Elmer Jacobi
I’ve been wanting to give our tiny master closet an update for awhile now. But before I can deal with the mess inside the closet, I knew there was another problem I needed to address first – the sliding doors. This project has two main parts – the logistics of converting the sliding doors into hinged french doors and the wood plank pattern I added to make them beautiful. I have a separate post that details how to make your doors gorgeous with wood planks.
and – these need to be long enough to go across the top of your closet door frame sandpaper crow bar – you may or may not need this depending on how your sliding door track is installed
– you may or may not need this depending on how your sliding door track is installed circular saw or – for attaching wood to the top of the door frame tape measure
Just pull the bottom of the doors toward you a bit and then lift them off the track. This may be a really easy process or a huge pain depending on what type of doors you have and how they were installed.
Unfortunately, my own sliding door track wasn’t so easy to remove. I had to remove the trim from the front and back of the closet doorframe in order to access the sliding door track.
(Some home improvement stores don’t carry 1″x5″ boards. It’s a good idea to measure the width of your specific door frame before buying your wood.) To figure out the correct size for your doors, measure the width of the inside of the doorframe. (If you aren’t sure what type of doors you have, it is pretty easy to tell when you remove them.
Typically, hollow core doors have a good margin of solid wood around each of the edges. I only needed to cut a very small amount off each of my doors, so it wasn’t a problem at all.
Cutting off a large amount could get into the hollow area and cause an issue. And if your doors need too much removed to safely trim them, you may be better off buying inexpensive flat panel doors from the Habitat for Humanity ReStore in the correct size instead.
I was nervous about this part of the project because this was my first time hanging a door, but it was actually really easy. Before attaching the hinges, you need to take a few measurements to figure out the placement.
I just used another door in my house as a guide and attached my hinges at the same heights. Lay your door on the ground with the side where the hinges will go facing up.
Hold the hinge in place and predrill holes for the screws. I used a piece of scrap wood that was 3/4″ thick to hold my door up to a good height while I attached the hinges. This made it so much easier to hang these doors without a second pair of hands. Once the doors are hung, there are just a couple of final details to take care of to make sure they work well.
A lot of people use ball catches to hold closet doors like this closed, but I read quite a few reviews that said they don’t work very well and wear down easily. Then I found this youtube video that recommended these magnetic catches instead and I’m so happy I did.
The magnetic catches are super cheap at around a dollar each, they are extremely easy to install, and so far they are working great. So I continued the makeover with a beautiful chevron wood plank pattern and some fresh paint. You can see the full tutorial for that part of the project here, but here’s a sneak peek of the final results.
You can find the full tutorial for the second part of this project, adding the awesome wood plank design, right here.
