At Home With...

Have you ever wondered how other customers in New Zealand and Australia use RHP products? Maybe you want to add a barn door feature or rolling ladder but are not sure how to make it work in your home?

Well, we have caught up with some of our previous clients and we are bringing you some major inspiration straight from their homes throughout Australia and NZ!

Keep reading and get inspired!

At Home with Keri (our very own Sales Manager!) and Michael
​  - Bay of Plenty NZ

Keri and her husband Michael recently purchased their very first home and one of their first projects was to install a barn door in their lounge to separate this from the hallway. Keri was so excited about having this RHP feature in her home as it's been on her wish list for a while.
​WHAT INSPIRED YOU TO ADD A BARN DOOR FEATURE TO YOUR HOME?
"There are lots of reasons we chose to add a barn door feature into our home with one of the main reasons being that I LOVE them! Barn Doors are such a simple way to bring personality to a home and as I am working with them every day I am luckily enough to see the different ways people are using them, the ways people are injecting their personalities in to such a simple thing. So, it was a no brainer for us." - Keri

"Also, when we moved into our home there was no door between the living area and the hallway so we decided a door would help separate the different parts of the home and hoped it would create a cosier feeling in the lounge" - Michael 
WHAT MADE YOU CHOOSE AN RTA BARN DOOR?
"There was never another door contender. The RTA comes in a kit set that allows you to build one of six designs,the price is great which now being home owners we have to think about haha, and it was in stock ready to go - this was huge for us as we had set ourselves a very small timeline and an 8 week lead time for a custom door, wasn't going to work for us." - Keri
with so many barn door hardware options to choose from WHAT MADE YOU DECIDE ON THE Satin nickel ROUND RAIL?
"Choosing the finish was easy! Our colour palette at home is very neutral and we thought a black finish would be too over powering. As for the round rail, we were trying to think ahead, with a rolling ladder also on the cards, we wanted to ensure any future hardware could be easily matched with the barn door. And as ladder rails are round the flat rail systems were a no go for us." - Keri
why did you decide to stain the door rather than painting it?
"We are going for a natural, earthy feel in our home and being surrounded by native trees and other greenery we felt stain would give the door a more natural feel. Something that would be lost on paint. Also, due to time restraints, we decided to stain the door once it was together rather than before, as recommended" - Keri
ON A SCALE OF 1-10, 10 BEING EASY PEASY, HOW DID YOU FIND THE INSTALLATION OF THE RHP HARDWARE?
"Michael did most of the work here so...." - Keri

"The door was really simple. The instructions are straight forward and it was really a matter of putting the planks of wood side by side and securing them together with the hardware provided. Once we decided on what design we were going with it took me roughly 30 minutes to get the door together". - Michael

" As for the hardware, this took a little longer as we had very strange stud placing in our home. Once Michael worked out the stud distances and where the brackets needed to go it was very straight forward" - Keri
ANY TIPS OR TRICKS YOU COULD RECOMMEND FOR OTHER PEOPLE WANTING TO DO A SIMILAR PROJECT?
"I recommend having a cordless drill and stud finder handy" - Michael

"Contact us for a quote!" - Keri

At Home with Kerwyn - Bay of Plenty NZ

Back in 2014 Kerwyn purchased two of our Spade Round Rail Kits after seeing us at the Waikato Home Show. We recently caught up with Kerwyn about his project and this is his RHP story!
What inspired you to add a barn door feature to your home?
​We were aimlessly wandering around the Waikato Home show and noticed the RHP stand, I was fascinated by the hardware alongside the possibilities. And as we had a double door space between the kitchen, dining room and the lounge; which in summer was great as a large open room, was having to be closed off in winter so we could warm! So, the sketching, measuring and plans for a door were drawn up.
What did you use to make your barn door?
​The door was made from recycled timber. The only new things were the nails and stain.
What made you decide to use 4 straps on a single door rather than just a pair?
​Originally when we ordered the kits, we were going to have two doors that met in the middle, As things changed we ended up making only one large door (as the recyclable timber was available free). With the increased weight and width, we thought the configuration of the 4 straps would work well and be more aesthetically pleasing.
On a scale of 1-10, 10 being easy peasy, how did you find the installation of the RHP hardware?
​Once we understood how it all came together, installation ease was about 9.
Any tips or tricks you could recommend for other people wanting to do a similar project?
  1. It’s definitely a task for two people - minimum, especially when you run a double length track. ​
  2. Be gentle when joining lengths together! I wasn’t and now I need to do some paint touch ups.
  3. Use an electronic stud finder, it makes life so much easier when trying to figure out where to place the screws.
  4. Cordless Drill - LIFE SAVER!​

