johnandbrett We considered a pocket-door between the kitchen and dining room, because we like to cook in private. It would have looked stunning, we thought.

But we decided not to do it. We realized the door would be open 95 percent of the time. The added expense just wasn't worth the 5 percent of the time we might like a pocket door.

I'm guessing other people will have similar concerns. Except for the bathroom, where people uniformly close the door, people will not use their pocket doors. Even for the home office that is off the kitchen, I wonder how often the pocket door comes into use.

salex The door to each of my 3 bathrooms is a pocket door, and I love them. I used very heavy solid wood doors, which helps with acoustic dampening. The only downside is that in addition to requiring special framing in the "pocket" wall, the use of blocking is somewhat limited, so you need to plan where to put your towel bars, closet rods, etc. ahead of time.

Jamie Edie We installed a barn style sliding door vs. a pocket door in our master bath since we didn't have another wall to put our electrical on. The result is the same and we love it. Something to remember if doing pocket doors, when hanging pictures on a wall that has a pocket door behind it, be careful. You can damage the door or impede it's movement if the hanger goes into the wall too far.

A. Peltier Interiors The partial height pocket door is so creative! Most of my clientele have young kids and this would be a great solution for kids and pets while being very inconspicuous.
The seeded arched glass door in the kitchen photo was amazing as well!

madaboutdesign0924 My great-grandmother's Victorian home in Buffalo, New York, had elegantly carved huge mahogany pocket doors leading into the dining room that sat at least 20 guests. I can still vividly recall her ceremoniously opening those doors to welcome the family into the dining room when dinner was ready to be served. In my less than 10 year old mind, sitting among extended family in that space was so magical! I'm so glad I have those memories, which have helped shape my love for design.

mkleparek I lived in a beautiful old Victorian with big beautiful mahogany pocket doors between the dining and front parlor. There were two front parlors with pocket doors off the main hallway as well. Loved them and after 100 yrs they still worked very well.
I now live in a modern (1963) home and have pocket doors to two bathrooms, one closet, between the family room and the kitchen and one we just added between the kitchen and laundry room. Use them all and love the way they are out of the way when not needed. After seeing this article I wish I had a couple of the half doors for pets!

lakeerielover We built our new beach house with 3 pocket doors and we love them. They are especially nice in hallways. Make sure your builder or remodeler uses quality hardware, it's not something you can replace easily.

Supa Doors We manufacture doors for all types of use, and have seen a recent resurgence in the use of pocket doors and now slider doors. For upscale homes that incorporate raised mouldings, consider using a "pocket" moulding to match the other doors, without interfering within the pocket. Also, be sure there is enough space within the pocket to accommodate the door. We've seen 1-3/4" thick doors and 1-3/4" pockets which doesn't make for a good fit. As for the acoustic control, definitely get a solid door which will dramatically decrease the sound. I've included a couple photos of some trends we are seeing as well, which do include very tall pockets, glass, and full length mirrored pockets (ideal for a closet doors to hide a full length mirror without taking wall space)

BTW - We are VERY PROUD to report the 5 equal panel door in this article is a SUPA Door.

Helen Schoeppner I love them because they don't take up a lot of room

blanchard I am about to install pocket doors into my master bedroom in order to give me full use of display space on wall perpendicular to the entry door wall. I lived in a home with sliding doors as a child and they are a bit heavy for kids sometimes. As an adult, they seem like a great space saver and make especially good sense for bathrooms and bedrooms where several doors compete for space.They are a great way to block off hallways to private part of house also.

nrrdgurl Our contractor built pocket doors for our His/Hers closets. I love the look, but His closet door rattles when its shut, because it doesn't latch or catch on anything when closed. Drives me nuts when i walk by, so it stays open most of the time. :-)

mikedonny We just built a new house and put double pocket doors with obscured glass, entering into the master bedroom, and ensuite. Both rooms have ocean views and it is so awesome to be able to take a shower with an ocean view. Or, if we prefer to close the doors and have the light bouncing through the glass doors. Either way we love the pocket doors!

