Today I’m sharing our bi-fold to faux shiplap french closet doors!
Welcome to Week Three of the “One Room Challenge“! If you’ve been following along you might remember that first I shared the before and mood board, then we painted and installed laminate flooring. 
In case you haven’t been following along, this was the before. Although the closet doors weren’t awful, it was a lot of wood. Especially after we added the wood flooring. The bi-fold doors also meant it was hard to access the sides of our closet.
So now that you know how amazing our new french closet doors look you probably want to know how to do it! Thankfully, I’m going to share the DIY details today! I started out by taking the door off the hinges and then using a sawzall to cut off the roller that keeps the bi-fold part on track. 
Then I stabilized the bi-fold doors but screwing a metal bracket into the top to keep them flat.
**This post contains affiliate links** Then on the inside I added this spacer and double roller latch.
At this point they functioned as french doors. It was really that simple! But I wasn’t going to leave it alone, I wanted to make the doors more modern, and not just like bi-fold doors that worked as french doors. I started by adding trim pieces around the edges of each door. It was important not to get too close to the outer edge or it would get caught when opening and closing. 
Next I had strips of Plywood cut down into 4.5″ strips at Lowes. Just ignore our disaster garage… we still haven’t gotten fully settled into this house. Even though we’ve been here for almost 4 months!
This is the plywood that I used. It took three pieces ripped into strips for all four doors.
Because of the slats on the bi-fold doors. I had to improvise with my plywood to make a level surface to attach the faux shiplap strips to. A picture really helps this to make the most sense.
Then I just started attaching the strips with a brad nailer. I just spaced them out visually, but I’ve heard of using dimes as spacers.
When I got to the bottom I had to rip the final 4.5″ piece down smaller, so that it would fit into the leftover space. 
Then I took the doors back off their hinges and painted them with Benjamin Moore “Hidden Falls“. It is such a pretty blue/green color that changes in almost every lighting.
I purchased these pulls online to really modernize these doors. They mimic the ones we have in our kitchen and in our living room built ins.
Once the pulls were screwed on, I had additional pieces of plywood cut down for the backs of each door. Before nailing them on I cut the excess brads off. This just gave the door a cleaner look than the backs of the slats with tons of brads sticking through them.
I can’t get over how much I LOVE these doors. I still have to touch up the paint, paint the backs of the doors and paint the latch pieces on the inside. As I look at these pictures I see that I also need to organize our closets! Whoops… a little late on that one!
Now when we open our closet doors we’re not battling the bi-fold doors to get to the edges of our closets. They also just look so pretty!
I really love the deep color and how it contrasts the wood floors and wood trim.
These handles really put the doors over the top too!
The “Good Morning Gorgeous” and “Hello There Handsome” prints came from Hobby Lobby, and are just the perfect size for between our “His” and “Hers” closets.
The rest of the room is really starting to come together, but I wasn’t about to give away too much in only week 3!!! 
If you’ve got bi-fold doors that you hate, or if you just love the french door look on a closet, this is a great solution. It didn’t turn out to be quite as cheap of a project as I hoped though! Here’s the cost breakdown:
- Paint $32
- Plywood (5 Sheets)$80
- Edge Trim Pieces $36
- Hardware $24 (I found great deals by hunting online)
- Grand Total= $172
Obviously if you already had the paint it would be quite a bit cheaper, or if you didn’t do the faux Shiplap and just left the doors as is it could be really cheap. In the end though I love the way that these turned out and I think it was worth it.
So do you have a closet door that you’re dying to DIY? Or did you just fall in love with this paint color, “Hidden Falls” and wait to use it everywhere?! Either way I so appreciate you being here and reading, and hope you leave inspired to create a home that you love!
**5/3/16 Update** If you’d like to jump ahead and see how this room turned out here are the links:
Week 1:Â Before Pics and the Moodboard
Week 2: New Flooring and a Rug
Week 3:Â This Post!
