Barn Doors with Style

Barn doors take up little floor space, are easy to open and close, and come in a range of styles, including rustic and refined. Want to add one to your decor? Browse these ideas for putting sliding barn doors to good use in your home, inside and out.

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Hang a Focal Point

barn door

Barn doors, generally hung singly or in pairs, roll across rails or tracks installed above and outside door openings. They are relatively easy to install and very easy to open and close. This rustic number, stylishly detailed with horseshoe hardware, beefs up interest in all-white spaces and, when a party's on tap, can be rolled shut to hide party-related messes in the kitchen.

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Consider Barn Door Style

country doors

Take time to shop around for antique, salvaged, new, or custom-crafted barn doors to ensure you get doors and installation hardware that perfectly suit your decor. This pair of finely finished barn doors features raised X designs that play off patterns in the flooring and window muntins. The doors' silhouettes accented with black iron handles and hinges complement this home's Tuscan style.

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Generate Vintage Ambience

Wooden Door with Metal Detail

If you live in an old home or a home with a distinct architectural style, choose doors that stay in step with your home's origins or design ethos. This old-fashioned five-panel door slides across a galvanized-steel track to close off the bathroom, where the same type of doors provide interest on the far wall. Not just for doorways, barn doors can also move into play as privacy screens for windows and glass exterior doors.

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Take It Outside

barn doors

Barn doors have long dressed garages, garden sheds, and, of course, barns. So, it only makes sense to incorporate the doors into alfresco entertaining spaces. These clever homeowners devised a way to do just that: They suspended a pair of white-trimmed barn doors to enclose a patio-side kitchen. They throw open the doors when guests arrive and close them later to secure bar supplies and protect cabinetry from the elements.

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Go Country

barn door

It's no surprise that barn doors work well in homes boasting farmhouse flair and vintage cottage charm; they perfectly complement beamed ceilings, board-and-batten walls, and beaded-board details. Keep architecturally rich spaces from appearing too busy by choosing simply profiled barn doors painted to match adjoining walls.

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Think Bright and Airy

white livingroom

Massive barn doors visually anchor tall ceilings and neatly span wide doorways. When painted with a glossy white finish, they become airy backdrops that spotlight a room's furnishings while reflecting light from nearby windows. These vertically planked doors have an antique feel, but you'll find more modern barn doors made from different types of glass and others that are clad in mirror or leather.

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Small-Space Solution

barn doors

Because barn doors slide horizontally instead of swinging outward into a room, they're a space-saving solution for rooms located off narrow hallways, such as powder rooms and coat closets, as well as foyers, kids' bedrooms, and other spaces where every inch of floor space counts. In public spaces, opt for doors equipped with windows that let light flow between adjacent rooms; windows also lighten the appearance of heavy barn doors.

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Change Your Look

kitchen

Unlike pocket doors, which slide through doorframes into adjacent walls, barn doors and their track systems can be hung by handy do-it-yourselfers in a short amount of time. This allows you to switch out ho-hum doors with more stylish gateways (like this lovely Craftsman-style door) that look great whether rolled open against a contrasting wall, tightly closed, or left partially ajar.

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Creatively Convert

sliding door

Almost any door can take on barn door status when outfitted with the proper hanging hardware and a coordinating track system; both are readily available at home centers and through online retailers. Most likely an entry door in its previous life, this salvaged relic now provides genteel access to a pantry and weathered panache to a new kitchen hallway.

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Divide and Hide

treadmill, tv, barn doors, doors on track, work out room

When thrown open, barn doors allow traffic, light, and conversation to flow through this urban loft space. When closed, they keep the utilitarian workout room hidden from entertaining spaces. A black paint finish and shiny black hardware give the doors a progressive attitude that complements the home's concrete floors, gray palette, and hip furnishings.

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Metal Barn Door

kitchen

Metals, whether applied as new cladding, pieced-together remnants, decorative details, or faux paint finishes, transform barn doors into fetching focal points that enhance eclectic spaces and industrial designs. This statuesque pantry door, hung well above the doorframe, and its sculptural wheeled rollers always capture attention and kick-start conversations.

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Barn Door Costs

Innovation Kitchen

Shop home stores for inexpensive, unfinished barn-style doors (a 24-inch-wide panel or plank door can be had for around $100) that you can customize with paint or stain and a track system that suits your home's style and your budget. Depending on the type and the material, rolling track systems and installation hardware range in price from $60 to $500, with more detailed systems costing more.

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