A sliding wooden herringbone-patterned closet door is on display. A lush green plant sits on a small table to the left, while a dark cushion with a white geometric design rests on a light-patterned chair to the right.
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Sliding Closet Door Makeover

ByLisa
4 Comments

Week 5 of the One Room Challenge is here and once again, we took a little bit of a detour. After three trips to IKEA, we still do not have all the components for Barry’s closet, but we did makeover the old sliding closet doors. This was a super affordable makeover and I am in love with how they turned out! Despite the fact Barry still has no functioning closet and another trip to IKEA is in our future, I am calling this week a win! If you missed  week one, week two, week three, or week four,  check those out first. By some miracle, I started this week off with literally no plan and still managed to whip out this closet door makeover. Are you ready to see it?

A modern closet door with a sliding chevron wood pattern is featured. A lush green potted plant is placed in front of it. Text at the top reads, "Sliding Closet Door Makeover" with a website link.This post contains affiliate links. For more information, please see my policies.

To refresh your memory, this is what we started with. The closet doors are hollow core and used to be brown but several years back I painted them black. Better, but nothing exciting. 

The modern boho room features dark blue walls and a white carpet, exuding a chic vibe. Framed art adorns the walls above dark-colored sliding closet doors, while white curtains softly drape from one side. It's both stylish and inviting, perfect for either a cozy retreat or an artsy bunk room.

Honestly, this makeover was not on my to do list at all. We originally thought we would be making custom bi-fold doors for the closet, because shocker, the closet door opening is a non-standard size. But when the closet configuration changed, we realized we could simply re-use the doors we had and spruce them up.  Let me walk you through how we did it, because I know you are going to want to try this! 

Sliding Closet Door Makeover Supplies

Thin Plywood
Circular Saw
Speed Square
Clamps
Wood Glue
Nail Gun
Weights
 

Step 1 – Pick up some thin plywood. Sliding closet doors have limited space between them so the material needs to be very thin. And don’t worry if you don’t have a truck, you can just strap it to the roof of your car. Yes, we actually did that and let me tell you, we picked the windiest day to do this! I swear I almost had a heart attack on the ride home.  

A person secures a large wooden closet door on the roof rack of a black SUV. The vehicle is parked outdoors on a sunny day, sliding smoothly into place with green trees in the background.

Step 2 – Cut the plywood. I knew I wanted a chevron pattern when both doors were next to each other. So we started by cutting the plywood down to the size of each door. Because this plywood is so thin, it is also a bit challenging to cut. So we cut both pieces at the same time by clamping them them together on top of one another. We used our circular saw for this because our table saw setup isn’t big enough.  Naturally, we used our go to folding table workstations and workout weights…..at least they are getting used for something, haha! 

A garage workshop with a table saw and weights on a piece of wood. Shelves hold ladders, various tools, and ski poles. The sliding closet door reveals an organized, well-lit space with equipment neatly arranged for easy access.

Step 3 – Cut it again into strips. Like I said, I knew I wanted a chevron pattern and the way to achieve that was to cut strips at an angle. I am not going to lie, the  setup we used to cut these is a little janky, but it totally worked. We clamped a long piece of wood left over from the bunk beds to one table and used it as a guide. This is a little hard to illustrate with just a picture, but you can see the video in my Instagram stories closet door highlight.

A garage workspace with a sliding sawing setup. Wooden planks are clamped onto tables, with weights and dumbbells on top. Ladders and various tools are organized along the wall, resembling a neatly arranged closet door of equipment.

We used a 45 degree angle that we started with the speed square and continued on to cut 5 inch pieces.  Once the first angle is cut, all you have to do is line it up with the guide and cut. I should also mention, we again cut both sheets of plywood simultaneously, with on piece face up, and one face down (this type of plywood has a front and a back). By laying one face up and one face down and cutting them at once, the pieces would line up to make my chevron pattern. 

A blue speed square rests on a piece of wood placed on a table in a workshop, ready for precise measurements. In the background, a concrete floor stretches into the distance, adjacent to where sliding closet doors add practicality and sleek design to an organized space.

As we cut the strips, I  numbered the back of each piece and laid it out on one of the closet doors to make sure this was going to work out how I hoped. 

A wooden geometric pattern crafted from triangular pieces adorns the garage floor. In the background, a sliding garage door is partially open, with wooden boards and tools neatly arranged to the side.

After all the pieces were cut, I stacked them up with the last pieces on bottom, this way I could pull two at a time and they were in the correct order for assembly.  

A stack of rectangular wooden boards is neatly piled on top of a black cabinet in the workshop. Various tools and materials are visible in the background, with a sliding door slightly ajar to the right.

