How To Choose a Sliding Barn Door

Sliding barn doors are an on-trend way to add charm and function to your home. I love the way our recent install turned out! However, it took us quite a while to determine what we wanted. It's not always simple to figure which one fits the space and gives you the look you want.

Although we went with the classic Z-style door for a nod to the casual farmhouse look we wanted, I played around with other styles and colors online first. To help decide, I used Wayfair's View In Room feature. First find the door you like, click the View In Room button, and hold it up in your room to see how it looks. Using your phone's camera, you can even screenshot the image in your space. Here are a couple I tried out and took screenshots of:

I was leaning towards this dark stained door option until I saw it in my room. I liked the shiplap-looking texture of the door, but with our darker wood floors and furniture, it looked too heavy. Also, the black matte hardware I wanted just didn't pop.

I decided to go with the white door painted to match our trim. However, I felt this basic white door selection needed some interest beyond the hardware.

I ended up finding one I liked on Amazon. I went with a simple Z brace door with shiplap-looking backing, which added some texture and still remained pretty neutral. Not all the doors I found online came with the mounting hardware or handles...this one was complete and came as a kit, so I felt good everything would come together easily...the one I chose is here.

On to the measurements and installation. We looked at sliding doors installed in several local model homes, and the best-looking doors extended slightly beyond the doorway and door trim. They also had about a 1" gap between the floor and the bottom of the door. We realized a header was necessary for support. In some of model homes we visited, the sliding door's movement over time had created small cracks in the drywall.

However, when we measured our own doorway, we realized ours with the trim is wider than the standard. Unfortunately, the one we chose on Amazon would be too narrow. We ended up needing to go with a custom door. Luckily, I found a Houston-based company close to home that makes sliding barn doors. They made exactly what I wanted including paint and installation.

After a month in production, our installer arrived and it went up in a little over an hour. Here's the door as it arrived and the install process:

I adore the finished product! I think it's a classic but still on-trend look that will blend with other styles when I want to switch out the look of the space. What do you think?