39slederman Having installed several in two of our homes we agree they make enormous sense as space savers but with a word of caution. Installers seem to have difficulty figuring out how to finish off the doorway openings without relying on huge amounts of molding. It is hard to get a sleek installation. ALso, flush hardware that slips into the wall pocket is hard to find as is a decent locking mechanism. The pocket itself must be plumb so the door slides in and out without interference and hangs in the middle of the space. Because of noise factor it is best to keep pocket doors between rooms where noise transference is not an issue, e.g. keep pocket door inside the master bedroom for closets and bathroom and not as the bedroom entrance door.

chriskov We used pocket doors in the bathroom, our bed room and to a pantry. My husband is in a wheelchair, and even though we widened the doors, the pocket doors gave us more room and made it easier not to have to deal with a door in the room.

Jessie Klein We had pocket doors in a previous home. We plan to put several in our current home at the time of remodel. We love them.

scarbowcow I grew up with a grandparent who had the gorgeous heavy wood pocket-doors between the formal dining room and the front parlor - love the drama of them.

But my dad put really cheap pocket doors in his house - they must be hollow because they are very light. He wanted to be able to build a small house for just himself and my mother, and so he made everything small (OK, he was unwilling to spend money, too). Putting in pocket-doors meant he could have a narrower hallway, for example, and save floor space. So he's got them on two entrances to the kitchen, the bathrooms and the built-in closet (the kitchen ones he seems only to close off when he wants to heat the rest of the house but not the kitchen). But they rattle in a hollow way as they roll along their tracks, and so you can hear one opening or closing all over the house. My grandmother's made no noise at all, and the house was over a hundred years old by the time I can remember.

If you do it, do it right; don't be cheap. Get solid doors and smooth tracks. The comments from others here are worth heeding.

Do love the half-door idea (has it got glass panels to keep the kids and pets in?). I read somewhere recently a comment by a contractor who has to talk people out of putting baby-gates permanently affixed to nice wood framing around doors by reminding them that their kids won't always be babies. The half-door pocket is the perfect solution: use it for babies when you have babies; for pets if you have pets, and roll it away for a future owner to discover when you don't have babies or pets in the house.

The half-door would have the advantage, probably, of allowing you to hang pictures above it without worrying about harming the door inside the wall, too.

Wonder how you lock it, though, to keep clever little ones from figuring out how to escape?

And if it's too late for a pocket-door, take the idea and put a dutch door on the kid's room or kitchen or family room or wherever you want to corral the kids and pets.

kellystevens My main floor bathroom has a regular door to the hallway and a pocket door to the bedroom. I would like to get rid of the bathroom pocket door over the next remodel as I would prefer that room division to be sound proof (ahem).

Supa Doors Lots of discussion around the lack of sound control of pocket doors. As a door manufacturer, and someone who has these doors in his house, here are my thoughts.
1) Definitely get a SOLID door. We make them out of MDF, but try to ensure whatevery you select has a relatively high density to the door (40+). This will block the noise dramatically and is probably the number one thing to do.
2) Minimize your undercut. Don't have a huge gap between the door and the floor.
3) Add an INCH. Most door manufacturers can add an inch to the top of the door and to one side of the door (behind the wall). This not only help prevent the sound from traveling around the door, but also gives a "uniform look" for both sides of the door (ie the 1" hides behind the wall). This is something that a lot of upscale homes are doing.
4) Try laminated glass if including glass. While I can't prove it, I believe my Pocket pair benefits from using a clear laminated glass. This increases the layering in the glass and we get a LOT of comments by guests how quiet our living room is while our kids play in the playroom.
GOOD LUCK!!

cyqi I really like pocket doors, we have one in my bathroom. I really want to use it again in my remodel. However the concerns are noise, and how to satisfy the fire regulation which is quite stringent for thee storey building. Most of the doors need to be fire doors. Wondering how pocket doors dealing with smoke.

