Are pocket doors suitable for small spaces?

Space is a vital commodity in the home or workplace, and is something we are prepared to spend a lot of money on to have or create. We would expect to spend more on a bigger property, with more rooms, and we would expect to invest heavily in an extension, or a loft or a basement conversion. We need space to respond to changing circumstances, but also to enhance our lifestyle and create more comfort and luxury.

Of course the difficulty comes in how cost-effective such a development is. We don’t always have the funds to add space to a property, and moving home or to new business premises doesn’t always fit with our long-term plans, or simply doesn’t make sense in a practical way. It is common for the expansion we need to be relatively small, and one of the most cost-effective and practical solutions for creating space in a room is to install a pocket door.

How pocket doors help to create a small space

If you have a small space that is fitted with a traditional hinged door, you are limited in how that space can be used. This is because the door opens in an arc into the room and therefore removes the possibility of using the space immediately behind the door for any practical purpose. If you installed a pocket door in the same room, because the pocket door opens by running along the overhead track and disappearing into the wall recess (or ‘pocket’), it therefore makes this same space usable. This exact amount of space will differ according to how large the door is, but generally speaking it will create an extra ten square feet of space.

This additional space that you have created may not sound like a significant amount, but it could be sufficient to enable you to redesign the space, repurpose it or make it multi-purpose. In terms of how you use this additional space, this can be sufficient to enhance the quality of your home or work premises and is much more cost-effective than moving to a new property or investing in extensions.

What pocket doors enable you to do with a small space

Here we have put together some suggestions for what pocket door systems enable you to do with a small space, both in the home and in the workplace:

• Creating a small space for a new purpose – So this could be adding a stud partition wall in a larger space to create two smaller spaces. In a home this is commonly used where you have a growing family and need to create an additional bedroom, but it can also be used to add an en-suite bathroom, or simply to create new storage space. On the ground floor, you can section off a larger space to create a downstairs toilet or a utility room. In the workplace, a pocket door can also be useful for creating storage space, but you can also create a kitchen or small canteen space, a photocopier room, a computer server room or a small office. Using a glass pocket door also helps to make these small spaces more comfortable and less claustrophobic if they are being occupied. It should be noted that the same principle, and therefore the same usage solutions, apply to a small space that already exists.
• Using a small space for multiple purposes – Now that you have installed a pocket door you may be able to fit more furniture in and make a room multi-purpose, thus utilising space more efficiently. So a pocket door may allow you to change an under-used guest bedroom into a home office. You may only have guests staying over two or three times a year, and you can still retain that facility, but you can also now fit in a small desk and chair, and hence have a quiet space you can work or read on an evening or weekend, or full-time if you now need to work from home. Alternatively, maybe the kids don’t use their playroom as much as they used to, and you are finding you have more frequent overnight guests and need an appropriate space for them. The space created by a pocket door may enable you to fit a sofa bed, which can be tucked away when the kids use the room, but which can be laid out for guests as needed.

Contact the Pocket Door Shop for ideas on how to use small spaces

Our sales experts at the Pocket Door Shop can advise on the many solutions available for using pocket doors in small spaces. This innovative solution helps you make the most efficient use of space around the home or workplace, and in a cost-effective way, so contact our team to discuss this more.