I’ve been working on a little laundry room makeover and first posted about my inspiration and e-design last week. I wanted to share some before photos of our laundry room and explain some more about why a barn door was the perfect solution for us.
Our laundry room is in a small hallway just off the living room and on the way to the master bedroom. It’s a small area and its more like a vestibule and a huge waste of space. The actual laundry room is pretty small and only about five feet wide and eight feet deep. But to be honest, I am so thankful for this laundry room. At our old apartment the washer and dryer were in the garage, so I will take this small room over a garage any day.
Because the room is so small when the door is open, it takes up half the space and doesn’t allow use of the counter top and cabinets unless you like being in small rooms with the door closed. I don’t, so I rarely use the counter or cabinets. Another problem is the door knob – it hits the counter top causing the door to not swing open all the way. I cannot tell you how many times I have hit my hip walking in the room with a basket of dirty clothes.
I’m so happy to say goodbye to this pesky door and hello to my new barn door from Rustica Hardware. A sliding door is going to solve all of our problems. During the collaboration with the design team, we discovered there is not enough clearance to slide a three foot wide door all the way back to allow access into the room.
From this angle you can see how small the wall next to the laundry room is and unfortunately our thermostat is also in the way. Luckily, the design team is so amazing that none of this mattered and they had the perfect solution – a bypass system.
The bypass system is two smaller doors that when closed create a larger door that will cover the door opening. When sliding them open, one door will slide back behind the other creating one small door. The design team was so thoughtful, they even created a mock up of how the doors would function in my space. They would only be 20 inches wide each, just small enough to fit in our tight space, but combined at 40 inches would be able to cover the 36 inch door opening.
Then the design team and I started talking about door design. I wanted something similar to the existing panel doors in my home and wanted to recreate the look of my inspiration board with the acrylic opening and laundry typography. We decided to take a risk and go with two different doors, one being two paneled and the other with a pane of acrylic.
I then got creative and added some lettering to mimic the look of lettered decals to spell out laundry, just like in my inspiration board.
The co-founder and designer of Rustica Hardware, Paul says “I will find a way, or I will make a way” and he did just that for my small room dilemma. He also believes doors can be canvases of art, modes of expression and are unique. One of their mottos is “innovation that makes your life better”. Having these doors will make our lives so much easier and bring a beautiful piece of art to our home. I cannot wait to get these doors hung and the rest of my laundry room put together. Joe and I have been working so hard to get it all done and I can’t wait to share!
Amazing!!! Love love love! You've totally inspired me to do the same! Our laundry room is the only room that could take a barn door (every other room in our home has an entry at an angle or walls that would cut off a door sliding open. I'm so excited! Xo Haneen
Oh its gonna be so fun!
Did Rustica Hardware make the doors in addition to the sliding hardware?
Hi Kristy! Yes they did 🙂
Oh, WOW, what a transformation, and I’m a wood lover! My kitchen was redone in a “coffee house theme” with dark cabs and black countertop. We’re updating the adjoining rooms with really light blues, so I’m thinking the kitchen will be a big dark hole, despite a large window. We’re also moving next year, and I think the dark kitchen will not appeal to buyers, so after seeing this post, I’m all set to update my kitchen cabinets. Can’t afford to change out the tile backsplash, so I’m going to try this with a more almond-white color. Thanks so much for posting! You’ve given me the confidence to help my husband come up with the idea!
I love you! Thank you for your blog and your post about your laundry room door! I have the exact same situation, and have lived with no door (to hide my messy laundry room) for years. I have pinned so many sliding barn doors, wishing I could have one for my laundry room. NOW I CAN, thanks to YOU!!! Much gratitude!
You’ve inspired me as well…. however, all of our doorways have cutoffs and will not allow a sliding barn door. I was thinking to put the hardware on the inside of the room but how would that look from the outside? I’d love your brain to help me solve this. I can’t use the bypass system even – still not enough room on the outside wall.
Hello, was it expensive to get the custom door made and installed, I would love something similar for my laundry room. I have been trying to figure out what to do and this perfect. Will home depot install since they sell the doors?
Hi! I’m not sure if Home Depot will install but I would ask an employee at your local store. You can also contact Rustica Hardware for pricing regarding a custom door. We installed it ourselves, its pretty easy!
I’m on Rustica’s site and I’m so glad I found this blog! We have the exact same dilemma, same size door opening, and need the exact same system. My husband will make two 20″ doors for me, but I need to order the bypass track. How long is your track? 6 feet? I’m not sure which length to order.
I’m not sure, if you contact Rustica and refer to me they have all of the details! 🙂