Barn doors to close up an entertainment center

I don’t like my TV as a focal point in my living space. So, I decided to take 2 IKEA BRIMNES bookshelves and make barn doors for them in order to hide the TV. I googled many, many “How-To’s” and combined various ideas other people had. And here it is!!!

Closed

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Items for Barn Doors:

• 2 hollow core doors
• 4 V-pulleys
• 1″ nylon spacers (I used 5)
• Lag screws to attach header to bookshelves
• Hex head screws #14
• Flat Aluminum Bar 1″ x 1/8″ x 96″
• Hex bolts
• Washers to fit screws
• 2 x 6 x 8 boards (2 pieces) for the top of the bookcase to make a header (you could use 2 x 12 x 8 but I liked the other look)
• Rustoleum black paint
• Cedar boards
• Liquid nails

Because I was doing a project like this for the first time I learned the hard way with many trips to Home Depot, Lowes, and Ace Hardware.

Ace Hardware is my favorite because they can cut the Aluminum bar for you AND drill the holes for the hardware.

Steps to hack barn doors for your entertainment enter

Attach the bookcases to the wall studs to secure. Then I used two 2″ x 6″ x 8″ boards over the top of the bookcase. I liked how it looked versus the 12″ board. Secure the boards with screws.

Then I went to a local steel company and bought an aluminum bar. It came 20ft in length. I had them cut it into 2 sections — one 8ft and another at 4ft.

Painted the bar, spacers, screws, washers, and bolts blacks. Drilled 5 holes in the bar to attach to the header. I used spacers and washers.

Bought 2 hollow core doors and painted them black. Added cedar boards to give it a barn door look, glued on with Liquid Nails. Measured how long I wanted the door and that was about ½ inch off the floor.

Now for the hardware. That was my challenge. I cut the aluminum door into four 12″ long pieces. After wasting my blade saws, drill bits, cutting crooked lines I found out Ace Hardware sells the aluminum in 3ft lengths and will cut the bars and drill holes with a drill press for you. They were the best help ever. I even brought them cookies at the end of my project.

Figure out where you want your hardware to hang and mount it. I used this diagram to help me figure it out.

This was a fun project and I learned a lot. Now I’m making a barn door between kitchen and laundry room.

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