7 Reasons Barn Doors Are a Great Choice for Laundry Rooms

You can use barn doors just about anywhere you like inside your home. We’ve seen some customers use them to replace closet or bedroom doors, while others have used them to break up large, open-concept rooms into separate spaces. We’ve even seen some customers use them for purely decorative purposes.

But laundry rooms are some of our favorite places to see customers install barn doors.  

7 Reasons Barn Doors Are Perfect for Laundry Rooms

Whether you’re considering replacing an existing laundry room door or installing a door in a laundry room that doesn’t currently have one at all, barn doors are a great choice. We’ll share a few of the reasons we think they’re fantastic for laundry rooms below. 

1. Barn doors help you save space.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dYCS24VyXmM

If your laundry room has conventional, swinging doors, you can’t make full use of the space around the door. But because barn doors slide rather than swing, they help save quite a bit of space – as much as 14 square feet, according to the National Association of Realtors. 

That’s a significant amount of space to free up, given that the average laundry room only offers about 50 to 100 square feet of space to begin with. That’s like making the room 14% to 28% larger, simply by swapping your existing door for a sliding barn door.    

2. Barn doors are easy to open when your hands are full. 

Half of the time you are walking into or out of your laundry room, you’ll be carrying a gigantic laundry basket (and maybe a handful of coat hangers, some laundry detergent, and any number of other items). 

If you have conventional, swinging doors, you’ll often need to put everything down to hold and twist the knob and open the door. But with sliding barn doors, you can use your hip or foot to open or close the door without having to drop all the things you’re carrying.   

3. Barn doors are quieter than conventional doors. 

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vGj3HTrjNbc

Conventional doors often create noise when they’re opened or closed. Hinges creak, door knobs squeak, and there’s always that “cuh-clunk” sound when the door fits into the frame. 

But high-quality, properly installed barn doors are nearly silent when opened or closed. The only sound you may hear is the door gliding softly along the track. This may be especially helpful for those who often do laundry when others (especially kiddos) are sleeping. 

And if you install Barndoorz Soft Close Hardware, you can enjoy even quieter operation. This attachment – which works with all of our hardware kits – helps to automatically slow doors when they’re opened or closed.

4. Barn doors are easier to install than folding doors.

 

Because many smaller homes and condos feature laundry rooms located in hallways, they often feature bi-fold (“accordion”) doors . But while these doors can help save space, they almost always end up breaking over time. And while you can replace them, the installation process is often difficult. 

On the other hand, barn doors are often super easy to install, and they’ll usually work in the same kinds of places that folding doors are often used.  

5. Barn doors can improve the lighting in your laundry room. 

Most lighting experts agree that light-colored laundry rooms should have lights that provide about 50 to 75 lumens per square foot; dark-colored laundry rooms may need even more lumens per square foot. But unfortunately, many laundry rooms fail to meet these guidelines and would benefit from more light. 

But before you hire an electrician to upgrade your lighting, you can simply consider installing a barn door with windows. 

A number of our barn doors feature glass panels, which will help let more light into your laundry room without the need for additional lighting. In fact, some of our doors are available with frosted glass panels, which will improve the light level in your laundry room, while still keeping your laundry room clutter out of sight. 

6. Barn doors will make your laundry room look better. 

Just because laundry rooms are primarily functional doesn’t mean they can’t contribute to your home's aesthetics. And while we’re certainly biased, we think barn doors are very helpful for upgrading the appearance of your laundry room. 

Best of all, you can find barn doors that will match virtually any style. Whether you’d like rustic farmhouse-style doors, modern-looking doors, or glass doors, you can certainly find options that will perfectly complement your home’s decor. 

7. Barn doors can provide better access to the laundry room.  

It’s not necessarily pleasant to think about, but you may eventually need to replace your washer, dryer, or water heater (hopefully because you’re upgrading them, not because they’ve stopped working). And as you probably already know, it can be tricky to wiggle these kinds of bulky items through the door frame. 

As a rule of thumb, laundry room doors should provide at least 32 inches of clearance to allow appliances to fit through the door (and you may need a whopping 45 inches if you have to make a 90-degree turn near the door). 

However, traditional swinging doors often block a few inches of the opening. This means you may find yourself needing to take the door off the hinges to squeeze appliances through the gap. But sliding barn doors won’t obstruct any portion of the door frame–you’ll be able to use the entire space when wrestling your washer or dryer through the door.  

Install Barndoorz in Your Laundry Room Today! 

There is one important thing to note before you start shopping for barn doors for your laundry room: Not all barn doors are created equally. And while high-quality barn doors will work well for your laundry room, low-quality barn doors may cause some pretty big problems. 

For example, many bargain basement barn doors are poorly finished. This means that, over time, the doors will start to look pretty shabby. For that matter, cheap barn doors are often made from low-quality wood, which will start to warp or twist quickly. 

But you don’t have to worry about these kinds of problems with Barndoorz. Our doors are made from only the highest-quality wood available, and we use premium finishes to ensure our doors continue to look great for years (though you can purchase Barndoorz unfinished if you prefer). 

Check out some of the gorgeous doors we have available now, and get ready to start enjoying all of the benefits barn doors can provide your laundry room.