Closet Envy with Solid Wood Doors

Published: March 09, 2021

When it comes to closet doors the possibilities are almost endless. You can have a standard swinging door, French doors, sliding doors, sliding barn doors, pocket doors and bi-fold doors to name a few. Let's break down these different door types and look at their uses and benefits.

Standard Swinging Closet Door

Standard closet doors hung on hinges are probably the most commonly seen closet doors in homes. These are a single door hung on usually 3 hinges that swing outward and usually allow the homeowner full access to the closet. These doors are cost effective and come in several different styles whether you are looking for a paneled door, louvered door, a combination of panels and louvers or a flat slab door.

French Doors

These doors are similar to your standard doors where they both hang on hinges with the exception of instead of having a single door that swings out you have two that swing out to the left and right sides of your closet. You typically see these types of doors on double closets when you require full access to the closet and there may not be enough room for a pocket or sliding barn door. Almost any door style offered by Estate Millwork can be used as a French style door.

Sliding Doors, Pocket Doors and Sliding Barn Doors

These door styles are similar yet still different enough where you need to distinguish between the two and use the correct hardware. Your typical sliding doors slide along a track within the door frame and will only give the homeowner access to half of the closet when open, this style is good for larger closets that have limited wall space on either side. Pocket doors are similar to sliding doors in that they slide along a track within the door frame with the exception that these doors slide into the wall granting full access to the closet. Pocket doors require a more involved setup as the wall needs to be prepared to accept the door when it is open. Sliding barn doors are a newer trend we are starting to see in homes over the past several years. These doors like pocket and sliding doors slide along a track with the exception that the track is on the outside of the door frame and the door(s) can slide along the wall. Sliding barn doors can be setup to slide completely free of the closet opening when space permits or similar to sliding doors they can slide on top of each other granting access to only one side of the closet at a time. The configuration for sliding barn doors all depends on how much wall space you have at your disposal.

Bi-Fold Doors

Bi-fold doors like sliding doors are mounted to and open along a track installed within the door frame, this is where the similarities end. Bi-fold doors are two skinnier doors hinged in the middle so they open to the sides without taking up a lot of space from them swinging open. Bi-fold doors are perfect for when there is limited floor and wall space that will not allow to use one of the other door types. Most bi-fold doors are usually louvered doors and paneled doors.