Most times, we like a big open feel. For example, we had walls removed in the architectural plans for this house to have our living room, dining room and kitchen area all open to each other, and have never regretted this decision. It's especially pleasant when we have company, as there's just more room for comfortable visits in small groupings or in one big happy circle.
However--back to the bedroom/bathroom conundrum--we are really excited about how our solution for this turned out--and had quite a journey of trial and error to get there--so I thought it might be helpful to share it here on the iWiNK Randoms Blogspot. The steps below are where we actually landed through finding out what worked best, but admittedly not necessarily where we began.
Step I: Visit the Hardware Store!
I'm not gonna lie, our DIY projects sometimes have some try this--return this--until we land on the best solution, and this project was no exception, but here's what we ended up using in the final project:
(1) 1" x 4" x 8' oak board used to mount the pipe from which the doors hang, and is cut to aesthetically frame the width of the doors when fully opened
(3) 1" x 3" eye bolts with matching washers and nuts which are countersunk onto the oak board to then allow it to be mounted flush against the wall, and the plumbing pipe is threaded through the eyelets as well as the door rolling mechanisms
(1) 1" x 8' plumbing pipe we had custom cut and threaded
(2) plumbing pipe caps to screw on each end of the pole once it's up and in place
(8) 1.5" wood screws used to mount the oak board in place
(2) ready-to-paint fiberglass hollow core doors with no pre-cuts
(8) metal utility straps to attach the doors to the rollers
(4) garage door pulleys used for the rolling mechanisms
(8) 2" bolts with maching washers and acorn nuts to attach straps to the doors
(4) 2.25" bolts with matching nuts to attach the straps to the pulley wheels
(48) washers to thread onto the pulley wheel bolts and fill on either side of the wheels to the width of the door
(2) large & (2) medium size drawer pulls with matching bolts to use as handles mounted on the front and back sides of the doors
Step II: Measure door widths and wall opening, add together and you have the full width of the outer parameters of the doors as they would be when completely open. Add 4" to each side for framing the pipe from which the doors will hang. Cut the 1" x 4" x 8' oak board to fit this measurement.
Step III: Decide placement of the straps on the doors, then counter sink eye bolts, one in the center and two near the ends of where the pipe will go, and where the outer strap/wheel mechanisms will need to stop for the doors to be fully opened. This is also the time you decide the vertical placement of the doors, which will then dictate: a) where to mount the oak header and b) how big a drop to allow from the pulley wheel to the top of the door.
Step IV: Mount wheels onto the straps using an equal number of washers on either side of each wheel, to space the straps the width of the door for mounting.
Step V: Paint the doors. If you're wanting a distressed look, here's how we did ours:a) Paint a base coat. We used the existing wall color as a base, so it was an easy start.
b) Add Color One. We used taupe from an old guest bathroom project.
c) Add Color Two. We used plumb from the master bedroom head-wall and chair rail project.
d) Add Color Three. We used moss green from the master bathroom project.
e) Whitewash with base color. Use as little or as much as you like--it's all to taste! I ended up adding a little more color after we had hung the doors as they seemed to need it. Sometimes you don't know if paint finishes are really working until you're able to see the piece in the room where it will actually be installed.
Step VI: Place straps according to your own vertical hanging decision mentioned earlier. The determining factor for ours was we wanted to have the door as close to the floor as possible without leaving a gap at the top of the wall opening. We also wanted to have the oak board lined up with the top of the opening. Once we had the placements decided, we drilled and bolted two holes in each strap. Horizontally, we centered our straps on the outer borders of the doors, but your door may mean a different decision based on its design. Creative solutions like these are the fun of Do-It-Yourself (DIY) projects!
Step VII: Put doors in place, thread pole through and add end-caps. In the eye bolt stage, we decided the pole would be mounted up a third from the bottom of the oak board, allowing the tops of the wheels to still be within the framework of this piece. Since there were two of us, one of us just lifted the door while the other threaded the pipe through. If you don't have help, you can use bricks or books to lift the doors to the height they need to be.
Step VIII: Install handles on both sides. We used drawer pulls for this--large on the bedroom side and medium on the bathroom side. Again, these are individual choices, but we really like our simple straight handles which line up with the straps.
We're really enjoying this new project for several reasons--not the least of which is it's a nice separation to muffle the sound of the jets when one of us is in the jacuzzi tub and the other of us is trying to get to sleep!
Have you got any new DIY projects you'd like to share? We'd love to hear from you in the comments below, and happy creating!
Today's Quote:
I was so naive as a kid I used to sneak behind the barn and do nothing.
--Johnny Carson