snowcampandrea i have pocket doors and love them! Only thing i would do is use them in every interior application., Still not so sold on their use on exterior doors, but why lose any interior space to door swing?

pwhitney08 We added a pocket door to our bathroom when we remodeled a few years back. I love it but it is now time to repaint. My question is how do I do that? Is there a way to take the door out of it's pocket without damaging the hardware? Or is the best way to just paint without taking it out?

amyalexander60 If you live in a humid climate, be sure to paint/seal all SIX sides of the door so that it is less likely to warp. I strongly recommend spending more on a quality door and even higher quality hardware - you'll regret it in the long run if you don't. :)

tsudhonimh Supa Doors - thanks for the tips. I wasn't aware you could "add an inch" to put more of the door in the pocket.

We are planning on all interior doors being 36" pocket doors ... it saves us 150 square feet of "door swing" area and makes a much better traffic flow, as well as being easier to navigate in our declining years.

With good hardware, solid doors and some acoustic deadening material near the opening of the wall pocket they should be no noisier than a regular door. The rumble you hear from a pocket door is because the lightweight door is vibrating on the tracks. More weight and better wheels and tracks takes care of that.

JAN MOYER Pocket doors are more expensive, make certain you need one, or will USE one. Never put one on a walk in pantry, unless you like the sight of your food!! Your husband and kids will NEVER closet it. Same is true on a walk-in closet off the master. I see these open almost
100 percent of the time. Ditto the laundry. An "inconvenient" door, forces you to CLOSE the darn door : ) And may I just say, that is the nicest, most expensive baby gate/ dog gate I have ever seen?

Patti we are installing pocket doors in our new house, pantry, laundry, office, bathroom, spare room...we have not yet picked the style. living with a 87 year old mother in law, husband and 3 Tervurens, 2 cats, just needed the seperation sometimes:)

waldent2 We have several pocket doors in our home. One of which had a problem for a few years of jumping off of its track and each time it had to be repaired by a professional so that added considerably to the expense of the door. Another one is scraping on the frame and VERY hard and loud to close. We have tried sanding the wood down but that hasn't helped so it probably needs to be removed and possibly a new track hung and reinstalled.
Bottom line, I love pocket doors and I would install them again given the chance, but you must be aware they are not a cheap solution and once you have them installed that doesn't mean that the expense is over. Your doors may warp or they may fall off the track (this happened several times when the door was inadvertently slammed by children) and those issues will require repairs.

astraea I loved that my former home had a few pocket doors; but the application matters! It was great having a pocket door that closed off the bedroom wing of the house, and 2 that isolated the kitchen from the foyer & dining room. I didn't use them that often, but they were great when I had to give pets medicine .. and keep them from running away & hiding elsewhere (LOL). There was also a pocket door in the master bathroom, but that was replaced by a regular door, when the bathroom was redone. It never seemed "closed enough", to use the bathroom with total privacy, when someone else was in the bedroom.

jacquesdure I installed a pocket door to a storage space when renovating my basement. It was definetely the best use of space and i'm proud to have thought about it. But the only thing i would change is to make the wall studier. The frame of the pocket door is built to fit in a standard 2x4 wall, however, the part of the structure where the door disappears is fragile. Even leaning on the wall seems to push it in.

Michele Just did my first remodeling project with a contractor, and have a pocket door in Master bath. Able to add another cabinet next to vanity, doubling storage. After reading other posts, would consider using between kitchen and dining/study where kids work on computers. Ideally glass so I could see what they're up to, but taking posters' advice on noise dampening. My neighbors have pretty French doors, but there's that swing space problem.

PROS: More space, rolls easily on hardware.