Step 4 – Attach the strips to the sliding closet doors. Initially I thought I could just glue these with wood glue, but that didn’t seem like enough. So I also used the nail gun on each corner of each strip. Since these doors are hollow core like the pizza table door, I could only nail on the edges. And once again, I used ALL of our workout weights which I am thinking should just be called DIY weights at this point, haha! I spaced the strips on the closet doors with the edge of a ruler. 

A garage workspace features two tables draped in black-and-white cloths, laden with tools, weights, and spray paint. A car is parked on the left, while sliding garage doors and walls form the backdrop.

I applied a liberal amount of wood glue to each strip and spread it with a dollar store paint brush to cover the whole piece. In total, I used two bottles of wood glue. You can watch this whole process in my Instagram Stories.

A garage workspace with various tools, including brooms, a saw, and weights. A partially painted black sliding wooden board rests on a table covered in a drop cloth. A bottle of Titebond wood glue is on the board.

While you could do this with a construction adhesive, I wanted a glue that gave me a bit more time to position each piece to my liking. I think the downfall to that is I needed the weights to hold everything down while the glue set. Just make sure you don’t have any glue leaks before you let them set. 

Weights and dumbbells are lined up on a piece of wood, next to a garage wall adorned with various gardening tools like shovels and rakes. The sliding garage door is partially visible in the background.

Step 5 – Let the glue dry. I glued all the pieces to the closet doors over two days and let the last portion set for almost 24 hours before we installed them. 

A garage converted into a gym features two workbench-style platforms. Each platform holds various weights, including dumbbells and barbells with different colored weights. A car sits to the left, while a sliding closet door adds functionality to the well-lit space under overhead lights.

Step 6 – Install and enjoy.  We chose to put up a new track because the old one was fairly beat up. The track set came with new rollers, so we swapped those out as well. I think the new rollers also provide a little extra room to allow the doors to slide a little better. Full disclosure, I still have to fill in all the nail holes and I am debating painting the doors. It was my original plan to paint them but I kind of like the wood color…..to be continued. 

A stylish, modern interior showcases light wooden chevron-patterned sliding closet doors. A potted plant sits beside the doors, while a cushioned bench with a dark green and white patterned pillow rests on the dark wooden floor.

I also need to decide on some hardware, but that’s a problem for next week 🙂

A woman in a striped shirt and jeans stands on hardwood flooring, partially opening a modern sliding closet door with a diagonal design. A potted plant and a patterned cushion add charm to the scene.

This sliding closet door makeover was less than $50! Now I am just disappointed I didn’t do this sooner! Since we have two more bedrooms with the same closet doors, I would wager this project will be duplicated 😉   

A modern wooden closet door with diagonal grooves sits beside a textured black and white cushion and blanket, creating a cozy corner with geometric patterns.

A modern room features a chevron-patterned wooden wall, with a potted plant on the floor. An inset image labeled "before" reveals a plain black sliding door. The dynamic wooden wall contrasts sharply with the previous simple design.

A closed wooden closet with a subtle herringbone pattern features a sliding door. A potted green plant sits in front on a black metal stand. The floor is dark wood, and the wall is painted light gray.

Next week I will only be sharing updates on Instagram so I can knock out a bunch of finishing work I still have to do. So pop by and say hi and check out all the behind the scenes. I will be back for week seven and of course the final reveal on November 18th 🙂 

A woman peeks out from behind a partially open sliding closet door in a cozy room. The room features a green plant, patterned cushion, and dark flooring. She is smiling and wearing a striped shirt and jeans.

If you enjoyed this post, Sliding Closet Door Makeover, please share it on Facebook or hover over an image and save to Pinterest! And if you don’t already follow me on Instagram, Pinterest, or Facebook, I would love for us to be friends! Also, make sure you don’t miss any of the progress and sign up here to get notifications delivered straight to your inbox.  It’s going to be a wild ride!  

 

Don’t forget to stop by the One Room Challenge to check out all the featured designers and other guest participants and give them some encouragement. I am sure they are feeling just as stressed as I am right now! Garrison Street Design Studio - Sliding Closet Door Makeover

A chevron-patterned sliding closet door makeover brightens the room with its light wood tones. A green leafy plant and a decorative pillow on a chair add charm to the corner. Text reads "SLIDING Closet Door MAKEOVER.

This post, Sliding Closet Door Makeover appeared first on Garrison Street Design Studio.

4 Comments

  1. That was a great idea for the closet doors & makes the room look brighter! Now get going with Barry’s closet…poor guy! Lol

    Reply

  2. Exactly what type of wood/plywood did you get? We love this and are trying it but we are striking out on what wood to get this exact look.

    Reply

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