A Practical Use for Bifold Doors

One of the worst inventions of all time is a Bifold door. They are always out of alignment and are a nightmare to install. I hope in this Instructable I will show you a more practical use. Last year I had put a desk together for my daughter and needed to build some shelves. While I was shopping at my local Habitat for Humanity ReStore . I spotted a set of bifold doors and thought that they might make a better shelf than door. The price was $10 for the set. I also found some adjustable shelf brackets for $1 each.

I took them home and started by cutting them down to the length needed for the shelves. Then I cut a piece of wood to fit in the end I had cut. I simply glued the peace of wood and used some clamps to hold it in place. After the glue had dried I ran the doors threw the tablesaw lengthwise. This was to remove the cutouts from the hinges, I only had to trim off about an eighth of an inch. After that I cut used my router and a ¼ inch round over bit on the front edge of the door just to soften them up.

My girls and I started prepping the shelves for paint. I love to get them involved when I can. I wiped them down with TSP first to clean them. We then hand sanded with 220 grit then 320 grit with the palm sander. After the two coats of primer had dried, we started painting the shelves turquoise. My oldest daughter picked it out and to be honest this was the longest part of the whole process. There are way too many colors at Home Depot for an 8 year old to pick just one.

I used some drywall anchors and spaced the rails evenly across the wall. The brackets attach to the rails and simply put the shelves on top. End the end I think they look great and for less than $20 including paints not a bad afternoon project.