Barn Door Review – Rachael D

Rachael, her husband and their two boys moved into their forever family home in Melbourne in 2011. A content creator and podcaster, Rachael has been working from home during lockdown, like so many of us, and all this time within the same four walls has brought into sharp focus her feelings about the environment around her, and her relationship to her living space. She has become especially aware of some of the things that they didn’t quite nail with the original build – not surprising when it’s your first construction and design project and there are so many decisions to be made!

It was the bedroom doors that really started to set Rachael on edge. While the existing double hinged doors were functional, they always seemed at odds with the space, but she and her husband had just accepted them because they basically worked. The problem was that, when open, they didn’t sit flush with the wall but hung awkwardly into the room, blocking space and interfering with the whole feel and flow of the bedroom. When they wanted to leave the doors open for air flow in the summer, they found that they flapped around a bit and wouldn’t stay put. They didn’t realise they might have other options for the space until Rachael came across the stunning sliding barn doors on the Doors Plus Instagram feed. She says, “I saw the beautiful doors they make and I thought, you know what, Doors Plus is definitely a household name, they have been around forever. I wanted to go with a company that had a good reputation.”

Having never used Doors Plus before, Rachael found that the whole experience was really positive and personal. She says, “Going into our local Doors Plus studio, we were met by a lovely salesman and he was able to answer all of my queries. I actually took in a photo of our bedroom, and he was able to look at that and tell me whether what I was imagining in my mind would work in our space.” As a very visual person, Rachael appreciated all of the images and mock-ups, and that she could browse the options on the website and Instagram feed as well: “What was really great is that they have a lot of these doors on display, and they also have imagery to show you the different options, the different colour ways and accessories that you can choose for your door.”

They considered installing the new doors themselves but when they costed it out they realised that the quote from Doors Plus was really competitive and it was a bit of a no-brainer to just let the professional carpenter get on with it! Rachael was able to carry on with her day and be with her children, and the carpenter took care of everything. He was friendly, professional and efficient, and completely put her at ease by listening to her point of view and answering her questions as he went along.

With such a clear and vivid vision of what she wanted, Rachael was blown away by the final results. She says, “I’m so excited and so happy with how they have turned out. It’s better than I imagined to be honest.” The new doors slide seamlessly along the wall and don’t protrude into the living space. Both beautiful to look at, and effortlessly functional, the stunning barn doors have instantly updated and lifted the room, making it look bigger and feel more spacious. In summer, they can be left open without rocking to and fro, or taking up extra floor space, so that the bedroom stays cool, airy and comfortable. Not only that, but the distinctive barn door style makes a stunning design feature in its own right, and the doors have been finished in white to complement the sleek, modern décor. As Rachael says, “The finish of it, the hardware…it’s just such a stunning piece.”

Having regretted her past experience of just trusting the builder’s choice, Rachael felt great confidence in the experts from Doors Plus, and appreciated that they were helping her to realise her own vision and concept: “They just know what they are talking about and they can obviously see from the space what will work and what won’t.” She and her husband had designed and built their home from the ground up, and although they didn’t get everything right first time, the upgrade to the bedroom doors has transformed their space and given them a fresh feeling of creating something personal, beautiful and supremely functional for themselves.