CONS: Heavy limestone tile on shower wall squeezed the wall around door. Contractor pulled/stretched on outside door frame and wall & fixed it. Then the glass door came in and same problem. I've tried the contractor's trick, but not as strong and maybe not as much give left. Still slides easily, just catches on round metal door pulls that are slightly raised from door surface. Also can't have a hook on door for towel or robe, but we factored on that.

Just Me We have two pocket doors in our master bedroom...one to the bathroom and one on the closet. They are a good solution for space (smallish house), but the original owners chose glass panes into the closet. Not my first choice. I added opaque film but over time, I'd prefer a new, solid paneled door like the one into the bathroom.

When we remodeled the bathroom, we opted to keep the pocket door, and it does limit your choices on that wall. We worked around it with some success for towel bars and TP holder.

banshee89 where can I find pocket door hardware that allows you to latch and unlatch the door from either side? I have only been able to find hardware that latches (with some difficulty) on the inside. Once the door is latched from the inside, it is very difficult to unlatch from the outside. In other words you can lock yourself inside. That's not the safest situation if you have children, elderly or guests who can't figure out how to get out of the bathroom! Any suggestions for double sided hardware? My pocket door goes completely into the wall and the current hardware is recessed into the door.

clothnclay We had 2 pocket doors installed in our addition. Keep in mind pocket doors will somewhat restrict the location of wall switches and towel rods....as neither of these can be located on the wall of the "pocket". We did not think of this in advance and it has created quite a headache in our bathroom for figuring out towel hanging locations.

Rob O'Daniel We turned an odd home office nook in our master bedroom into a closet last year. It yielded a TON of clothes and shoe storage space:

http://www.2dolphins.com/2012/06/master-bedroom-overhaul-part-1-closeted/

But I was concerned about the door swing either eating up valuable closet space or obstructing the area outside the closet, so we went with a pocket door. We used a standard home store 6-panel interior door, primed and painted well on all edges and went with Johnson Pocket Door hardware kit:

http://www.johnsonhardware.com/1500.htm
http://www.doitbest.com/main.aspx?pageid=64&sku=218473

We like it so well, we'd like to convert our ensuite bathroom and it's interior closet over to pocket doors to make the most of that modest-sized bathroom's space.

A mirrored pocket door would be perfect for that ensuite closet!!

Rob O'Daniel By the way, I've since read recommendations from others that rather than using 1/2" drywall on the walls covering each outside wall of the pocket for the door, that you (or your contractor) instead use a combination of 1/4" plywood with 1/4" drywall on top of that for added stiffness. I think I'll pursue that on our next pocket door project!

Liz we have one going into the bathroom. I am finding as I age, and the arthritis in my fingers gets worse, it is increasingly difficult to open and close. So, they are most definitely not ADA approvable. Anyone interested in aging in place would need to take that under consideration.

reginacucina I'm installing a pocket door in our current remodel of 140-year-old very small house. Having had them before I find the hardware small and fumbly (if that's a word) and would like to know where to find the larger hardware which Supa Doors used in these photos. Thanks.

mikasmom01 I love pocket doors...I think they are beautiful. The last time I lived in a house that had pocket doors, I was 5....many, many, many years ago.
Now, I live in an old house that desperately needs a few repairs and many updates, but I can't afford to do so.
Looking at all the beautiful rooms and ideas on this site just gives me a little time to dream of what could be....if I only had the money.

Amy They just make sense, especially for small places, especially in bathrooms where square footage is priceless. I live in a 1921 American Foursquare and would love to remodel my bathroom and add one, however, it would be a gut job and involve tearing down all the lath and plaster, which would be just a rather messy and more time consuming reno of the only full bathroom of the house, but it's on the dream list of things to do, so if the bathroom ever requires an overhaul, it'll be worth the splurge. As far as the original builders were concerned, they only thought to put a pocket door in between the dining room and living room, possibly to keep the heat thrown off by the fireplace in the room where everyone eventually sat and gathered. It's a bulky, solid, almost four feet wide original that has a rather dark, aged stain that contrasts with the rest of the bright orange shellaced original woodwork throughout the rest of the house, but it is still a showpiece.

lamato620 I currently have a house built in the 40's that has an ugly, plain slab pocket door that no longer slides easily. As a result, my fingers sometimes get pinched or crushed when I'm trying to close it. Eventually, I'm going to switch it out for a French pocket door with 8 panes of glass ... but to do that, they'll have to tear out my lath and plaster wall. I'm sure I'll love it once the upgrade is made, though.

riconsd Peterson is the best value for hanging, you can spend more bet the ROI is not there.

