DIY sliding barn door and chalkboard wall

BARN DOOR & CHALKBOARD WALL TUTORIAL

When we first moved into our home, I knew right away that the wall around our pantry desperately needed something. It was a blank and boring wall that needed to make a statement. I saw several homes on Instagram that had added barn doors to laundry rooms and pantries. I loved the idea and decided this would be the perfect wall for a barn door! After we decided on the barn door, I saw all these chalkboard walls and how easy it was to use chalkboard paint and decided that would be perfect compliment to the door. Let me walk you thru the process!

Building the door: Everyone’s barn door will be specific to their own home and your own wall measurements. For the door itself we used 1×5 and cut them down to exact 1×4. For the under pieces running vertical we used 1×4 and cut them down to 1×3. Our door is 32in wide and about 84ins tall. To get the desired thickness for our space, we had to plane our 1×3″ base pieces of wood down to 3/4 of and inch. We planed the front accent pieces down to 1/2 of an inch. This gave us an overall thickness of 1 and 1/4 inches for our door. This fit our hardware perfectly. Finally, we cut the length of all the 1×3″ boards down to 84″. Once we had all our wood cut and planed to the right size, we began joining the 1×3″ boards with wood glue. This was a slow process, but we started with 3 pieces. We put a bead of glue in-between each piece, lined them up (paying attention to the length), clamped them together, and let them dry for about 30 minutes. Once the glue dried, we added two more to the outside edges using more wood glue. We repeated this process until we had the door to our desired width. After we completed the base for our door, we began adding the accent pieces to the front of the door to make it aesthetically pleasing and, just as important, to add stability and strength to the door. We custom cut the pieces to fit, measuring each piece as we progressed. As the wood was cut, we glued and clamped it down on the door. We also added 1″ wood screws, through the back of the door and into the accent pieces, to help hold it together.

Mounting the accent piece and hardware: We decided to add a 1×6″ board over the existing door to complete the look, and again, to add strength. This board sat on top of the preexisting door frame and provided the stability needed to hold the door. We were afraid the drywall wasn’t strong enough. Once we custom fit the 1×6 over the door, we attached the hardware. Next, we attached the corresponding hardware to the door to make sure it rolled properly back and forth. My husband had to sand a few spots down where the door was dragging. Finally, we attached a guide on the floor to make sure the door wouldn’t swing into or away from the wall.

Chalkboard Wall: For the chalkboard wall we used a 1/4″ piece of plywood. We cut the plywood down to fit the space right on the preexisting door frame and in-between the accent piece above the door frame and baseboards. Next, I painted 3 coats of chalkboard paint. Finally, we attached the board to the wall with a finishing nailer.

This was our basic pantry wall before we livened it up, adding a beautiful, custom barn door & a fun chalkboard wall.

The photos below were taken after we completed the project. This area in our kitchen has become one of my favorite places to change up season to season.