At Home with Ivan - Queensland Australia
Ivan is one of our amazing Australian customers who recently purchased Rolling Ladder Hardware from us here in NZ. Ivan's project is now complete and we are so excited to share his RHP story with you.

WHAT INSPIRED YOU TO ADD A Rolling ladder FEATURE TO YOUR home?
​We haven’t been in this house long, but one of the changes we wanted to make was to redo the dividing wall between the dining room and the lounge in a large high ceiling room. We changed it from a 2m high wall to 3.5m and extended it. This created an ideal wall for a library (to house all my wife’s books accumulated since she was at school.) A rolling ladder was an obvious choice to reach the upper shelves.  A google search brought us to your website and after some research on the product and your company, it gave us exactly what we were after.
Why did you decided to mount the wheels on the inside of the ladder?
I put the wheels on the inside so the ladder would fit next to the TV unit when in the storage position.  It is not as stable when rolling but is fine when climbed on because of the braked wheels.
On a scale of 1-10, 10 being easy peasy, how did you find the installation of the RHP hardware​?
​I downloaded the install instructions before ordering and could see it was going to be “easy peasy” provided the parts were of a quality as displayed. They were and it went up without any problems.  My son-in-law is a carpenter and he offered to build the ladder using the dimensions on your install sheet. (Thanks for that).
what made you decide to paint the ladder in the same finish as your walls and bookshelf?
We used a dressed pine thinking we would use a wood stain, but we couldn’t find a stain to match the different timbers in the lounge so we painted it the same colour as our walls and library shelves - we are really happy with the finished result. ​
ANYTHING ELSE?
We would have no hesitation in recommending your products or your company.  Thanks again Keri!
At Work with Sonya - Taupo NZ
Sonya recently purchased three of our Bespoke Hook Strap Kits from our new Kiwi Home Collection. We caught up with Sonya last week to see how she was getting on and this is her RHP journey.
What inspired you to add a barn door feature to your beauty room?
I have always loved the look of barn doors, they can be designed to suit any decor, they are a huge talking point and I believe can impact a room.
What did you use to make youR doors?
My husband built the doors using native timber, Kahikatea. We then used Black Japan Stain from Feast & Watson in a gloss finish.
​Was there a particular aspect of the Bespoke Kit that caught your eye?
We selected the Bespoke as the wrought iron look and texture fitted my design image. I also loved that the quality was solid and could handle holding the heavy native timber that we wanted to use. The main aspect for us in choosing the bespoke design was that the image was exactly what we were after and was appealing that it came in a kit set.  It was a huge advantage that the cost was extremely affordable,
How did you find the installation of the
​RHP hardware?
We actually Googled a few different tutorials prior to putting the kit together. As the doors were not the average/recommend thickness we thought some alterations would be required. 
We added a packer which was virtually a copy of the "run" which supports the wheel, this allowed the door to sit out from the door jams.  Extremely simple to do and we just painted it black, drilled the holes in identical places using the supplied "run" and a stencil .
​Any tips or tricks you could recommend for other people wanting to do a similar project?
I would suggest watching a tutorial video or something first and make sure you are screwing the hardware into the joist behind the jib!
Anything else?
Awesome service, very happy with quality of product and we have had almost everyone ask where we got them from!