I have used Emtek, Baldwin and Gruppo latches with out complaint; expect to spend $120 to start. The Kwikset is $25 but I have had total failures with them in less than a year.

And I don't know who all these husbands are that can't operate a door but I never had a problem.

rosemary1938 In our new condo apartment I am changing the two pocket doors of the kitchen, which sits between the den and the dining/living area, to two glazed butler doors. I'm also changing the pocket doors on the powder room and second bathroom to regular swing doors, which I feel gives better security and privacy. My experience with pocket doors is that they rattle.

frek2fun Love pocket doors. I remember them from grandparents' homes when they were just "fun". As a kid there was something magical about sliding a door instead of it opening all the way. As an adult,I found the pocket door the perfect solution when remodeling our 1970's house master bathroom. We love the easy convenience and additional space. These profiled here are beautiful. Thanks.

mthack Our master walk-in closet has a pocket door which we never use, too much of a hassle. It would be great if it had an automatic button on the wall to open and close it. Does anyone know if there is anything out there like that available?

designchallenged My tiny vacation house has several pocket doors, and they are wonderful space-savers. I absolutely love them.

frustratedminimalist A cautionary tale--I'm not a fan of our pocket door. Maybe in another location, but it is between our bedroom and master bath. The noise of the door closing (quietly is impossible)--slamming with not much effort--and its ability to wake a sleeping person is just fundamentally wrong. Ours has the flip-hook thing for closure, but provides no privacy since it can be flipped by the children from the other side. Maybe for parlors, or hallways as previously mentioned, but think carefully about its practicality, and consider the door's noise in rooms that inherently intended for quiet. The other issue is maintenance to that noisy track is near impossible without ripping out the drywall.

lizziek It's very easy to make pocket doors accessible for older folks. Just put a handle on the door like the first picture. Yes it will not go into the wall completely but it makes it very easy to open and close.

Julia Hayes We have two pocket doors in our house and I hate them. :) The reasons have already been covered in previous comments, so I'll just say if you have the option of a regular door, do that instead.

ginny20 Like waldent2, I also have a problem with the pocket door jumping off track. It's a louvred door between the galley kitchen and diningroom of our 1940 Cape Cod, and it came with the house. I don't use it much, but if I'm entertaining it's nice to close off the view of the messy kitchen while we eat. It's also useful for keeping the dog in the kitchen.

After we had the kitchen floor tiled in 1990, we were no longer able to use the door. When I had the kitchen remodeled in 2011, I had the door repaired. It worked about 3 times, then went off the track. As waldent2 said, I had to have it repaired by a professional. This time it worked about 4 times, and it's off the track again. I like having it, but I wish I could get it to work consistently.

Ellen Horn we have two pocket doors and love them. I do not like traditional doors, because they take up so much room, and would prefer pocket doors everywhere, if possible. We close and open ours just as often as our traditional doors.

nasafemme I had pocket doors in lieu of French doors between my dining and living rooms because they didn't take up any wall space when open. We now have a pocket door separating the bathtub/shower/toilet area from vanity area in the master bath. Very happy with both.

