You know that room you’ve always wished you could close off with a door, but opening and closing one wouldn’t work with the available floor space? Well, that’s where pocket doors come in.
Aptly named, pocket doors are designed to slide into the doorframe or adjacent wall when fully open. Using rollers on an overhead track, these doors can slide out when needed and tuck away when not. This makes them the ultimate compromise: you can have an open concept flow when you want it or close off the room when you don’t — without losing any floor space.
If your home doesn’t currently have an option for a pocket door, that doesn’t mean you can’t add one in. While it does require some minor demolition, installing a pocket door is a relatively straightforward and inexpensive design upgrade. In order to decide if your doorway is a good candidate, ask these preliminary questions first:
- Is there enough room in the wall? A good wall for a pocket door will be twice the width of the door you want to install.
- Is the wall load bearing? While this doesn’t necessarily rule it out if so, it does further complicate the process.
- Does the wall contain wiring or plumbing? While wiring isn’t a deal breaker (but will require some rewiring), the presence of pipes makes your wall a poor candidate for a pocket door.
Now, with just a door, a pocket door hardware kit and either some DIY home repair experience or the help of a professional, you can have the space saver door option you’ve always wanted.