OK, I've already told you about how we found pocket door hardware (a track and two hangers on wheels) and a cool old door at PACA.

Here's how Rob turned those items into a sliding barn-style door for our bathroom.

We spent a lot of time brainstorming about how to hang the track. It came with holes in the top, and not  much leeway on the sides. We could have tried to screw through the back to hang it, but we were afraid the head of the bolts would keep the door hangers from rolling along the track.

We thought about hanging threaded rods from the ceiling, attaching to the holes in the top of the track. Rob loved that idea, but I nixed it as too complicated.

When we found a 2-by-4 in our basement that was the perfect length, we decided to use it as a base for our 6-foot track. (I've seen other bloggers do this.)

We propped up the door and held up with the track and brackets to determine where the base needed to go on the wall. Rob used a paddle bit to hollow out spaces for our hardware, because we needed the track to be flush. He secured the 2-by-4 with lag bolts (to the studs we could find) and toggle bolts (to make sure it was secure in areas that didn't have studs behind them). We made sure it was level as we went.

Rob decided to use angle iron to connect the track to the 2-by-4. At least, that's what he called it. I'd call it a huge piece of L-shaped metal. Potato, pah-tah-to.

He originally thought he'd used a 6-foot piece of angle, bolting the track to the bottom and then connecting the back to the 2-by-4 on the wall. But we needed a piece with a 2-inch width on each side of the L-shape, and the home improvement store's longest length was 4 feet.

So instead, Rob used a hacksaw to cut down the metal into 2-inch brackets. He drilled holes in both sides and used hex bolts to connect his brackets to the track, and then to the 2-by-4.

Below, here's Rob, attaching his homemade brackets to the track. Obviously, our dog, Milou, wanted him to PYD instead of DIY.

We then put the door against the door frame, shimming it to allow for a gap at the bottom. Rob used lag screws to attach the door to the brackets. We did this while they were hanging from the track – we didn't have space to attach the brackets, then slide the door in.

The track came with a bolt that stopped the door at one end, and Rob made another with some nuts, a metal plate he found in his workshop and a piece of threaded rod he cut down.

We used a safety hook as a latch on the inside. We bought a cool recessed handle for the inside of the door but ran out of time to put it up. Until then, you can open the door by hanging onto the hook.

(I originally thought it would be cool to have a gate latch to hold the door in place when the bathroom's occupied, but Rob pointed out that we don't want to lock ourselves out. He's smart.)

To finish the day's work, I painted the hardware and visible sections of 2-by-4 a glossy black, so it looks more uniform.

We still have a few tweaks – Rob plans to devise a guide for the bottom of the door, to keep it from swinging outward too much. I plan to get a doorknob as a handle for the outside. And of course, I may paint it white. We'll see.

We're both thrilled with it. We sat in the hallway a while, with the door backlit by the bathroom light, just gazing.

Two of my main worries went unrealized. I didn't want to take down the trim around the bathroom's door frame, but hanging the track with a 2-by-4 behind it gave us plenty of clearance.

I was also worried that gaps around the door wouldn't make the bathroom private enough, but the door we chose is enormous and solid. There are no gaps around the sides or top, and Rob said the soundproofing is comparable to how it was with the original door. (Besides, we have a noisy bathroom fan. It's a beautiful thing in a small house.) Also, the window is frosted well enough that you can't see through it.

All in all, we spent about $120 on the entire project, including an enormous, $11 drill bit for putting in the toggle bolts to hold the 2-by-4 securely, new hacksaw blades for cutting the metal into brackets and something called a center punch Rob swore he needed for drilling into various metal components.m (“I've been wanting one for a while,” he said slyly.)

Compared to prices for new barn door hardware, that is a darn good deal. Plus, after we took down our open-in, whack-the-toilet traditional door, we literally had a dance party in the bathroom. We could both stand comfortably with our arms stretched all the way out, and the closed barn door actually gives the bathroom a little of the hallway's space. It's so cool.