The sliding barn door can be a statement piece and open up precious floor space when rooms are tight. Making the space for a swinging door moot, you also can give the barn door a trendy hue, such as blue or green, to make it a focal point in your décor.

The sliding barn door grew in popularity during the farmhouse trend in recent years. But even though farmhouse décor is showing some signs of waning, the barn door is sticking around because it’s a solution for saving space. For example, in a kitchen pantry or a playroom, homeowners can gain precious wall space and square footage by swapping out a swinging door for a mounted gliding door.

With no door swing to account for, sliding doors can add up to 14 square feet of floor space. It allows for more flexible furniture arrangement and opens up spots for extra shelving.

But one complaint of these sliding doors is that closing them tends to be a bumpy, unsteady, and noisy experience. Companies are coming out with new wall-mounted sliding door hardware that allows these doors to be opened and closed more smoothly. For example, the company Johnson touts that its wall mount hardware gently slows the door’s travel speed to softly pull it into the fully open or fully closed position. The hardware works similarly to a cabinet door closer and allows doors to open and close more quietly and securely.