How to Turn Bi-fold Doors into French Doors

As much as I would love to dive right into decorating and buying furniture for our new house, there are some other practical things we need to address first. Don’t get me wrong.  This house was move-in ready, but we want to put our stamp on it.  One of those “stamps” involves the laundry closet.   Not having a basement or actual pantry this time around is making us rework some areas so we can be better organized.  I mean where do you put 12 rolls of paper towels?!?  (I think from now on I won’t be buying in bulk.)

Anyway, after being in the house a few weeks, I decided this laundry room right off of the kitchen could be more efficient by adding some shelves. Then I could have a laundry/half pantry closet.  I knew this could be achieved by stacking the washer and the dryer.   So, while my parents were here, I bought a stacking kit for our washer and dryer.  Wow!  What a huge difference it made.  To hold us over till we can do some built-ins, we put an old Ikea shelf in the other half and had an instant pantry.  There was a problem, though.  The doors were bi-fold, and I was losing about six inches of space on each side.  It was wasted space that I needed, and I knew it had to change.

 

 

I knew it was an inexpensive project that I could do on my own.    First up, I bought a magnetic catch.  It would help the new French door close and stay closed.

 

 

Next up. I purchased screws and mending plates.  I had to go with two packs since I was going to use three on each door.

 

 

The first step was to get the roller out of the bi-fold track.  I kept the corners still intact because they will continue  to hold the doors up.  Once the roller was off the track I pulled out the roller.  Pliers helped remove this part.

 

 

 

Next, I screwed the mending plates into each bi-fold door.   I used three mending plates for each door –  one in the top, middle and bottom.

 

 

 

They will  keep the door from folding and hold it straight.

 

 

Then I got a piece of scrap wood that measured 1 inch x 3 inches by 4 feet.  They will cut it for me at the local home improvement store. In the middle of the board I screwed in the magnetic catch.

 

 

 

I screwed the flat plates into the corner or each door.  This is what will catch and hold the doors shut.

 

 

Behind the track I screwed this piece of wood into the closet trim. I had to be sure the magnetic catch and doors lined up so they will connect with the magnet and catch.

 

 

This was such a great fix for us because for with very little time and money, we were able to create a pantry and get more space with these updated doors. I am also loving the white trim.  When we moved in, all of the trim was a cream color. Thanks Mom for helping to paint this area and those doors!

Cheers!

 

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