Week 4:Â Modern Industrial Bedroom Lighting
Week 5: How to Hang Curtains Like a Professional & How to Wall Mount a Headboard & Modern Art for the Bedroom
Week 6:Â Reveal!
those are AMAZING! and i love your wood trim! i still have so much trim to paint here but ours was not dark and pretty… it was orangey-pukey.
Very clever and looks great!
Jess, these are amazing and I love the color with the wood trim!
Love, love what you did to the doors! What a smart way to transform them.
We’d love for you to share your ORC at thoughts of Home on Thursday. 🙂
Those doors are insane! What a brilliant idea!!
Thank you so much!! I’m so glad others love them as much as we do!
I love it! I have been trying to figure out how to dress up our closet doors, they are just plain flat doors, no detail. The cheapest of cheap. Thanks for the inspiration! I can’t wait to see the finished room.
– Jaclyn
You’re gonna love it!! I’ve got a whole round up of dressed up closet doors coming soon! Stay tuned!!
Oh yeah … pinning the heck out of this one. What a fabulous makeover!
Thank you so much for pinning! You know how to make a girl blush!
This makes me wish I had ugly bifold doors so I could transform them. Brilliant idea and those handles are just perfect!
Sometimes an ugly house forces creativity!!
Jess!! This is SO brilliant!!! I’m obsessed with that color!!!!!
Isn’t it unreal? I first learned about it from the White Buffalo Styling Co.
This is such a great project! Love how they turned out.
I’m in love with it too, thanks!!
Oh wow girl! You accomplished a lot…and you went to SNAP! Way to go!
Aw thanks. I’ve been working on it Round-The-Clock. Seriously. Thank you!
Wow, just wow. Crazy awesome!
Aw thanks!! You totally just made my day!!
Wow, this is one of my favorite DIY projects ever. Great job.
Ummm, why has no one ever thought to shiplap a door before?! You’re a genius! I did a shiplap WALL for my ORC, but I’m totally in love with this!
Thank you so much! I’m thinking of using the same faux shiplap on our bathroom cabinet doors too!
I love how these doors turned out and that color is so pretty! I definitely can’t wait to see how the finished room turns out!
Thank you so much! I’m anxious to see it all put together too! Your RV is coming along awesome too! Mutual inspiration!
Jess, this is so absolutely positively genius!!! I can’t believe how amazing the transformation is!!!
You are so sweet! Thank you so much!
Crazy good transformation! Love the color and those handles are perfect!
Love the doors. Great idea, Jess. Awesome Color too
Aw thank you!! That color sure is amazing isn’t it?!
WOW! What a clever idea! Will definitely pin this to my DIY board! Thanks!
Aw thank you so much! I so appreciate you sharing the love!
What is on the back side of the doors?
Just a piece of the same plywood that I used for the shiplap strips.
These are fantastic! I love how they turned out, and at such an affordable price too!
Thanks so much! It’s one of my favorite DIY’s.
I am trying to figure out how you “hinged” the doors. We have a smallbifold I want to turn into two hinged doors.
Sorry if I didn’t explain well. They are on the same hinges that the bi-fold were on. I just removed the pin that keeps the middle doors on track.
Thanks. We have one door that we want to make into two doors on a pantry.
That would look really pretty! I always think two doors adds a grander appearance to any space!
Love this idea! I think I’m going to try it. What exactly did you use to attach all the plywood with?
Thanks so much. I used a nail gun with trim nails.
I love this. Thinking of doing this to my daughters closet doors. Did you cut the long strips into shorter pieces yourself? Was it difficult getting everything “squared up”? Thanks for your inspiration!
Thanks! No I had Lowes cut the strips. Supposedly only four cuts per sheet are “free” and additional cuts cost $.25, but that’s well worth it. I’ve also had them cut lots of things for me and only one grumpy guy ever charged for the extra cuts. As for things being square, I’m FAR from a perfectionist, so it was square enough for me. Not perfect, but I love the way it looks. Thanks for stopping by!
