My friend Sarah recently had an “Aha!” moment in her bathroom. She was standing at her toilet pondering how she has to squeeze around the door every.single.time someone needs to use the bathroom. The old door, which swung out into the hallway on hinges, was impossible to avoid whenever her teenage son left his basketball sneakers right next to the door. “There’s got to be a better way,” she grumbled.
Girl, you have no idea. Trust me. Like most people who enjoy tackling home improvement projects from time to time, I have experimented with a variety of awkward bathroom door situations over the years.
My very first rental apartment had a door that literally opened INTO the bathroom. Yes,geniusbuilder dudes.
Of course you’d put the door there so that when you opened it you would bang into the pile of towels your roommate left on the floor THREE DAYS IN A ROW.
I’ve tried (failed) to fix closet doors that wouldn’t close, fought with rusted up hinges, and downright refused to tackle hall bathrooms where the only alternative was a swinging door that took up nearly half the hallway. With Sarah’s dilemma floating around in my head, I realized I’d LOVE to help HER solve her bathroom door issue. But who can I convince to let me play handy gal with their private space?
And that, dear readers, is how the Great Bathroom Door Experiment was born. Sarah was our first contestant. Here are the deets on all the various door conundrums we discovered.
Pocket Doors: If you want your door to magically disappear when it opens, pocket doors are the way to go. Watching that big ol’ door slide into the wall is a miracle of modern engineering, and it can actually open up SIGNIFICANT floor space in your bathroom. When we installed one in our master bathroom remodel two years ago, I was shocked at how much more space we had to walk around.
I actually had room to open my linen cabinet without having to wrestle with the bathroom door! Downside? Well.
If you’ve got a pocket door working correctly in your home right now, you’re luckier than me. Mine tends to stick every so often, requiring me to remove the entire thing from the wall track and re-align it. And that, friends, is NO FUN.
When installing a pocket door, the track it hangs on needs to be leveled TO THE MILLISECOND or you’ll find yourself in my predicament. If you don’t feel comfortable taking out a section of drywall, calling a professional is you’re best bet. Oh, and they’re not super DIY friendly either.
My brilliant neighbor swears by his pocket door he installed himself…but good luck getting that thing to close without hearing the Sound of Angels Screaming every time someone flushes. Other install tips: Unless you have solid walls with a ton of depth (five to six inches or so clear space is ideal) behind them, you’re not likely to have enough room to install a pocket door. This rules out many older homes with little to no space between walls.
Plus, most landlords won’t even consider them since you’ll essentially have to destroy the wall to make it happen. Barn Doors: Ahhh, barn doors. How I lust after thee.
From farms in Kentucky to cool girl cafes in Brooklyn, they’re everywhere and they’re gorgeous. Who wouldn’t want to replicate that smoothsliding goodness in their own home? Wellllll…it kind of comes WITH the house in most cases.
Barn doors don’t typically seal all the way around, which means sound travels VERY easily under the door. Toilet sounds. Shower sounds.
Gross. I had this nightmare scenario at a darling bed-and-breakfast we stayed at recently. Lovely bathroom, beautiful barn door.
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Until we used it. Privacy was basically non-existent whenever that door was open. Every word, every flush, every ….natural break….could be heard throughout the attached bedroom.
If barn doors are your decorating heart’s desire, seek out models that are specifically made for bathroom use. They typically come with a thinner door and better seals along the bottom. Otherwise, you may want to look into barn doors for your powder room or half bath where privacy is slightly less of a concern.
And please, please pay close attention to the hardware you’re using to support your barn door. Trust me on this one. No one needs a $300 door dangling from a pot rack because the hardware was all cheap. 🙂 Sliding Doors: Ahh, the humble sliding door.
Easily my favorite alternative to your run-of-the-mill bathroom door. They work beautifully in situations where pocket doors can’t happen, and best of all, they don’t require you to gut your walls! The track is mounted on top of the wall rather than inside of it, which makes them extremely easy to install (and put up with on a daily basis.) I’ve installed two sets of sliding doors in my home now.
The first was for the bathroom mentioned above, which is literally TAPPED OFF the hallway. We wanted doors to cover the opening but realized that a traditional door would hit someone’s shoulder every time they tried to enter the bedroom. Problem solved with some simple sliding doors!
The other sliding door installed was simply for aesthetic reasons. They are available in so many gorgeous finishes these days, it was crazy to NOT get them for our shower. The biggest downfall to sliding doors is space.
You need approximately double the width of your door opening to accomodate the door itself sliding all the way to one side. Most people underestimate this and end up with doors that can only open halfway. Measure twice, install once!
Bifold Doors: If you guessed that I wasn’t totally headoverheels for bifold doors, you’re spot on! BUT! They do work well in spaces where you NEED the door to open but simply don’t have the space around it to allow for a traditional door.
I used them for a petite guest bathroom in our home because there was literally NO other option. Sure, they LOOK like closet doors, but hey. Privacy, folks.
Privacy. French Doors or Double Doors: When I think of french doors or double doors in bathrooms, I automatically picture a large master bath or spa-like suite. They CAN work in smaller bathrooms if you’ve got the space around it to clear, but I personally love them for big, open bathrooms.
No restrictions here. Just make sure you’ve got room inside and out to accommodate two wide doorways.
A few years ago I watched a friend install doors that “kind of looked like french doors” and they swung open RIGHT into her son’s bedroom wall.
Ouch. Measure, measure, measure. That’s my tip for anybody who needs to replace a door but isn’t quite sure where to start.
Watch how your family uses the space before you decide. Are there times when multiple people need to use the bathroom at once? Think about clearance and what will work for YOUR household, not what you THINK will work.
And please, PLEASE don’t choose your door based only on how it looks in a magazine. You WILL regret it. Trust.
As far as cost goes, pocket doors tend to be the most expensive since they require professional install almost every time. Barn doors with appropriate bathroom hardware are typically mid-range, while sliding doors and bi-fold doors can be very affordable if you’re willing to tackle them yourself!