mikei9999 I have owned 4 houses at differnt times in my life. and one thing i have realized, when it comes to pocket doors, do not skimp on the hardware....If you want to cut back on the costs of custom manufacturing a door - thats fine. But dont skimp on the hardware. There are a couple of companies that offer a pocket door framing kit, which includes the track, trollies, etc. plus the framing kit which will frame-out the opening and allows the track to fit in perfectly to their kit. I have tried them all in my homes, and without a doubt Hafele makes the best solution - by far! You will pay more than the competition, but this system they have is simple, easy to install, and slides so much better than the other offerings on the market, and it lasts!!. By the way, its made in Germany, so you know its well made.
I highly recommend Hafele's architectural products....

lynndepynn We used pocket doors several places in our remodel - 2 bathroom doors, 2 closets, 1 hallway. I would not use them again unless very space-constrained. (1) Noise - as frustratedminimalist mentioned, the bathroom door is noisy and wakes my light-sleeping husband when I get up at night (2) the pull is difficult to find and maneuver in the dark, and my in-laws with elderly fingers especially struggle with them (3) difficult to paint and (4) they restrict what you can do with the wall where the pocket interferes. A friend nailed his open by accident when haning a picture. In our case, this impacted the shower glass hardware we could use, plumbing installation, lighting fixtures, and artwork. Here's a picture of the solution I came up up with to hang a heavy picture next to a hall pocket door. I used "sea life" door knobs from Modern Objects, cast from sea urchins. The photo is by Lisa Kristine.

Retractable Screens, LLC Retractable screens can be a great addition with oversized doors that open up the interior and help bring the outdoor area in. They can provide insect/solar protection and retract out of sight when not needed.

gunny57chev We built a small home and I wish I had used more pocket doors! It is the first time I've ever lived with them, and didnt want to over-do it and have troubles. I dont have the rattle that I'm seeing alot of complaints about, and have discovered that our contractors werent very good carpenters. So, if they can hang the doors without them rattling, then anyone should be able to. We have all 36" doorways and used door slabs (all solid pine with design) that match our standard doors. They are not hard to slide because they are pine which is lighter weight wood. I wish we had used pocket doors on the office, laundry room, 2nd bath, and half bath because we have to "climb around" the standard door.

Abbey C When we bough our house the three pocket doors surrounding the Kitchen seemed kind of neat. After ten years in this house I wish I could figure out both why they installed so many and how to make them look nicer. They are solid panel wood with a neat wood grain but now color or interest. My kids are constanyly slamming them and pinching fingers (so they are just as bad as regular doors in that regard if you were wondering). They are hard to add locks to in any form. One of the pocket doors is at the top of the stairs. For safety it's great, but we had to install a chain at the top of the door to be able to lock it as the handles are merely to push and do not latch at all. The worst part of all is when we remodled the kitchen and discovered half of each of two main walls couldn't have electrical run on it because the pocket doors ran behind them! We had to run power as close to the fridge as we could and the stove had to be run through the floor.

Pictures are the door ways the pocket doors sit in. You can see where we had to put the plugs to avoid the doors.

kathykate We installed a pocket door between our kitchen and laundry room. It was open and out of the way 99% of the time, but when company came and we could close it, it was worth every penny of the extra expense! Loved it!

queenbee333 I LOVE pocket doors, however, I live in an older home and whenever the wind blows strongly, all my pocket doors move (and sound) with their movement. Drives me crazy at night. I've lived in a newer house with better pocKet doors - they are fantastic. When/if I build again, I will definitely include them.

alibonelli I have two pocket doors in my home and they do work great in certain situations.
I love the idea for a partial for kids/pets and I could see that working at the top of a stairway.

taderbug68 Always admired pocket doors, but I always thought they only belonged in mansions. While renovating our modest home we discovered that we could actually make use of a pocket door for our new half bath adjoining our office space since there wasn't room for a door to swing out. It is now a feature that I admire everyday as it adds even more character to this old house!

wantsideas We recently renovated two bathrooms down to the studs. Both cried out for pocket doors. The guest bath was due to tiny space and door swing from guest room. Adding the pocket door made sense. We used solid door and Hafele (?) hardware which is not cheap. But no issues with noise or ease and makes the bathroom so much more open and functional and it gets a lot of use. Master bath was due to too many doors in bathroom. But we did make the wall opening slightly bigger and used less expensive hardware but door is in the wall 95 percent of the time. Looks much better than old French doors and takes up zero space. No issues but doesn’t get a lot of use either which is why we went with less expensive hardware but still a solid door. If the door is going to get a lot of use I would suggest buy the best as in you do get what you pay for and get a contractor familiar with pocket doors. Not all are.