No, I meant like the strips fitting in between the side trim pieces. Did you have to trim them up so they would fit? How did you get your measurements so perfect? I can just see myself getting everything back and the strips being a tad too long and not fitting in the squared trim??
Oh sorry, I misunderstood. Yes I would cut 2-3 at a time and then keep re-measuring. There were slight variations. Caulk also helped make it all jive.
I’ve had these doors on my to do list for too long! I’m ready to do it! How much space did you leave between the edges of the doors and the trim you added to make sure it didn’t rub the door frame?
Aweseome! It will be so worth it! About 1/4 inch. I would install the trim around the edges first, then hang the door and make sure it clears before adding the shiplap on the inside. I had one door that kept barely hitting the frame that I ended up having to sand down just a bit. You will love them! I am still SO happy we did this!
I love these doors and want to do the project. Can you please tell me the details on the trim pieces such as the width and thickness? Thank you.
Do you have the paint color number? Benjamin Moore didn’t have that name in their system.
Yes #714, here is the link to it: https://www.benjaminmoore.com/en-us/color-overview/find-your-color/color/714/hidden-falls?color=714
I’m going to install bifold doors and make them French doors like you did. My question is what did you do about the top rail the bifold wheel travels in? Sorry, but I’m a detail person and need explicit directions!
I think that’s a great idea! I just left the top rail up there. Ours is behind some wood work. I think that you could probably do without it though!
I did it-made bifold doors into French doors thanks to you! wish i could attach a picture. Im really happy with how this project turned out
That makes me so happy to hear! I am so glad that you love how they turned out! If you shared it anywhere on Facebook you can tag BrightGreenDoor! Or e-mail me a pic at Jess@BrightGreenDoor.com Thanks!
I am in the middle of this project and have not painted or screwed up the wood pieces that the latches attach to, but I do want to address the question regarding removing the track. If your track is like ours, each end of it contains a hole that the door pin (at the top) fits into which allows it to swing. I can’t imagine how you could remove the track and replace that piece on each end without much difficulty and in the process it may not be as strong.
Sorry I just saw this!! I agree with what you’re saying, I’d forgo the track and just replace those end pieces.
Hello! LOVE these doors. I am going to attempt this on my bi-fold doors. Just a quick question… you put some plywood pieces on the door to make the level surface to attach the shiplap to. How come you only did this on half the door? Did you not attach the shiplap on the other half of the door?
I just did half to raise it to the height of the other flat side. I didn’t want to do it on the entire door because it would have added extra weight and thickness. Hopefully that makes sense? Let me know if you have other questions!
About the weight-as is, did what you did do to the doors add much weight? I wonder how the daily use might effect sagging and also the ease of using. This is really a brilliant way to treat the bi-folds and I have been wondering what to do with mine. I just found you via The Lettered Cottage and am very excited!
Aw I’m so glad you came to check it out. I was so honored to be featured by Layla! Because the plywood is so thin it doesn’t add much weight at all. The trim boards around the outside are a big heaver. Still though I don’t think it added any more than about 10 pounds. I did it over a year ago and the doors still function perfectly!
This is amazing!! I love it so much. I want to run out and do this to both of my closets that have bi-fold doors!! Great work 🙂
Aw thank you so much! My boys have a set of them in their room that I’m considering doing as well!
I love the doors! I am attempting to do this with only one bi fold door. Splitting them amd making them two small doors for a linen closet in the bathroom. My question is how did you hang the doors? Did you replace the pivot pins with hinges or did you modify tbe pivot pins? Also did you only put the stoppers at the top? Did you fab a door frame on the sides to help with stability? Thanks in advanced!
I’m not sure how you would do it splitting one door. Mine are still on the same hardware and track that they were as bi-fold doors. They still use the pivot pin. Yes there are stoppers at the top if you look right at the middle of the doors. Just a wood piece mounted to the frame to keep the doors from going in. The door frame is the same one that was already there for the bi-folds. No extra framing. Hopefully that helps! Thanks for your kind comments.
