Bringing style to small bathrooms with eclisse pocket doors

There are many benefits to installing a pocket door around the home, and with each room comes space-saving solutions that open up flexible options which always look great. But perhaps the room that benefits most from the installation of a pocket door is the bathroom, and the smaller that bathroom is, the bigger impact a pocket door will have.

How a pocket door creates space

A pocket door creates space in a room by virtue of it disappearing into a wall cavity when it opens. This is the principal function of a pocket door. It doesn’t open ‘into’ a room like a traditional hinged door does, it opens into a ‘pocket’ and hence doesn’t encroach into a room. This means the ten square feet of space immediately in front of the door suddenly becomes usable, and doesn’t need to be kept clear because it will become an obstacle.

This space-saving concept can be exploited in a number of ways around the home, and delivers a huge impact to make rooms usable, to create new rooms, to make rooms multi-purpose and to provide flexible solutions so a space can be changed and adapted to suit what you want to do with it, or in it. However, it is the bathroom that perhaps enjoys the most benefits of a pocket door.

How does a bathroom benefit from a pocket door?

Of course it is possible that the simple creation of space makes a small room usable in the first place, rather than just using it for storage. This might make the creation of a bathroom, such as a small en-suite for example, possible, whereas before it wasn’t possible at all. But the pocket door also presents options for an existing small bathroom that is now slightly bigger.

• Space optimisation – Now that you have maximised the available space, you have a few options regarding features you can include, particularly if this is an en-suite. Can you now fit a toilet, sink and shower? Or is there even scope for a bath? It may be that only one configuration was possible prior to installing a pocket door, but now you can play around with the options and find the layout that suits you best.
• Modern appeal – The seamless integration of the pocket door naturally delivers a modern aesthetic that appeals, particularly in the clean and uncluttered simplicity of a bathroom. You want a bathroom to be unfussy and elegant, and the way a pocket door opens into a wall cavity and disappears from view adds to that orderly, contemporary feel.
• Accessibility – One of the benefits of a small bathroom is that everything is easy to access and easy to use, and you are maximising the practicality of a tight space. For people with accessibility issues, creating this extra bit of space makes using the bathroom more comfortable and promotes independence at the same time.
• Versatility – There are different designs of pocket door which suit a small bathroom, and one of the most popular is glass pocket doors with a satin opaque finish. This means that the door lets light shine through, but also offers some privacy. This is particularly popular with en-suite bathrooms, as they are a room within a room and privacy is less of an issue. Other special designs are curved pocket doors for the ultimate in modern aesthetics, while telescopic pocket doors are ideal where there isn’t much wall space, as the ‘pocket’ doesn’t have to accommodate a full door width.
• Light – Because a pocket door opens into a wall cavity it is less of a barrier to natural light. A traditional hinged door can block light in a room and make it dark and unwelcoming, while a pocket door maximises natural light and makes a bathroom feel fresh and appealing.
• Accessories – Maximising the space helps with layout of your main bathroom features, but also enables you to consider those accessories that bring style along with practical benefits to a bathroom. So can you fit a handrail or a towel rail on the wall behind the door now? You couldn’t do that previously as the door would have banged into it when opened. You could also consider a small set of drawers for towels or spare bedding, a laundry basket or a set of shelves. Is there enough floor space for a set of weighing scales? All these minor touches help to bring some style and additional functionality to a small bathroom.

Choose your pocket door online with the Pocket Door Shop

The pocket door systems supplied by the Pocket Door Shop offer a wealth of options when considering a small bathroom refurbishment. So check out our range and choose the right bathroom pocket door for your needs today.