DIY sliding closet door, the un-barn door

My daughter lived without a closet door for more than a year. Which was excruciating, because she is ultra neat and tidy. She makes her bed military style first thing every morning, won’t let anyone come in her room with shoes on, and is very particular with her belongings.

I acquired three 6 panel doors somehow. Either from Habitat for Humanity or a garage sale or something. They must’ve been very cheap because I can’t remember how much I paid.

Originally I planned to use the doors to replace my flat panel bedroom doors. Then I got the hairbrained idea to install one of them as a closet door in my daughters room, while she was away at camp. However, when I brought the door into her room it was waaaaay too short.

My plan was to use a metal sliding closet door track (that picked up at Habitat for $5) to hang the door. Which meant that the door had to be quit a bit taller than the opening and trim. So I went back to habitat to look for a taller door, to no avail.

So I decided to use the flat panel door(currently in the entrance to her room)for the closet and put the six panel door in her bedroom entrance opening. The flat panel door made more sense to lengthen and add shiplap paneling. As she still really loves the modern farmhouse esthetic.

I marked the six panel door for hinges using the old door as a template.

And hung the six panel door in the entrance to her room. Fairly simple process…I did have to plane down the edge of the door a bit to fit without sticking. Other than that it was easy to hang. I used the original hinges and door handle.

Then I used two scrap 1×4’s sandwiched(screwed) together and added the sandwich to the bottom of the door to lengthen it to the height I needed. I used pocket holes to attach the 1×4’s to the bottom of the door. It worked like a charm.

Then I cut some thin plywood into shiplap style strips. The plywood is labeled as flooring underlayment at the hardware store. So it’s very light, easy to cut, and affordable. I used what I had in my garage stash.

I sanded all the cut strips of plywood before attaching them to the door.

I used construction adhesive to attach them to the door. As well as some small brad nails on each end of the door to really hold the plywood in place until the glue dried.

I hung the metal closet door track on the wall by screwing the track into the studs. It’s crucial to hit the studs and not just the drywall. Then I screwed the two roller things on the top of the door and slid the door into the track. All very easy, even as I worked alone.

I filled all the nail holes with wood putty, sanded and painted both doors.

Now she has a bedroom entrance door that looks so much better than the previous flat panel door, and a new closet door that looks and functions so beautifully.

This project was long awaited by my daughter. I promised a closet door for a long time and she patiently waited. It definitely makes the room feel more quiet because the closet chaos is behind a closed door.

All in all this was a fairly simple project. It took me a day and a half to complete. It’s not perfect(I’d really like to hang the track from the ceiling and get taller door)but it’s far better than it was. And it cost me next to nothing to complete, and that is a win in my book!