Pocket doors vs hinged doors - space saved compared

Choosing the right type of doors can be a major consideration in a home improvement project, and can be a huge factor in what you are able to do with a space and, therefore, how you can maximise the freedom and flexibility you can enjoy in your home. So doors can impact on a home in terms of aesthetics, but more importantly in terms of everyday functionality.

When planning a home improvement project, a common consideration is whether to opt for pocket doors or traditional hinged doors. If you don’t already know or understand the key differences between these popular types of door, this article will explain them, and we will also examine the impact each door can have in terms of space efficiency.

The difference between pocket doors and hinged doors

A traditional hinged door has been used in properties of various type and size for many years. It works by opening in an arc into or out of a room, and functions via the hinges which attach the door to the door frame. Because of this, a hinged door requires a clear arc with around 800-900mm clearance on the side of the door in the direction it opens. A pocket door, by comparison, opens by sliding along an overhead rail. This keeps the door in the same orientation and means it can slide horizontally into a wall cavity built into the adjacent wall, known as the ‘pocket’.

The main difference here is that an open hinged door is encroaching into usable space and therefore makes that space redundant, whether it is opening into or out of a room. The door is visible and is a physical barrier. With a pocket door, the door literally disappears from view when opened and hence, is not a physical barrier to anything. And because the door doesn’t encroach into or out of a room, the space immediately in front of or behind the door becomes usable space.

Why is space important in a home?

In many areas of modern life we have learnt to extract maximum use out of certain things, in order to reduce waste and get better value for money. The same is true of our home. The pocket door creates roughly ten square feet of space compared to a traditional hinged door, which creates dead space that can’t be used as it will be a physical obstacle to the door opening. This may not sound like a lot of space, but it can be critical when refurbishing or remodelling a home, and can make the difference in being able to make lifestyle improvements and in unlocking the potential of your home.

The space-saving benefits of the pocket door

How can we use this space the pocket door creates?

• Add furniture or features – Maybe you now have space to install a radiator behind the door, or a shelf, or a towel rail? Even just hanging a mirror or some wall art in a space which would have previously been obscured by the door can make a big difference to a room.
• Make a room multi-purpose – Fitting more furniture in a room can help to give it a dual purpose. So a guest bedroom is very nice to have, but how often do you use it? For five days a week it could act as a home office now that you can fit a desk and chair in it, and at weekends can still be used for visitors. The same applies to other under-used spaces, such as a kids’ playroom that isn’t used during the day when they are at school etc.
• Divide a large room into two smaller rooms – Families grow bigger and you sometimes develop different needs, so it is common to find the need for an extra room. Dividing a large bedroom into two smaller rooms with the installation of a pocket door as a partition wall, is a common solution to this and is much more cost-effective than building an extension or converting a loft or cellar to create this extra room.
• Utilise dead space for practical purposes – It is a great idea to fully utilise every square inch of space in a home and sometimes a pocket door allows you to do that. The ten square feet of space created can help you eliminate dead space both upstairs and downstairs and install storage, a separate toilet, a downstairs toilet, an en-suite bathroom, a cloakroom, a food larder or a utility room.   

Order your pocket door system from MB Direct

So pocket doors are a great solution for creating space in compact homes and apartments, and being able to maximise your available space to make efficient use of it. The pocket door slides discreetly into a wall pocket and disappears from view, making it a smart, lean solution which eliminates wasted space and means you can have more flexibility in how you use your home. The pocket door provides options for furniture placement, room repurposing and is better for accessibility as it is less of an obstruction compared to a hinged door. You can choose from a range of pocket door systems from MB Direct, with a wide variety of styles and finishes available.