I love this idea! Great work, thank you for sharing. I am getting ready to do the same on my closet doors, except that I will keep the folding to save opening space. Could you please tell us the details on the edge trim pieces you used (width and thickness)?
I love this project! Your doors turned out fantastic. I’m looking for more information on the trim pieces you used. Can you give me more details (such as width and thickness)? I found a basic wood piece but its thicker than the plywood and sticks out on the edges. I like how your plywood is level with the edges.
Thank you for any feedback!
Thank you so much! It was just a thin piece of trip from Lowe’s. It was primed and about 1 inch wide with a beveled front edge. Thanks!
What dimensions are each closet door opening?
They’re standard 48″ wide by 80″ high.
Do you think this would work on mirrored sliding doors? I am trying to update it instead of replacing them.
It would be a different process for replacing mirrored sliding doors. I’m sure there would be a way, but I don’t think this would work. Sorry!
We have bifold doors, that I want to change to french style. This post is perfect! Quick question though…Did you add hinges to the door and door frame? I see where you cut off the roller. Or did you just remove the roller from the middle and kept the one on the outside and that is how the door swings open? The instructions get a little foggy there. Thanks for any advice you can offer up. And thanks for this post…so helpful!
So sorry I wasn’t more clear! Yes it just pivots on the roller on the outside. I didn’t add any additional hinges and it still felt really solid. Thanks so much for reading and commenting!
Have the doors sagged at all under the weight of the doors? I was curious if that was something that might happen.
No not at all! They held up wonderfully.
Hi there! I’m in the process of doing the same to my guest room bi-fold doors; so excited to find a relatively inexpensive DIY to revamp them. I have a question about the plywood you attached to the inside of the doors. How did you deal with the bifold hinges in the middle of the each door? It seems like nailing on a single piece wouldn’t be possible over those hinges. Thanks!
Actually I just nailed the piece right over the hinges and since it’s a thin flexible piece it just barely bowed it the middle. So glad you found my post! Thanks!
Hello! I love your doors! This is such a good idea. How did you paint them? Did you use a brush or spray them?
Thank you so much! I used a brush and roller, but I do love my sprayer and that would get in the cracks easier than a brush!
Awesome! Also, how the heck did you get the pulls on? Did you have to put a screw through the slats? This was such a good idea you had. Our room looks so much more updated because of this!
Yes I used long screws for the pulls! Mine were through the solid part of the door, not the slats. Thanks! SO glad you liked the tutorial!
I am in the process of redecorating my bedroom and want to give this makeover to the closets (I have his and her closets). Did the wood you used make the doors heavier? Will I need to reinforce them to keep them from sagging from the additional weight? They look gorgeous!!!
Thanks Michele so sorry for the delay, somehow I missed this comment when you wrote it. I used such thin plywood that it really didn’t add much weight. Ours didn’t need to be reinforced at all and held up great. I think as long as you used lightweight plywood you should be fine. Good luck!
I am super excited about this DIY project! One question though about the plywood strips that you put over the slats. I just wanted to confirm….did you actually nail the strips to the slats? It seems like you would have to. Sturdy enough?
Awesome! Yes I nailed them right onto the door with 1/2″ brads. Only a few brads into the slats, more of the nails into the edges. A couple brads into the slats kept it nice and stable.
This is a lovely finished project. Thank you for the detailed instructions and the pictures are helpful in giving understanding to the process. One thing I am confused about: the 1/4″ trim on each side of the door opening (on the frame) that hides the edges of the door when closed; do you need to remove that trim piece?
No I left that trim in place. The way that ours were built it didn’t get in the way. I just built the doors in a way that they wouldn’t overlap the trim. Also ours didn’t overhang either.
Really beautiful! I’ve been struggling with what to do with these ugly things everywhere in my home for years. I’ve taken them on and off – never knowing what to do to make them look better. So these aren’t attaches with regular hinges, right? You’re still using the pin that fits into the floor piece and one above into the track? Or did you take all the track and hardware out of the closet frame? Any way you can send me an image?