How to choose the right glass type for pocket doors

Glass pocket doors bring a whole new dimension to a room and the benefits delivered by a pocket door. You already know that pocket doors can create space in a room, which enables you to give a room a new purpose, to give multiple purposes or to create a whole new room altogether. And this last benefit is perhaps where the glass pocket door comes into its own. When we divide a larger room into two new rooms – by installing a new stud wall and a pocket door system – the new smaller rooms are only usable if we install a glass pocket door. But you have to choose the right type of glass.

The specific benefits of glass pocket doors

If you are using one of these new smaller rooms as a home office, for example, it can feel stuffy and claustrophobic, unless you use a glass pocket door. If a person spends a long time in a small room, particularly an office, and there is no natural light, they can start to feel tired and fatigued and are easily distracted, unfocussed and stressed. This leads to unproductivity and anxiety. So the installation of a glass pocket door enables light to shine into the room and creates an illusion of space and air, which is much more comfortable for the user.

However, the type of glass you use for a pocket door can make a big difference, and here we will study the three main types of glass you can choose.

The main types of glass to choose for a pocket door

Clear

Clear glass is pretty self-explanatory, and of course is the way you can transfer as much natural light as possible into a room. At the same time, the 100% transparency means there is no privacy for anyone using the room. So a clear glass pocket door would be no good to use for a bathroom, toilet or an en-suite, and probably wouldn’t be ideal for a bedroom either. It could be used for a home office, given that the main reason for needing privacy in an office – disciplinaries, meetings etc – don’t really apply to a home office, where no one else is working but you. The best rooms for using clear glass would be kitchens and living rooms, or for partition double doors leading from a kitchen into a dining room.

Frosted

Also known as ‘smoked’ glass, this is a form of glass that lets light shine through but uses a satin opaque finish to enable you to retain some privacy. So this type of glass is popular for bathroom doors, toilet doors and en-suite bathroom doors, and it can also be used for bedrooms which require some natural light. The satin opaque effect also provides a stylish level of chic and elegance, an air of mystery and intrigue perhaps, which makes them particularly suitable for feature doors, such as ground floor rooms that visitors may see when you are entertaining. So these would be kitchen doors, living room doors and dining room doors. There is also the option to incorporate sandblasted lines into satin opaque glass, which makes for an even more appealing feature, and adds a very striking image, while also maintaining a level of privacy. For this reason, the sandblasted lines could be suitable for a home office too.

Textured

Textured glass is a bespoke feature where designs can be etched into the glass to provide a bright and attractive feature. These are common for living room doors, where a coloured flower design, for example, can fit with an overall design scheme. These kind of designs are also popular for bedrooms, because they maintain a level of privacy while also providing some individual flair and creativity. It is also common to see textured designs on home office doors, to give people something nice to look at and to break up what could otherwise be a dull and featureless office space. Hence, introducing a textured feature could be important in improving a person’s outlook and productivity if they are spending all day working in the office.

Order your glass pocket doors from the Pocket Door Shop

If you have been inspired by this guide to consider glass pocket doors for your home, then check out our range online and order from the Pocket Door Shop today. We can help you with standard glass pocket doors, satin opaque finish pocket doors and textured glass pocket doors. Where a product is bespoke we can talk to you about cost and lead time also, so get in touch today.