Monday, November 18, 2013

Barn Door

I realized that I hadn't posted any pictures of the Barn Door project (thanks for the comment Elizabeth!)  We love the idea of a barn door and we were trying to figure out where to utilize one.  We thought it would be a great addition to the main floor powder bath.  Our good friends, the Phillips, have an old family farm with some old barns.  We bought the hardware from them.  I gave the rail a good sanding and then a fresh coat of black paint.
 I was able to hit two studs on both ends of the rail.  For the middle bolt, I cut a hole in the drywall from the bathroom side and added some bracing to make sure it won't fall down.
 The rail is secure and ready for a door!
 The door hardware needed some work, I ended up cutting off the old wheels and added new ones.
 For the door, I used pre-primed mdf boards and used a Kreg pocket jig to make pocket holes...
 All laid out...
 ...with pocket holes to attach everything together.
 The planks attached together.  I then added the front board to make the frame and attached the brackets.
 ...and hung up and ready to roll!
 Added a handle and we have a functional bathroom door!
It took a little work to adjust the rollers so they will slide inside the rail, but after some fine tuning the door is working great!

Coat Closet

Time for another home project update!  Today's feature...the coat closet.  For those of you that don't what the details of the project, here is the before...
 ...and here is the after.  Old doors removed, barn door for the bathroom and open space for the coat closet.
 Now for the details.  We started during "construction week" by pulling out the old doors...jambs and all.  Brent helped me add new dry wall, metal corners and get everything taped and mudded.  We then used a can of spray texture to put the final touch before painting!
 Then to the stencil, I started at the bottom knowing that there would be a bench to cover it up if I messed up...I used a repositionable spray adhesive on the back, that way I could move and stick the stencil as I went!  The stencil is a 16 x 16 square...so two blocks down...lots to go!
 I worked my way up the back wall, bending the corners as much as I could.
For the bench, we used two of Ikea's Expedit cubes and secured them to the wall.  Then cut a slab of mdf for the top.  Then Heather found a foam pad for the top.
Heather also found some old pillow's at Goodwill for $2 or $3 each.  Then she found these great pillow covers at Hobby Lobby for $5.  New pillows for under $10!
Then we added coat hooks to the back and side walls to hang our jackets!
I ended up creating another stencil from a sheet of leftover vinyl to paint the corners, it was easier to bend and seal into the corners.
The finished product, baskets under the bench have our hats and gloves.
We still need to find a fabric to cover the bench, but it is pretty much finished!