Barn Doors

Barn doors are a great feature in the right place. Recently we were asked to design a large barn door to separate a new custom kitchen from a butlers pantry and utility area. The space was mostly contemporary with eclectic touches and some historic character. The owner found a reference photo showing a pair of old doors similar to our finished design. The practical difference is our finished design appears to be a pair of doors when in fact it functions as barn doors on typical barn door hardware. We used reclaimed wood with gorgeous natural character. It was sanded to be smooth to the touch while leaving a good amount of natural texture. Finished with a warm honey stain to bring out the wood character and a satin lacquer topcoat for richness and resistance to abuse. The recessed panels were custom designed and fabricated specifically for this project. The inserts were then given a glazed patina to resemble old gesso panels.

The mechanism to open the doors is a heavy duty wrought iron rail with large pulley type wheels. The finished door panel weighs around 120 pounds and capacity of our barn door hardware is 300 pounds so no worries on safety and security. It slides with ease in both directions. Whether the door is open or closed it visually stands strong with the feel of an historic estate piece giving character and beauty to the kitchen and breakfast room. The finished door is 96″ h x 60″x 2.5″ thick. The rail extends above with room to spare in our case. The back side is also finished  as it is seen from the butlers pantry. The rear side is less ornate in part for practical budget reasons. If the condition warranted an equally elaborate face, we would have produced that face with the same motif. One solution for a project like this could be to find something similar from an architectural salvage source and modify to try and achieve a similar outcome. This was s uniquely cool project for us. It was located in Hollywood Florida in a private residence. Since this project we have been commissioned to fabricate other barn doors for custom conditions. I will plan to post some pics of those when they are complete.