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How to Make a Barn Quilt Door

Have you seen wood squares painted with geometrical shapes that look like a single quilt block? They are usually seen hanging on a barn. They are called barn quilts. Learn how to make a barn quilt door with this step by step tutorial.

How to make a barn quilt door. Learn how to transform an old door into a barn quilt door.

Old door without glass

Our garage has an old white door.

I’ve always loved the door because of the old look it has with the white paint peeling off. It’s one of my favorite spots to take photos, it makes a great background.

A few years ago, the door was open and a gust of wind made it close rapidly and broke the top glass pane.

To fix it temporarily, my husband replaced the glass pane with a piece of plywood.

Guess what happened the following year?

The same thing to the bottom glass. It broke because of the wind.

You would think we would have learned to keep the door open with something heavy. Oh well.

For the last few years the door has not had any glass, just plywood.

Old wood door with windows replaced with plywood.

We could have replaced the door, but as I said I like it. We could not replace the glass though because the door is so old that glass would just break again.

I kept telling my husband I would paint the plywood to at least match the color of the door.

Time kept going and I just would work on other projects instead, oups!

Then one day we were driving in Vermont and I was admiring the barn quilts on the barns.

I told my husband, how some day I’d like one for our home. I told him they look so fun to make and we always have plywood at home, I should try and make one.

Then an idea struck me!

Why not make two barn quilts to replace the glass in the garage door!

Perfect project for this month’s At DIY Challenge which is Make it Pretty Outdoors.

I’m participating in a year long DIY challenge with great DIY bloggers. Every month we have a new challenge. Last month’s was the DIY Home Improvement Challenge, I showed how to paint kitchen cabinets. At the bottom of this post you’ll find a bunch of DIY Home Improvement projects.

How to make a barn quilt door. Learn how to transform an old door into a barn quilt door.

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How to make a barn quilt door

Supplies:

  • Plywood
  • Paint (4 colors)
    • Base color: Soft Focus T18-09 from BEHR
    • Other colors: Pistachio MQ4-42, Semi-Precious MQ6-6, Road Less-Travelled T18-07 all from BEHR
  • Paint brush or foam brush
  • Painters tape
  • Ruler
  • Pencil
  • Eraser
  • Sealer
    • I used Varathane Diamond Wood Finish in Satin – Outdoor in aerosol

Step 1: We removed the plywood from the the door and painted them in the color Soft Focus.

We like using BEHR Marquee because it has a primer inside.

We applied two coats waiting 2 hours in between the coats.

Paint plywood in light color to make the barn quilt pop.

The plywood was in good condition because we had replaced it recently. Had it been old weathered plywood, I would probably have replaced it with new plywood or applied good primer first.

Step 2: Once the paint was dry, we inserted the pieces of painted plywood back in their location in the door.

Using a pencil, I traced the openings on the pieces of plywood.

Old weathered door with painted windows.
Trace outline of glass pane in order to make sure to paint within that area.

Step 3: I used painter’s tape to tape off the exterior edges of the plywood. I did this to make sure the barn quilt design was within that area.

Then I added more tape to make the area square (the holes in the door look square but they aren’t quite).

Place tape around the edge of the piece of plywood to make it square.

How to transfer barn quilt pattern onto plywood

Step 4: I found a giant block I liked and used that as the pattern for the barn quilts.

I used Adobe Photoshop to play around with colors I liked, to give me a visual.

You’ll notice that I used colors from the cushions I have on my back porch. I shared a sneak peek at the colors last year on my Instagram feed.

Paint color ideas for barn quilts.

Step 4: Using a ruler and pencil, I drew the pattern onto the pieces of plywood.

It was a question of drawing lines from one end of the plywood to the other creating squares.

Once the squares were on the plywood it was easy to make the triangles, by joining corners with the ruler.

Use single block quilt pattern as inspiration for a barn quilt.
Draw squares to transfer barn quilt pattern onto the surface.
How to trace a pattern onto a piece of wood.

Step 5: I erased all the unnecessary lines.

Erase extra pencil lines used to create pattern.

How to paint a barn quilt

Step 6: Using painters tape, I contoured the triangles that would be Pistachio on one of the plywood pieces.

I used Frog Tape because I really like the way it keeps lines crisp by preventing paint bleeds.

Use painters tape to mark design to make painting easier.

Don’t go crazy with taping too many shapes at once because you may just accidently make a shape smaller, not realizing that the tape creates a border.

Step 7: I contoured the middle diamond on the other piece of plywood that would be painted Pistachio.

Step 8: I painted the triangles and diamond that I had contoured with painters tape in Pistachio using a foam brush.

Paint barn quilt using a foam brush.
Paint barn quilt shapes using painters tape and foam brush.

Step 9: After waiting 2 hours for the paint to dry, I proceeded to give a second coat of paint.

Step 10: As soon at the second coat of paint was applied, I removed the painters tape.

I prefer removing painters tape while the paint is still wet.

Remove painters tape when paint is still wet.

Step 11: After waiting 4 hours, I repeated steps 6 to 10 I kept painting the rest of the pattern on the pieces of plywood switching from Pistachio to Semi-Precious.

Please note: I waited 2 hours to apply second coat. I waited 4 hours before proceeding to the next color because I wanted to make sure the painters tape wasn’t applied over drying paint (I didn’t want the paint underneath to peel off as I removed the tape.

Painting barn quilt in blue and green.
Barn quilt simple pattern.
Painting triangles and diamonds to make barn quilt.

Don’t they already look great?

Barn quilt painted in blue and green.
Barn quilt painted on plywood in green and blue.

Step 12: I taped the contours of the 4 small diamonds on both pieces of plywood.

Add more colors to barn quilt.

Step 13: Time to paint the small diamonds in the color Road Less-Travelled.

A little tip, start by applying a thin coat of paint around the inside edge of the painters tape, it helps to seal the edge even more, preventing paint from bleeding through.

Paint inside edge of painters tape to prevent paint bleed.
Painting the rest of the barn quilt.

TIP: If you encounter any paint bleeds, use a small paint brush to touch up the paint.

Step 14: I applied a second coat of Road Less-Travelled after 2 hours and removed the tape immediately.

Step 15: Let the barn quilts cure for 48 hours.

Step 16: Erase any visible pencil marks.

Erase all visible pencil marks.

Step 17: I sprayed an outdoor water based sealer on the barn quilts, to help protect them.

I used aerosol varathane and applied 4 coats as per the instruction on the can.

Outdoor aerosol varathane diamond wood finish to protect the barn quilt from the weather.
How to make barn quilts to decorate your home.

Atttaching barn quilts to a door

Step 18: Time to install the barn quilts in the door!

We placed them in the holes where the glass was.

We nailed wood moulding in the back of the door to secure them into place.

Shout out to my helper, Gabrielle! She helped me with the whole project.

Installing barn quilts into a door.
Installing barn quilt in a door.

Here is the barn quilt door fully installed!

Barn Quilt Door

How to make a barn quilt door using an old door and DIY barn quilts.

Doesn’t it look awesome?!

I have no idea why I didn’t do this before! hehe So much prettier than plywood, right?!

Want to see what the barn quilts look like hung on a barn or a garage with weathered wood?

Barn Quilt on barn

DIY Barn quilt on barn.
DIY barn quilt on garage.

They look really great on a barn. This is not in fact a barn, but my parents’ garage. hehe Looks so good I should make some for them.

How to make a barn quilt door. Learn how to transform an old door into a barn quilt door.
DIY Barn quilt on barn. Barn quilts are a great way to decorate outdoors. Easy barn quilt pattern.
How to make a barn quilt door. Learn how to transform an old door into a barn quilt door. Barn quilts are a great way to decorate outdoors. Easy barn quilt pattern.

P.S. If you loved this project, please PIN IT and share it! Thank you so much!

So what do you think of the barn quilt door?

I’m loving it so much!

I love that it’s pretty and that it didn’t take long to make, even though I started the project last summer with my daughter and just completed it now. hehe OUPS! As I mentioned above, sometimes I have too many projects on the go.

I also made a 3D Barn Quilt if ever you’d like to see it!

Oh and if you like door projects, I bet you’ll love my DIY Screen Door!

Have a FABULOUS day!

Christine

Sandi Allen

Saturday 18th of January 2020

Wow! I really Love this! The colors are Beautiful & that door...❤️

Donna via Funky Junk Interiors

Friday 17th of January 2020

What an outstanding project! That door is to DIE for! I loved it as just a door too but the quilt takes it over the top!

I've featured this beauty in this weekend's DIY Salvaged Junk Projects 510. Thanks for bringing it over!

Kerryanne

Thursday 16th of January 2020

What a fun project Christine... that's really taking quilting to the next level. Love it! Thank you for sharing this project at Create, Bake, Grow & Gather this week. I'm delighted to be featuring it at tonight's party and pinning too. Hugs, Kerryanne

Anita Holland

Tuesday 14th of January 2020

Looks stunning, Pinned.

Kristen

Monday 13th of January 2020

This is lovely! A real personal touch for your home - it turned out great!

Comments are closed.