jeff2718, The Ruth's Chris Steakhouse in Cary, NC has absolutely beautiful "barndoors" in their Governors Room. Although the term "barndoors" is very misleading in this case. I can email you the pics I took, if you like (I haven't figured out how to post pics on GW yet). Their doors are very formal with leaded glass in the upper half and solid panelled wood on the bottom half. I even took pics of the track they are on in hopes of being able to find them. Then I went to a local building supply company and they were showing me just their regular interior doors and I noticed that all those doors were mounted on the same type of track on the ceiling allowing each individual door to slide out to be shown then slide it back in place when done! Basically with this type of track its just a pocket door track mounted to the ceiling on the exterior side of the finished wall (vs. between the sheetrock) There are rollers mounted to the top of the door that fit in the track. Then you simply mount your trim in front of the track so it's hidden from view and voila, you've got a formal, unobstrusive sliding door that's beautiful whether open or closed.

weedy- Thanks, the door moldings have been a worry to me. I have been thinking that the door would not clear if they were left on. I like the look of more modern/no casing, but that will be another day/another house... I am relieved to know the sliding door will pass over the moldings. Thank you OH- your home looks very nice- light, clean colors!

"I went to work in an office that had a pocket door that never worked right because someone had driven nails into it at some point and it was never the same after" (palimpsest) Yes. This happened to us when DH nailed the baseboard on the wall between the laundry and kitchen. The door came off track. When we renovate I will replace or remove. However, this was builder grade. On our extension I added three pocket doors. The one I had put in for the powder room is a solid core door, not thinner than most doors, as I wanted as much sound-dampening as possible with such a device. We used Johnson Hardware - not the home depot variety which runs $ 40 or so, but commercial grade. Look at the Johnson site under 1500 Commercial Grade and you will also find non-standard size frames (door max thickness 1 3/4"). Use a good carpenter.

Sure, you purchase barn door hardware and the doors seperately from a millwork supply house or a real lumberyard. Double stacking doors and the track on the wall , be prepared to lose approximately 6" of floor space along that wall as well as the hanging area for the clock and wall art.