Barn doors, made extra popular by their frequent exhibition on Tiny House Nation, are so versatile and stylish that they’re turning up in homes all over Utah. At Rocky Mountain Windows & Doors, we sell a wide selection of barn doors appropriate for all types of décor, and we even install them for you!
What Are Barn Doors For?
Barn doors are a fun way to add style anywhere in your home, but they are often chosen for their space-saving properties.
The hallmark of this type of door is how it’s installed in your home. Barn doors can be put on hinges and swing open and closed like French doors, but they more often are mounted on rods on the wall above the door’s opening. Homeowners slide the doors back and forth over the rods to close a room off or open it back up again. These rods are often made of wrought iron, brass or another type of metal. They can be made to be a predominant part of the design, or they can blend into the background.
This method of mounting saves precious space that you will no longer need to leave clear for a door to swing out or in. Common usages for barn doors include for closets in small bedrooms; in a laundry room, pantry or another small space like a linen closet; on a shed; for windows instead of shades or even to cloak a large-screen TV. They block out light better and may even help you save energy if your windows are old.
Rustic Barn Doors
You may think a barn door is inherently rustic, but that’s not always true. Many barn doors in Utah are made of barnboard, or at least they’re made to look like barnboard. That means fairly wide planks held together by z-bars and stained to look rough and weathered. A similar look is achieved by painting the barn doors and then wiping the paint off about a half-hour later for a weathered, antique look.
Here in Utah, rustic barn doors are all the rage, as many homeowners enjoy decorating in a Western style. Rustic barn doors are perfect in homes with lots of wood, exposed beams and maybe even a cowhide rug. Rocky Mountain Windows & Doors offers a range of real wood barn doors that show off a natural, knotty grain.
Modern Barn Doors
But just because barn doors have the word “barn” in them doesn’t mean you have to have a barn-style décor to use this versatile room diving solution.
You can get citified barn doors made of smooth, painted wood and frosted glass windows suitable for a bathroom door, reminiscent of the transoms in hotels in the 1950s. The purpose of a transom is to allow light in, and since they were placed over doors (the transom is actually the beam over the door) it’s the perfect way to preserve privacy while allowing in some natural light. Thus, these doors are perfect for bathrooms and even bathroom windows.
A metal barn door fits perfectly into a modern décor as well — with or without windows. As the years pass, if you get tired of the metal, simply paint it a fun color to give it a fresh, new look. The windows in your barn doors, whether you opt for clear glass, translucent or opaque, help deliver on the modern feel — and they provide a healthy dose of light, which can be especially important in an apartment.
Contemporary Barn Doors
You might be surprised by the fun styles you can find among contemporary barn doors. We offer more than a dozen design patterns for your barn doors, including x, z and chevron.
Imagine high ceilings with tall, dark wood doors, translucent window inserts and shiny, nickel-plated door handles. Another striking contemporary barn door style is a set of doors made of four glass panels each, surrounded by stainless steel frames.
Glass is a great feature in barn doors for both light and style, and Rocky Mountain Windows & Doors uses a supplier that offers many different types of glass for your barn doors. Depending on the door you select, your texture options may include clear glass, water (a blurry effect), reeds (a striped effect), rain (looks like droplets running down the glass) and cloud (opaque). Choose the privacy level you’re most comfortable with.
Mirrors are also an option for your barn doors — it’s the perfect spot to add a square, rectangle or full-length mirror. Another option on some doors is a blackboard panel. Use it to make grocery lists, or let your kids go to town with a box of chalk.
Barn Door Care in Utah
Most of our modern and contemporary-looking doors are made with MDF, which is a fairly heavy material that works well to keep out sound. If you opt for glass in your MDF doors, they will be a bit lighter.
MDF is easy to care for — simply wipe clean with a damp cloth. Clean the glass and mirrors as you ordinarily wood, being careful not to overspray if you’re using a bottled commercial cleaner.
Real natural wood doors should simply be wiped with a soft cloth to remove dust — no cleaning products are necessary. While commercially sold furniture “polishes” may not do any harm to your doors, they are unnecessary and may build up over time, affecting the look of your barn doors.
Barn Doors at Rocky Mountain Windows & Doors
Installing barn doors might be a fun DIY project, but it can also be frustrating if you don’t have the right tools and experience. Rely on Rocky Mountain Windows & Doors to install your barn doors, and get a warranty on the work and craftsmanship.
Contact us today to find out more about getting barn doors installed in your Utah home.