Barn Exterior Makeover: An Easy Transformation
This simple yet dramatic before and after of our barn exterior shows what a difference paint and molding can make! We added replacement windows (salvaged), new lighting and door hardware as well – small things that bring a whole new look to the formerly rustic structure. I’m sharing the easy steps we took over a month and a cost breakdown to inspire you to look at any structures on your property in a whole new light!
I’m super excited to share with you our barn exterior makeover that shows how refreshing an outdoor building doesn’t have to be a daunting and expensive project. With just a few simple, do-able steps, you can easily transform any outbuilding into a something with charm.
When we moved to our farmhouse property, there were just two outbuildings on the three acres – a single car garage and a small building with barn doors that was previously used as a wood shop.
The garage was painted white and while it needs some work, it sits back from the road and isn’t much of an eyesore.
Not so much the other building. It was covered in a flaking blue/gray paint with oddly placed lighting, old foggy metal windows, and large holes left in the siding from the previous owner’s basketball hoop:
And it is seen by everyone passing by on our road – which stuck out even more after we finished our farmhouse renovation and painted the nearby manufactured home. It’s also seen from every window on the west side of the farmhouse.
When we bought the property, I knew exactly what to do with the small building because of it’s barn doors – highlight them with ‘X’ molding and add a barn light. Then everyone would know this is a barn! (Yes, we just store tools and workout equipment in it, but it’s the look that matters, right?)
Years passed, though, when all the other things we needed to do took precedence over the barn upgrade. Until finally it was time – my dream for this little building happened over the course of a month when we replaced the metal windows with salvaged farmhouse vinyl windows, caulked, filled, sanded, painted, and added molding.
And it’s everything I’d hoped for!!
Below you’ll find the before and afters, which illustrates so much the difference paint and a few pieces of molding can make, the actual steps we took for this makeover, and a basic cost breakdown (yes, it was more than I originally thought – who knew molding was that expensive or that we’d need electrical wire?).
I hope this is inspiring and helpful for you!
Barn Exterior Makeover Before and After
Corner of barn before. Broken, off-center lights, old metal window, damaged door.
Corner of barn after. White paint, dark green painted door and barn door molding, new lights and door hardware.
Barn side door and window before. The old metal window was too tall – all the way up into the eaves.
Barn side door and window after. Notice how the new salvaged window fits so much better! We added a kick plate to disguise the peeling bottom of the hollow-core door (obviously an interior door, but we didn’t have time to replace that).
Back of the barn before. Besides some clean up, all we needed here was the new window and caulking and filling.
Back of the barn after. This window salvaged from the old farmhouse’s enclosed porch was the exact size! We were able to reuse the window trim for this window.
Barn Makeover Steps
Step 1: Replace old metal windows. We had saved windows from our farmhouse specifically for this. The side window above was shorter and longer. Brian cut out the siding for the new length and then created a header and added salvaged siding to fill the top gap.
The back window was thankfully the perfect size. We reused all the trim from this window and two pieces from the side window – we only had to purchase two trim pieces.
Step 2: Power wash. Once the new windows were in, we used a power washer to clean all the siding, doors, eaves, and gutters.
Step 3: Caulking and filling holes. We caulked all around the new windows and used wood putty to fill trim area and any holes like the ones left from the old basketball hoop above. The bigger hole left by the off-center light fixture was filled with a piece of siding first and then wood fill.
Step 4: Sand, scrape, and tape. We sanded the filled areas as well as any peeling painted areas. There were a few areas to scrape the flaking paint, but not too many. We then taped the windows and doors to prep for painting with our sprayer. We used this pre-taped sheeting.
