Interior Barn Doors for Pet Owners: Stylish Solutions for Pet Room

Pets have been a part of American life for decades, but they’ve never been as popular as they are now. In fact, more than 66% of U.S. households currently own a pet. 

This rise in pet popularity parallels the increasing popularity of barn doors. Allied Market Research even predicts that segments of the barn door market will grow by more than 5.6% between now and 2032. 

While the rising popularity of pets and barn doors are likely unrelated, it does present a pretty interesting synergy: Barn doors can work wonderfully for homes with pets, especially when those pets have a room to call their own. 

We’ll dive into this issue more below and share some tips for incorporating barn doors into your multi-species home. 

Do Barn Doors Work Well in Homes with Pets?

Absolutely – barn doors can work fantastically in homes with furry (or not-so-furry) friends. In fact, they may very well be the best kinds of doors for pet-loving homes, as they provide a number of clear benefits:

• Barn doors help save space. According to the National Association of Realtors, barn doors can save up to 14 square feet of space — something that’s always at a premium in homes with pets. 
• Barn doors are quiet. Sensitive pets may become frightened or stressed by the loud sounds conventional doors often create. But barn doors slide open and closed nearly silently, which helps to prevent pet anxiety. 
• Barn doors provide control over room access. You may not want your pets to have the ability to roam anywhere they’d like. Barn doors make this easy, as they can prevent pets from entering a room, while still allowing humans to access the room when needed.

Locations and Applications: Where Do Barn Doors Work Best for Pets?

There are a variety of ways that barn doors can help provide additional security, convenience, and comfort for pets. And while your imagination is the only real limiting factor, the following scenarios are some of the best applications in which you could use barn doors.

• Establishing a Dedicated Feeding Area: Sick of picking up kibble or cleaning up splashed water? You can make a convenient feeding area for your dog or cat by adding a barn door to a large kitchen closet. 
• Keeping Supplies Tidy and Out of Sight: As every pet owner knows, animals require a lot of care supplies, which can cause your home to look cluttered and unkempt. But by installing a barn door on an open closet or alcove, you can create the perfect space to store all of your pet’s supplies. 
• Temporarily Preventing Pet Access: Barn doors are great for temporarily keeping dogs, cats, and other mobile pets out of rooms temporarily. For example, you may not mind if your pet wanders around in the dining room during the day, but you want to keep them out at dinner time. A sliding barn door makes this easy to achieve. 
• Creating a Separate Litter Box Room: Supplies aren’t the only pet-related items you may want to keep out of sight; many pet owners like keeping litter boxes separate from the main living area of the home too. Barn doors make this easy, and they can help convert alcoves and closets into separate areas for litter boxes. You can keep the door open just enough to accommodate your cat’s body, to help keep the litter box out of sight, while still providing your cat with access. 
• Making a Dedicated Pet Room: If you have a number of pets (especially small, caged pets, such as lizards, fish, frogs, snakes, or invertebrates), you may want to set up a dedicated pet room for them. Barn doors are perfect for keeping these rooms separate from the rest of your house, and they’re also easy to open or close when your hands are full.  

Choosing a Barn Door That Works for People and Pets

While there are a variety of barn doors that’ll work well in homes with pets, there are a few things to consider when trying to pick the best one for your situation. A few of the key things to consider include:

• Stick to durable materials if you have pets who may scratch the door. Even the best-behaved pet is likely to paw at your door from time to time, so opt for doors made from durable materials, such as solid wood (knotty alder is a great choice). 
• Try to pick materials and finishes that are easy to clean. Because your cat may spray your doors or your dogs may wipe her drooling face on it, it’ll be helpful to select a door with a glossy finish, which will make cleanup easier. 
• Avoid glass doors if your pets are rambunctious. You may be able to use glass barn doors with calm pets, but the safety risks they present makes them a bad choice for rowdy Rovers.  
• Choose doors with smooth faces, if you have climbing pets. Cats, ferrets, lizards, and other climbing pets may be able to scamper up the face of some barn doors. However, they’ll be less likely to do this if you choose a door with relatively little texture. 

Pet-Owner Pro Tip: To ensure your barn door continues to work smoothly for years to come, be sure to clean any shed hair or fur from the track and rollers regularly. 

Barn Doors and Pet Safety

It’s easy to see the value barn doors can provide pet owners, but it’s important to think about one thing before selecting or installing a barn door: safety. 

Just keep the following things in mind and you’ll be able to avoid injuries, escapes, and other problems. 

Install locks when needed. 

While caged pets won’t be able to open barn doors, free-roaming dogs, cats, or other pets may be able to slide barn doors in some cases (particularly if the door is lightweight and the pet is large). You don’t want Cocoa opening a door and running outside while you’re bringing in groceries. Fortunately, this is an easy issue to fix – simply install privacy locks on your barn doors if necessary. 

Ensure your barn doors are installed properly. 

While properly installed barn doors are remarkably safe, problems with the mounting hardware may put pets and people at risk. So, be sure that all of the mounting hardware is properly seated with the correct hardware for the door’s size and weight. It’s also important to ensure that the door’s track is level to prevent the door from “drifting” open or closed on its own. This is easy to accomplish by simply using a bubble level while setting up the door. 

Teach children the dos and don’ts of barn doors.

Barn doors actually provide a benefit that we haven’t discussed here: They’re easy for children to open and close. However, that may be an issue if you’ve sequestered your pooch behind a barn door – you don’t want your kiddo to come along and allow Fluffy to escape. So, be sure to review the rules about opening pet-room doors with your children.  

Choose a Barndoorz Barn Door for Your Pet-Friendly Home!

Whether you decide to establish a dedicated pet room for your cockatoo or you just want to add a barn door to your closet full of pet supplies, it’s important to select a high-quality model. Well-made barn doors will last and work in problem-free fashion for decades, while cheap, mass-produced alternatives will often start falling apart in a matter of months. 

That’s why we rely on skilled craftsmen and craftswomen to construct all of our doors, right here in our U.S.-based factory. Check out our complete barn door inventory or stop by our Houston showroom today to see them in person.