DIY Sliding Double Doors

So, here’s the deal….. we have a “pass through” laundry area…… not my favorite thing in the world, but hey, at least it’s not laundry in the garage….. something I REALLY wanted to avoid when we were looking for a new house last year.  But as any good realtor will remind you, you can’t always get EVERYTHING on your wish list when looking for a new home, and a big beautiful self-contained laundry room is DEFINITELY something I didn’t get.  😉
As with most pass through laundry areas, ours is a teeny tiny space in between the kitchen and the garage.  Here’s the view from the kitchen:

Washing machine on one side:

Dryer on the other (Also pictured here is a DIY folding shelf that Joshua built so I have more room for folding and holding things as I go!)

What’s the problem, you ask?  The problem (other than lack of counter space) is it’s SO STINKING LOUD when the washer is doing its thing!!!  The noise just goes right through the kitchen and into the dining & living room.  If you’re trying to have a conversation you have to raise your voice, or if you’re trying to watch television you have to turn the darn thing up!  First world problems, I know, but annoying nonetheless.  More than anything I wanted a way to close the laundry room off from the kitchen/dining/living area!
Our first obvious idea was to add a pocket door….. until we realized how expensive that would be.  My second thought was to do a small hanging barn door of sorts.  Definitely more affordable, but still out of the budget with the hardware alone being $300-$400.  Then I stumbled on a fantastic idea from a blog called Amazing Grays (http://katiemxoxo.blogspot.com/)!  Using plumbing supplies from a hardware store, they figured out a new way to do the “hanging/sliding barn doors” idea WAYYYYYY more affordably.  The main idea is that the doors sit/move on caster wheels and are supported/guided by eye screws on top that are attached to a pipe that’s suspended out from the wall.  (Don’t worry, full instructions are in the link below)  We followed their example almost to a tee, other than the fact that we didn’t have doors nearly as awesome as theirs to use.   With a doorway that was approximately 32 inches wide, and limited space on either side of the doorway, we opted to buy two bi-fold doors that would close to meet in the middle, instead of one full size door.  We went to Lowe’s to get our supplies and spent around $120 TOTAL….. that’s supplies and doors together!  Yippeeeee!!!!!!
To see the full instructions, just visit the Amazing Grays post here:  http://katiemxoxo.blogspot.com/2012/08/sliding-double-barn-doors.html
And here are a few pics from our own version!

Eye screws in the top of the door:

Caster wheels being screwed into the bottom of the door:

Chiseling a space for magnets to be screwed in.  This was our method of closing the doors….. small heavy duty magnets on the insides of both doors to keep them “latched.”

Getting the pipe ready to be screwed in above the doorway:

The pipe is secured to the wall via an elbow and a floor flange:

View of the other side:

Eye screws in use:

Castor wheels in use:

Added some small handles on both sides of the doors and we were done!
They obviously don’t block out ALL the noise of the laundry room, but definitely enough to make this project worth it!  🙂
Thanks for the idea Amazing Grays!!!

The only thing left on my mind…… should we paint the doors an accent color?…….. Hmmmmm……

Tags: diy, Do it yourself, Door, Doors, Hanging Doors, Sliding doors, Small Spaces