Our off the grid doors

What’s best about custom work is the collaboration between us and our clients to create a new door. We call these our “off the grid” doors because they are different from the ones we usually make. Inspired by our clients’ requests and made through collaboration, we want to share some of these pieces with you.

Dual purpose

Most of these designs are made upon clients’ request. That’s why we love the process: These unique doors are usually brought to life by the clients’ vision for their space.

Most of our doors are both aesthetic and functional highlights of a room. Our sliding doors usually cover up a space or divide one to create a new room, for instance. But there are some that go the extra mile, like our sliding bookcase (see right). Our client wanted a bookcase that also encloses a walk-in closet. Made of reclaimed ash, the modern design is as effective as it is functional. The two boxes built into the shelf add interest to the otherwise simple design.

The collaboration process shines through here and we are proud to show you the results.

Style meets function: our “off the grid” Sliding bookcase.

Style meets function: our “off the grid” Sliding bookcase.

Creating something new

The metal quilted door, also known as the scrap metal door (see in slideshow), is made of sheet metal on heavy metal barn door hardware. Our client wanted an entry door to their home interior from the sunroom. We worked with them to understand what they wanted and then figure out how we were going to create the desired piece. In this case, we paid extra attention to the placement of the metal sheets. How and where the lines meet affects the “quilted” appearance and we wanted the piece to look polished.

Our chevron doors (see in slideshow) use the placement of natural wood pieces to create a sense of movement, which we love. We also love seeing where our “off the grid doors” will take us next!

If you would like us to make something for you, please email us at info@1925workbench.com with pictures of your space and dimensions.

Milton's new hot spot! Double sliding doors on a barn door hardware !

We are packing the top of the SUV again, this time, not an early morning but a noon outing. We are on our way to Milton, an up and coming town with houses popping up everywhere you look. "Milton. Population 70,000" That highway sign needs to be changed soon!

The finished door resting on our fence ready to be loaded on the SUV.

These doors are made of 1-3/4 thick pine and frosted glass.

We went to lunch near our house before entering the highway.  A Vietnamese restaurant called PHO XUA on St. Claire near Keele...our favourite place to eat when I'm too lazy to cook.

Driving there, Rock is about to say good bye to his doors.  So that's why he looks  a little grumpy.

Before the installation.  Rock getting ready for something...not sure what, I never know what's he's thinking.

We were set to get the installation started.  Those doors were heavy, but Rock carried them in gracefully because I was helping -- without me, nothing gets done right.

With an already stylish and hip interior, this home is about to become hot, melting hot...pouring hot once the new door system is installed.  The new hot spot of Milton is about to be unveil.

Ta-da!  Did I tell you about the hotness?

From the dinning table view of the opened double doors

Fully open to reveal a home office.

Rock testing to see the how well the doors slide before installing the bottom floor guide.

It shouldn't surprise you to know that the home owner is a designer.  The first things I noticed coming in the house are the geometric paintings on the wall.  It was like walking into a gallery.  In fact, the home owner painted them.  Once he revealed his talent, everything made sense because the whole time, I was thinking how cool is this house!  So your house does say a lot about you.

And of course, it makes sense that he would choose to have the double sliding doors on a barn hardware track to replace two regular hinged interior doors...it's the hippest thing ever to be invented.  And I believe strongly it's a hip trend that is here to stay simply because it's functional!  They slide quietly to show and to hide.  And they virtually take up no space at all.

Do you want something similar? Contact us to discuss, or check out other door styles. Not looking for a door at the moment? take a look at our other works.

 

Sliding barn door hardware bypass style installation

Sliding-barn-door-hardware-bypass-open.jpg

As I've mentioned in a previous post, Hanging two doors | By-pass style, where we can make modification to The Heavy Metal flat track hardware to accommodate double doors in a bypass style configuration, this post will feature the actual installation. We were commissioned to fabricate 3 doors out of barn board and install them in a beautiful log cottage up in Muskoka. I hope I have an opportunity to come back in the future.

Let's get to business. Below is the initial planning before installation begins:

Sliding barn door hardware bypass initial planning

You can already appreciate the beauty of the log cabin and the great contrast the barn board doors have on the wall. We needed to protect the floor, which is reclaimed wood from the Ottawa river, so we rested the doors on a few coffee bean bags.

Mounting the track was really straight forward, no stud finder was needed as we were able to spot the nails securing the tongues and groves on the studs.

Here is mounting the doors:

Sliding barn door hardware bypass hanging doors

 

and this is how it looks when completed

Sliding barn door hardware bypass close

 

We intentionally took this picture that shows a sail boat - this is one of fully functional sail boats that the client collects from all over the world as his hobby. He as about 30 of them.

And finally, this how the doors look when they are fully opened:

Sliding barn door hardware bypass open

 

Please feel free to contact us and discuss with us if you want a similar set up.