I’ll be honest, I never wanted to install a sliding bathroom door. Don’t get me wrong, I love the way they look, but they just aren’t functional as far as privacy. Installing a slider door to our bathroom entrance became a necessity when I moved our bed to the wall beside the bathroom and we didn’t have the space to open the door. What about privacy? I’m not going to lie, it’ hasn’t been ideal. It’s a known fact that a traditional door will always allow more privacy than sliding interior doors, especially to a small bathroom. Let me show you a few things we’ve done to enhance privacy and also share a few sliding bathroom barn door ideas!
Our bedroom is very narrow and wall space is limited so placing the bed in an ideal spot has been a challenge. Here is a look at our bedroom with the slider door to the bathroom. Even though barn doors are most of the time solid doors, they still lack some privacy.
It has been a huge help and excellent choice as far as space saving, but we’ve lost a good bit of privacy. I’m ok with it, but my husband would probably tell you that he preferred the old swinging door any day over this (even if it hits the bed).
The issue with this type of door (bathroom sliders) is that most barn doors do have a small space between the door frame and the barn door. Unlike a pocket door, it sits outside the door slab and will always have that small opening that allows noise, natural light and most of all, privacy, out.
That space is annoying enough to feel like you don’t have any privacy. So is there such a thing as a perfect sliding barn door to the bathroom? I’ve looked high and low and I can’t find one to purchase, but I do have a good idea with a simple solution on how to help this.
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How to add privacy to a sliding barn door for a bathroom
In an effort to add a little more privacy to bathroom, I added a 1″ by 2″ furring strip board to the left side of the door. This works to close in the gap between the door frame and the door and also provide a small sound buffer. Let me show you.
I tried to add a strip to the right side, but it kept hitting the door frame when it closed. I’m in the process of figuring this out currently. If you have a solid track on the bottom of the floor and your door and wall are straight (ours aren’t), adding furring strips to both sides of the door should work.
Even though this little furring strip closes a small gap, it helps tremendously with privacy. I would suggest using this tip especially if you are using sliding doors for bathtub doors or really any space!
I hope this helps provide a simple idea on how to add a little more privacy to a sliding door into a bathroom. After a bit of research to see what others have done, this seems to be the simplest (and most eye pleasing) way to add a buffer to the door.
If you have any other successful ideas please let me know in the comments!
Sliding Barn Door ideas for the Bathroom
While I’m sharing our sliding door, I figured I would share a handful of other ideas too. Let’s start with our post.
Smart Standard Sliding Barn Door Kits with barn door hardware for the Bathroom
Check out how we purchased an affordable barn door with hardware kit on Amazon and installed it for our master bathroom. I thought long and hard about making my own barn door, but ultimately found a very affordable option that saved time and money. It just made more sense to buy this than make my own. There are only a few small instances where I think it’s better to buy than DIY. Well this is one of them! I love how it really makes a focal point on this wall now.
How to Build a Rustic Barn Door for beginners
If you are looking to create your own rustic barn door to a bathroom, see how Charleston Crafted designed, built and installed their own. The good thing about building your own door is that you can focus on privacy and alter the door as you wish to ensure a good buffer between the room and bathroom.
Modern Sliding Barn Door
Check out this modern sliding painted barn door from Lovely etc. It has a beautiful clean lines and the silver hardware really compliments the bright white paint. If you are looking for a more modern look, this is a great tutorial!
DIY Modern Barn Door to Bathroom
Speaking of modern sliding door, check out this beautiful DIY modern barn door that leads into the bathroom.
Beautiful Wood Door DIY
This next barn door is just stunning! You had me at “woods and whites.” Check out this easy tutorial on how to make your own solid wood barn door.
How to Build a Barn Door with Plywood and 1×6 boards
Learn how to build a sliding barn door with only a sheet of plywood and a few trim boards. This simple tutorial shares how Vineta created a beautiful door to her bathroom! This is a very unique door style and seems simple enough to make for a single barn door.
I hope this list has given you some good insight into how to create your own sliding barn door for the bathroom and also some tips to create a door that provides a little more privacy. As always, thanks for following!
Lindsey**
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