWhat looks like a scratch is probably the sawdust falling from the drill. Great job on the doors. I want to try this! I absolutely love the color too
Dannielle says
April 16, 2018 at 7:50 PMCan you show a picture of the doors open?
Erin Meyer says
April 17, 2018 at 7:34 AMSooo… we actually moved out of this house last month, BUT you can still find pictures from when our house was on the market, so if you head to this link and look at image 16 in the slideshow, you can see the doors open 🙂 https://hotpads.com/8320-chestnut-ct-victoria-mn-55386-1khcy2t/pad-for-sale
Ellen says
April 5, 2018 at 3:04 PMDid the underpayment make the doors very heavy?
Erin Meyer says
April 11, 2018 at 11:13 AMIt definitely added some weight to the door, but didn’t affect its ability to be hung properly.
Shodee Monio says
March 31, 2018 at 2:17 PMLove the doors! I am going to attempt however I have a few questions. How wide are are the horizontal boards at the top and bottom of the doors? The width of the boards that creates the X pattern? The boards that create the design on the doors are on top of the vertical boards so in some areas there are two thicknesses of board? Thank you!
Erin Meyer says
April 2, 2018 at 12:53 PMWe literally JUST moved and had to leave this door behind, so I don’t have the exact measurements of each piece. I think we’ll be doing this again in the future, and I’ll be sure to share all our measurements when we do. I can tell you with certainty, however, that there were areas in which there were two pieces of underlayment on top of each other (two thick).
Kimberly says
March 29, 2018 at 10:19 PMThis is awesome! What width did you cut the strips for the first layer, and then for the design pieces? Great job!…so LOVE this!
Erin Meyer says
April 2, 2018 at 12:50 PMWe JUST moved, and sadly had to leave this door behind, so I can’t give you the exact measurements for the first layer strips, but if I had to guess, I would say they were between 6-8″ wide. Truthfully though, you could make them whatever width works well for your door (and preference) 🙂
Kassandra says
March 20, 2018 at 10:00 PMWhere did you get the knobs? I’m in love. 🙂
Erin Meyer says
March 21, 2018 at 9:30 PMHi Kassandra-
I got the knobs at Hobby Lobby. It was quite awhile ago now, but they may still have them (or something similar) 🙂
Honeycomb says
March 17, 2018 at 8:05 AMThe door looks nice. But actually, it would be cheaper to buy one than to hire the labor to do this work, since the average person doesn’t have the skill, the tools, and the time to do it.
MJ says
April 7, 2018 at 2:43 AMThis is a DIY page???
MelG says
April 9, 2018 at 2:28 PMLove it and hoping to get more detailed info on pieces put on but I have made a door for shelves in my bathroom that looks like a varn door but have one more cross piece to put on. Love your diy page
Cheryl Brands says
March 14, 2018 at 11:03 PMI love it but wondering how you got the extra thickness to fit in the door opening? I looked at mine and if I add any thickness at all my doors won’t work.
Erin Meyer says
March 21, 2018 at 9:32 PMOur door came down from the track a bit, so it didn’t impact the performance once we rehung it. Perhaps different bifold doors are made differently…
Bri says
March 6, 2018 at 10:17 PMThis is exactly what I’ve been looking for! What width did you use for that first layer of underlayment?
Erin Meyer says
March 21, 2018 at 9:33 PMHonestly, I’m not sure if underlayment comes in different widths. If I had to guess I would say it was probably only 1/8″ thick.
Laurie says
February 4, 2018 at 12:28 AMLove this idea! I’m looking to upgrade a couple of folding closet doors.
Lisa says
January 31, 2018 at 2:25 AMThese look fantastic! Much more stylish.
Jeannie Trent says
January 30, 2018 at 3:37 PMHow did you attach the door back on the frame/track?
Erin Meyer says
January 30, 2018 at 9:23 PMBecause we simply created the look using the original bifold door, we reattached it using the original hardware.
Judy says
January 29, 2018 at 1:07 PMI dont understand what kind of wood you used. What is underlayment?
Erin Meyer says
January 30, 2018 at 9:29 PMUnderlayment is a very thin sheet of wood (may 1/4″ thick at most). It is often used under flooring, and you can find it at any hardware store.
Kendra @ www.joyinourhome.com says
January 21, 2018 at 9:23 PMMost amazing DIY I’ve seen lately!!
Erin Meyer says
January 24, 2018 at 10:25 AMOh my goodness! Thank you!!!
Heather says
January 20, 2018 at 3:04 PMThese are gorgeous. How are they holding up though? Bifolds have such a horrible habit of coming off track and I was curious if the extra weight on them affected that at all. Thanks – and beautiful job!
Erin Meyer says
January 20, 2018 at 4:48 PMI totally know what you mean about the doors coming off track. This has happened with almost ALL of our bifold doors around the house. We have had these hung for over a year (despite just finishing them off now), and we have had NO problem with them coming off track, despite the added weight. Hope that helps 🙂
Jessica says
January 19, 2018 at 5:49 PMThis is incredible!! It looks so good!
Toni | Small Home Soul says
January 19, 2018 at 9:16 AMWhat a great idea and update, it looks perfect! All the people with standard bi-fold doors are going to run out and get their supplies 🙂
Erin Meyer says
January 19, 2018 at 6:16 PMHa! It certainly was a fun project and such a great way to update those boring doors 🙂
Gabby says
January 16, 2018 at 11:42 PMWow! This is an awesome transformation Erin. Love it!
Erin Meyer says
January 19, 2018 at 6:04 PMThanks Gabby… Might be one of my favorites 🙂
Susan McCall says
January 15, 2018 at 4:33 PMgreat look, i want to steel this.
Erin Meyer says
January 19, 2018 at 6:03 PMSteal away 🙂
Kelli says
January 13, 2018 at 10:12 PMHoly cow! That’s a huge transformation. Maybe procrastination was a good thing here. It really looks awesome. When I added mdf strips to my boring by-pass doors, there was a noticable weight difference. Did you run into any issues with this?
Erin Meyer says
January 19, 2018 at 6:03 PMThe doors are definitely heavier, but they still open and close easily, so I don’t mind it 🙂
Cece Woodward says
January 13, 2018 at 12:34 PMLove it! I have a door to the our basement located off the kitchen, but in the entry way, that I would love to make into a barn door but a dutch barn door. One that opens in half, like the top is open, and bottom closed.
Erin Meyer says
January 19, 2018 at 6:02 PMThis would be SO cute as a dutch door!
Kathy H says
January 13, 2018 at 10:52 AMWow, huge improvement! I am so not a fan of bifolds, we put them (8 sets) in a house we remodeled several years ago & I have hated them since. We had no choice but to put them in our entry way closets but I had my hubby take the hinges off & switch them around to make them open in the middle if that makes sense. I am happy with the results. Your solution is perfect, you can hardly tell they are bifolds! & for cheap too. Good job!
Erin Meyer says
January 19, 2018 at 6:01 PMThank you Kathy! I feel like bifold doors are just kinda boring, so this DIY definitely made them look better… and I was pleasantly surprised at how easy and cheap it was 🙂
Sharon Sikorski says
May 13, 2018 at 12:47 PMHi Erin! I came across your post while searching for ideas to change out my bifolding plantation style doors that hide my laundry ‘area’, which looks a lot like the one in your photos. Do you think I could do the same with the plantation style bifolding doors? I am so excited to see your post! Thank you for posting!
Sharon