Barn Doors: The Space-Saving Solution That Can Enhance Your Home


By Masonite

These aren't your farmer's barn doors; barn doors can complement any style of home, from traditional to modern and everything in between.

Angled view of a transitional dining room with grey walls, a large window, a house plant, a modern bench, and a closed glass solid-core barn with 6 panels and a black grid and rail

When you think of interior barn doors, what comes to mind? Many people immediately jump to the rustic farmhouse style, complete with cross beams and painted wood panels. Sure, that description is true for some barn doors, but not all. As barn doors have increased in popularity over the years, so has the selection. Today, you can find barn doors in a wide range of styles, from classic to modern. More options mean more people with distinct interior design preferences can enjoy the benefits barn doors offer, both aesthetic and functional.

Read on to learn more about barn doors, including the benefits of installing a barn door in your space and the top ideas for barn door usage.

Benefits of Adding a Barn Door to Your Home

There are four main benefits to adding a barn door to your home:

1. Save Space

While standard doors swing open, taking up extra space within a room, barn doors slide along the wall on a mounted track. This functionality allows you to maximize space throughout a home.

Have an old swinging door in between your primary bedroom and en suite bathroom that opens into your vanity or cabinets? Replace it with a barn door, so you can access that vanity with ease, regardless of whether the door is open or closed.

Maybe you have a kitchen pantry or bookshelves in an office and a swinging door that prevents you from getting items off the shelves (unless you step in and close the door first). With a barn door, all the space in your rooms, including the wall space, can be utilized.

Other areas of your home where saving space can be crucial include smaller rooms and closets; playrooms and dens; and crowded hallways where swinging doors can collide with each other.

Exactly how much space can you save? Our barn door kits can help save up to 14 square feet compared to traditional swinging interior doors. That's a lot of extra space!

a one panel gray barn door open between living room and additional space
Lincoln Park 1 Panel Barn Door Kit

2. Elevate Style

A barn door's small overall footprint also allows you to get creative with how you use it to enhance the overall aesthetic of your space. With a variety of door designs, from classic to modern, and several glass options to increase natural light flow in your home, you can find the perfect sliding door option for your home.

Want more inspiration? Take a look at our barn door kits in a range of styles.

a white two panel barn door between a living room and dining room
Logan 2 Panel Barn Door Kit

3. Flexibly Increase Privacy

Possibly the most obvious benefit, but also the most important, is the division between spaces that a barn door provides. Want a space to feel roomy and inviting? Slide that barn door open! Want some privacy? Simply slide it shut. Whether you’re looking to fully close off a room, or simply hide shelving and bar spaces, this added level of privacy and flexibility can breathe new life and functionality into spaces throughout a home.

While swinging bedroom doors between a room and the hallway offer the most privacy, choosing an interior sliding door kit is a great way to add privacy between a primary bedroom and bathroom. Or use a barn door to hide clutter in a playroom when guests visit.

a coastal grandmother bedroom with a teal barn door separating bedroom from bathroom
Lincoln Park 1 Panel Barn Door Kit

4. Install with Ease

While barn doors and pocket doors follow a similar gliding track system, barn doors are much easier to install, as they can be hung directly on a wall or existing door frame. Our barn door kits include easy-to-follow instructions and everything you need — except tools — to mount and install a barn door above an entryway or opening of your choosing.

The best part is that these barn door kits can be installed in 90 minutes or less. A DIY barn door is a great weekend home improvement project! Preview our in-depth installation instructions here.

Need Barn Door Ideas? Start Here.

If you need a little inspiration before your barn door installation, here are three ideas for where to add one in your home.

Plus Up Your Pantry

Pantries are busy spaces, especially during mealtime, and an outswing door is just one more thing to bump into while you're holding a pot of boiling water or searching for the right ingredients. With a sliding barn door, you can leave your pantry door open without sacrificing space, and easily close it off when the little ones (or furry friends) come snooping around for snacks.

an craftsman organic kitchen with green cabinets and a 6 lite metal barn door between the kitchen and pantry
6-Lite Metal Barn Door Kit

Cloffices

With the work-from-home era stronger than ever, many homeowners need more home office space. One notable trend is the "cloffice," otherwise known as the closet-office hybrid. Since those converting a closet into an office already have limited space, sliding closet doors help maximize space-saving efforts and turn unused space into a winning work-from-home solution.

Pictured here: Lincoln Park 1 Panel Barn Door Kit

Laundry Rooms and Mudrooms

These areas of the home are where a lot of life's clutter and mess quite literally pile up. It's important to be able to move between these rooms and the rest of the house easily and close them off when you need to — when guests arrive or if you just want to hide from your mess for a little while. With a sliding barn door, you can leave the space open or nudge it with your foot when you're holding a full laundry hamper, and slide it shut when you don't want guests to see all the backpacks, muddy boots and parkas on the floor.

a 2 panel plank barn door in sandy brown that's open between a living room and laundry room
2 Panel Plank Sandy Brown Barn Door Kit

Ready to find the perfect barn door for your home? Check out where to buy Masonite barn door kits today.

Last Updated: August 20, 2024