DIY Project: Turning Bi-Folding Closet Doors into French Doors

If you’re looking for a fun way to change up your home without investing a lot of money and looking to have some DIY fun, why not change your bi-folding closet door into beautiful French doors.

Catherine, a Virgin Radio team member, did this herself over the weeked. She followed these instructions. 

Here’s what you’ll need: 

• Bi-folding closet door
• Door hinges (We used 6 hinges. You might be able to reuse some of the hinges already on your door, although we got 6 new ones that are all the same colour and finish)
• Magnetic catch, you can easily find one in a hardware store
• Two small door knobs
• Two metal screws * (you may be able to use the ones that are already being used, but in my case, those screws were too small so I used 2-inch length screws (of course, this depends on the thickness of your bi-folding door)
• Measuring tape
• Drill
• Screwdriver
• Pencil
• Wood filler & touch-up paint

STEPS: 

1. Remove your closet door and place it on the floor
    
2. Remove the door hinges, and voila, you now have 2 doors
   
   
    
3. You can now fill-in any holes or scratches on the doors with plaster or wood filler, and while you're at it, why not repaint the doors.
    
4. Determine which way the doors will be facing and which one will be on the right and left when you hang them.
    
5. With your doors on the floor, measure and mark where your new door hinges will be on the doors. They should be the same distance and height on both doors. (Just make sure the hinges are facing the right direction so doors will open the right way when hung.). Once you have figured out where the hinges should go, drill the hinges onto the sides of the doors.
   
   
    
6. At the edges of your new French doors, screw the magnets (place them as close as you can) so that the door will be “attracted” to the magnets on the doorframe (these will be installed shortly).
    
7. Now it’s time to install your doorknobs. Be sure to measure and install your doorknobs on the doors, however high you want them just make sure they are aligned.
    
8. Hold the doors up to the closet frame and mark where you’ll be hanging the hinges. Make sure the doors will open in the right direction! Then drill the holes and attach the hinges onto the closet frame. (It’s a good idea to have someone help you with this step, and I will also suggest to use something (like a book, some vinyl or cd) at the bottom of your doors to make sure they are the same level before to drill them to the frame door).
    
9. Install a magnetic catch on the top of your doorframe to connect with the magnets already on your door. If your closet is like ours, the catch would have been too high if we drilled it into the top of the frame, so we added a piece of scrap wood to lower it a bit so the magnets would line up with the ones on the door.
   
   
    
10. Put your doors up on the hinges and screw them in.
     
11. The final step, enjoy your work!  

Here's Catherine's work: