Using Barn Doors Inside your Home by Joe Szabo, Scottsdale Real Estate Team - Scottsdale Real Estate Team / Arizona Luxury Homes

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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

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. 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.

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.