How pocket doors can influence perception of spaces

One of the most common complaints when it comes to designing and living in a home, is a lack of space. Space is a precious commodity and can make significant improvements to our lifestyle, the effectiveness of a home and even our mental health. People are known to invest many thousands of pounds in creating more space in and around the home, just because it enables us to live more comfortably and make subtle improvements to our home life.

A very common way to create space in a cost-effective way is to install a pocket door. Because the pocket door opens along the same horizontal axis and into a ‘pocket’ wall recess, rather than swinging into a room like a traditional hinged door, it creates usable space immediately behind the door which previously you would have had to keep clear. The installation of a pocket door means you can better utilise your available space, but there are two distinct ways in which this space utilisation becomes possible and how the pocket door enables this. So let’s look at the two ways that pocket doors can influence your perception of space:

1. Making larger space more usable

A common problem for growing families is having to find extra bedrooms to avoid the cost and upheaval of moving house. The pocket door is a great solution to this problem because it can help to divide a larger bedroom into two bedrooms. By installing a new stud wall with a pocket door, you can halve the size of a bedroom and create two. Using the same principle you can also create a home office or a playroom if you are finding you have one bedroom that is much larger than you need, and you can better utilise the precious space by creating an extra room. An additional way in which pocket doors can influence this perception of space is if you install a glass pocket door. This will allow any natural light available to flow into a room, hence making it feel lighter, airier and less claustrophobic. As a bedroom or a home office this might be essential in being able to fully utilise the room and it being comfortable to use for any length of time.

Other ways you can use larger space better is by creating storage. If you have a large bedroom that is under-utilised, you can section a part off with a stud wall and pocket door, and use that space for storage. Of course there are regulations which control the minimum size a bedroom should be, so if the large bedroom isn’t quite big enough to create two smaller bedrooms, use the space you can divide off for storage. It is very likely this will still benefit the general functioning of the home.

2. Using space for multiple purposes

By installing a pocket door system and creating more space in a room, we are opening up possibilities for how the existing space can now be used. Because the door is no longer opening against the adjoining wall, we can now install shelves, or maybe a radiator or a towel rail if you have created an en-suite bathroom. But this ability to secure new fixtures in a room also opens up the possibility of having multiple purposes for the room. So a guest bedroom can also become a part-time home office, or a kids’ playroom can become a part-time guest bedroom. These are simple ways to better use space and make efficient use of what is available.

When space is such a sought-after commodity, it is wasteful to only use rooms very rarely. So the pocket door enables space to be better utilised. A rarely used dining room can be opened up to link to an adjacent living room when you are entertaining to create a larger open plan downstairs layout. This will make the occasion more atmospheric and create a better flow when you have larger gatherings. For the rest of the time it reverts back to a sectioned-off dining room. The same idea applies to a living room or dining room that is next to your kitchen, using double pocket doors you can open and close this space as and when you need to, creating large open plan space or smaller sectioned off space to suit the activities of the day. This would not be possible with a traditional hinged door because when left open they are an obstacle to the natural freedom of movement.

Contact the Pocket Door Shop for more information on the benefits of the pocket door

So in summary, the installation of a pocket door allows you to remove any dead space from a home, and means you can utilise every square inch for a useful and practical purpose, even if that is just a bit of sectioned-off storage with some shelves in it. More significantly, the pocket door can help create major lifestyle enhancements, such as a guest bedroom, en-suite bathroom, home office, downstairs toilet or open plan entertainment space. This is all offering you a different viewpoint of the space you have available and how you can maximise its use.

If you need any further information on the benefits of the pocket door and how you can use it around the home, contact our sales experts at Pocket Door Shop today.