diy slat barn door

you guys – we did it!

finally mustered up the courage and the intimidation of the chop saw and even the nail gun (that thing scares me, low key). i tend to stray away from projects that involve woodworking or a table saw – but since i got the big plywood cut at lowe’s (they do it for you!) and only needed a miter saw for the trim, this was super achievable!

items needed (links here):

• 1 plywood sheet – i got mine cut to fit my hardware: 76″ x 36″ at 0.5 inch thick
• 10-12 pine trim slats – thickness was 0.75″ w x 0.5″ h, ours came in 10 ft form that we later cut
• minwax wood filler – you only need a tiny amount
• detail sander
• stain of your choice – i did natural + early american mix
• nail gun with small 0.5 inch finishing nails – if you need a new nail gun, i’d recco this!
• wood glue

here’s what we did:

1. get plywood sheet cut to size – best thing about lowes or home depot is that they cut it for you for free! now you don’t have to figure out that table saw, lol.

2. here’s the plywood as a barndoor – I knew it was missing something since it looks like a piece of plywood. so, I got some more inspiration and knew the slat trim was the way to go!

3. got around 12 10-foot trim sticks that I cut to size with a miter/chop saw. I had an overall vision and goal of what I wanted to do, but really – I was winging it and figuring it out as i went. just made sure i had an overall vision.

4. cut the trim to size of the door and laid down to plan out the design – put glue down first and then nailed to the board!

5. before sanding down, i added wood filler to hide the nail holes. and then sanded it to smooth out the edges and wood filler.

6. stained it with 70% natural, 30% early american

7. put it back on the hardware and that’s it!

thankful that #diydad (my dad!) taught me how to use the tools and watched him over the years. hoping his handiness is/will wear off on me.

what do you think of the diy slat barn door? we love it’s organic yet modern feel! and i think it built my courage up to bust out the chop saw again, we’ll see.