Barndominium styling comes in every taste and theme that you can imagine, every person has their own personal styles and decor that they prefer over others. However, One style that almost everyone can agree on is the rustic reclaimed Barnwood style of barndominiums that have really taken off on their own with the popularity lately. Families are eating up the shiplap, the tongue and groove, and especially the one-of-a-kind custom reclaimed wood flooring. I’ve seen the prices people are paying these middlemen and 3rd party companies that buy the materials from the source only to then jack that price up for the customer. Just about any company that you can find online these days selling reclaimed Barnwood (if they even have any in stock) you can bet your bottom dollar they are charging out the wazoo for every piece of wood they sell because of the competition for the stuff is just so stiff right now they can’t afford to cut deals. Some of your more expensive pieces are going to be the large hand-hewn beams that resemble a railroad tie, folks are using these beautiful exposed support beams to hold the roof up and add a ton of character to your already special barndominium, these huge beams are knotty and have tons of style to them, they have the ability to change the entire look of the interior depending on how it’s done. Any reclaimed wood that you buy is going to cost a lot of money just because of how labor intensive it is to reclaim the wood in the first place not to mention the reconditioning and planning that will be required to prep the wood and deliver it, so there is a reason for the sometimes outrageous prices you see being attached to some more rare and obscure vintage reclaimed pieces.
If you are anything like myself then you are always on the hunt for the best possible deal and the next neat interesting addition to add to my evergrowing decor, even if that means doing a little more work or doing things the hard way around just to get exactly what I want, whatever it takes if the savings is right, that’s kinda my motto when I’m reclaiming materials. One sure-fire way to keep your cost down is obviously to simply go straight to the source now that sounds straightforward when you say it but that’s not always the case. Driving the backroads of the rural south will put you on as my barns as you can shake a stick at but finding an owner or someone who’s willing to work with you can be hard. Your best opportunity is to locate a barn that is in disrepair and looks like the owner wouldn’t mind having it gone and out of the way offering to disassemble and haul off the wood, This type of situation is ideal and can be a win-win for both parties. Taking a barn down and collecting the lumber yourself is no easy task but if you can pull it off you could come out on top with enough free reclaimed lumber that just needs some prepping and TLC at the sawmill saving you the initial cost of the lumber not to mention you can sell off whatever reclaimed lumber that you have left over after the build at a discounted price to help out someone else and make a few extra bucks as well. If you don’t have the money to buy the lumber outright you can most likely bust your hump for it, but just be aware that good barns that are suitable for refurbishing are becoming harder and harder to find, forcing people to search deeper and deeper into the country to find the right projects. As the trend gained popularity the barns and lumber started to slowly disappear from farms and properties where they have stood for over a hundred years in many cases.
At this point when individuals realized that these old-world relics are getting harder and harder to come by a few smart companies started producing some quality reproduction pieces that look and feel just like the real thing. Companies can treat wood in a way that it can accurately imitate Barnwood, reproduction cast iron stoves as well as door knobs, railing, lighting fixtures, and even reproduction era light bulbs are being made today at a price that you just can’t find when it comes to authentic pieces the quality control is better nowadays as well and your more likely to get a solid long-lasting product. On eBay and similar marketplaces, you can find a mixture of old authentic and new reproductions for just about any aspect of your interior. Antique doors are becoming a big trend in barndominium decor lately, sliding barn doors made with reclaimed wood have become all the rage in the past few years and the sliding barn doors are simple enough to build on your own with a quick drive to home depot for the sliding tracks you’ll be on your way to sliding barn doors, the elbow grease it takes is where you’re really going to save the bulk of your money on a project like this. If you buy interior sliding barn doors elsewhere be prepared to pay for em. I would push you to locate some simple plans or a how-to video on youtube possibly for the doors that you want, go source the lumber and build the doors onsite with a buddy, you’ll be glad you did.
Building your barndominium with a reconditioning mindset will get you a long way towards your goal of a rustic barndominium in the country. Reconditioning items can be a fantastic way to show off hard-to-find pieces, sometimes your only option is to recondition or fix up what you already have as opposed to buying something new. Maybe the piece you need just isn’t being made as a reproduction, this also gives your barndominium that flare of authenticity when you recondition vintage decor for your home it just adds that extra spice. I’ve always fixed my own things and I’m big on D.I.Y just because I’ve experienced the benefits of doing the work myself and I prefer it to buy new in most cases. If processing your own Barnwood seems like something you are interested in check out an article that I wrote some months back that touches on how to go about dismantling and prepping your wood and some things involved that may not have crossed your mind. That article can be found on the Buildmax blog under the title “ Barndominiums & Barnwood: Processing reclaimed wood” This article here nicely piggybacks off the article above as it contains some valuable information that you don’t want to miss out on if the barnwood is your style. Get out there on the hunt and reclaim, refurbish, or recondition some pieces for your barndominium and save that money you would have otherwise spent for more important projects.