Jami’s Biggest Tip For Filling Large Holes/Gaps
My brother-in-law shared with me how to use foam backer (sometimes called foam caulk saver) for large gaps where most caulk and wood fill would sink and I’ve used it SO much in our old houses. It works great for large holes from things like the basket hoop above – I cut a piece and made a small circle to stuff into the hole and then I filled on top with the wood fill. It’s been a lifesaver for all the gaps in old houses – add some of this and then caulk over and it won’t sink! The foam backer comes in different thicknesses – I always have a thinner and slightly thicker option on hand.
Step 5: Paint. We used Behr Premium Plus paint in Silky White to match our farmhouse.
Step 6: Install lighting. I searched for affordable classic barn lights (not as easy as I thought!) and came up with these two, both from Home Depot, which I love:
- Large 16-inch black barn light for above the barn doors.
- Small 10-inch black barn light for above the side door.
- We installed these motion sensor light bulbs in each – they work great, only going on dawn to dusk when someone walks by (SO much nicer than the ugly motion sensor lights, aren’t they?).
Brian did have to move the electrical to center the light fixture over the large barn doors, which added to the cost (wiring is expensive!), but thankfully after all our DIY projects, he’s learned to do basic electrical like this.
Step 7: Install side door hardware. We upgraded the side door hardware from rusty old gold to an inexpensive black knob and deadbolt as well as the door kick plate I mentioned earlier that was needed to cover the peeling door at the bottom.
Step 8: Attach barn door trim. This was the hardest part for us – but it was also the part that would bring the whole building to life as a barn! The first issue was of course mitering the corners of the ‘X’s’ – Brian ended up creating a template that worked great.
The other thing that we debated was how to deal with the door hardware attached to the outside of the doors (many are attached behind the door). In the end, we simply took the trim to the edges of the hardware and painted it all to match and i think it turned out great!
Like I said, I love how this turned out – it looks just like a cute little barn now!
I took us about a month, start to finish, working on some weekends and a few hours here and there. Pretty good use of time, I think.
Barn Makeover Cost Breakdown
I was hoping to stay around $500 for the total cost, but you know how renovations go. We did use a paint sprayer that we own which seems to use more paint than rolling, but the time savings is worth it to us. Here are the specific costs:
- 2 Vinyl windows – reused from farmhouse remodel = $0
- Wood for window moldings (some reused) – 2 cedar 1×6 = $15
- Preprimed outdoor molding for barn doors from local home store = $130
- Siding to fill gaps – salvaged = $0
- Behr Premium Plus Silky White, 8 gallons ($42 for 5 gal bulk; then $47 each gal)= $368
- Behr Premium Plus Evergreen Fields for trim/door = $0 (from farmhouse reno)
- Plastic to tape off = $12.50
- Wood filler = $15
- White caulk, $5 x 2 = $10
- Foam backer – only used small amount that I had on hand = $0
- Electrical -wiring, plates, ground switch = $45
- Large 16-inch black barn light = $65
- Small 10-inch black barn light = $46
- Black door knob set = $36
- Black door kick plate – $30
TOTAL= $772.50
In the end, it wasn’t a huge cost for the outcome and I’m happy with what we were able to accomplish!
What do you think – can we safely call this a barn now instead of a shop? š
LOOKS Country Living and Martha Stewart catalogs-worthy!! love the elegance of simplicity!! so you did not need to use primer beore painting?
Aww, thank you so much, Joanna!! The building was painted (so we weren’t painting on raw wood) and we used a paint with a primer – it covered really well, though we still needed 2 coats probably because we went from gray to white.
Congratulations Jami! It turned out great and I think that is an extremely reasonable amount of money to spend on something that makes such a dramatic difference! Oh but if each and every DIY project would end with similar results! Lol! Thanks for breaking down the cost–I always find that interesting and it also shows the effect repurposing materials can have. Can’t imagine the cost if you had hired someone to do the work!
Thank you, Norma! You’re so right – I’m sure labor would’ve added 75% to the cost!
Looks wonderful Jami! Isn’t it amazing how a coat of paint can transform something so simply! Love the doors and lighting!
Thank you, Lola!!