We looked at neighbors pocket door before doing ours and laughed when he told the story of nailing it shut when he hung a picture. Couldn’t imagine how someone could do that. Well we were one scream away from doing it ourselves. Husband was hanging big metal mirror in sitting room and just before he drove the anchor into the wall I remembered the door inside of it. Luckily the wall is thick enough to accommodate the door and hardware to hang the mirror on the other side.


When touring old mansions or historic homes I have noticed many “open floor” plans in these grand spaces in the living areas. Upon closer inspection many of these huge houses have moderate sized rooms that have huge pocket doors in the walls. Of course the walls are also two feet thick and are cost prohibitive in these days. I am probably not going to have stairs again, but if I did I do love that glass half pocket door for pets and small children!

redjeep have a pocket door in small guest bathroom. existing construction. poor choice by builder it sounds as if people our in the room when using it No Privacy what can I do? there is a space issue. HELP it's horrible

scoobydubious Having lived in an old house with big heavy pocket doors, I can say that they were a pain in the @ss. Noisy, clumsy, heavy and all-around time consuming and annoying. Took four times a long to open as a normal door.

redjeep any ideas on sound proofing ot sound reduction?

Supa Doors Redjeep: see my comments earlier on reducing sound as a place to start your research.

Based on all the great comments and discussion - Pocket Doors ARE indeed a TALE of TWO Doors. Some love and some loathe pocket doors. I think it is safe to make the assumption that if you are going to put pocket doors in your house as a design element and/or space saving option, spend a little more on higher quality doors/tracks to make it enjoyable to have pocket doors. Consider a door that weighs at least 70lbs. Most people only have a handful of places to put pocket doors, so you'll find the cost is not too terribly much more and should really improve your sound protection. Best of luck! - Jacob @ Supa Doors.

PS - If you want a louvered look like below, but still want sound protection, there are false louver doors out there that mimick the true vented louver door.

ghurst Yes, I have a pocket door between the main bathroom and master bedroom. I SO wish it was a solid door. I have looked into replacing it, but am hesitant about the project,, It looks like a larger project than my husband will probably agree to do.

donna41 We just put pocket doors in our new home and they are fantastic! Just make sure that who ever puts them in puts the tracks in properly. Make sure they are at standard door height. Mine were not and the doors are 3/4 of a inch too short.

BCPowers We have returned to using pocket doors in our construction designs. The big difference is in the hardware. Since one of our cabinet/trim carpenters introduced us to Johnson Hardware pocket doors are back and I even used them in construction of my own house recently. They slide with fingertip ease. (Just remember to tell the painters to cover the tracks well before spraying.)

Judy Steffens Great ideas and helpful hints.

tbaisa I love the idea of the 1/2 door to keep dogs and little kids where you want them, but the one pictured almost made me laugh b/c, although it is pretty, the holes are so big that almost any kid or dog could fit through them.

Patti looks like this dog/kid door has some sort of plexi glass...you are right, i would want a solid door:)

Stephan Design I do have pocket doors in my home and like them very much. They conquer so many space planning issues. However, they can be difficult to repair if something happens to them. We have a door that after 23 yrs. has come off the track and will require repair by our contractor. This could involve having to cut into the wall.

tatiag i have a pocket door in a very small bathroom and love it. it doesn't take up any space and allows more room for vanity area.

redjeep my door separates the toilet area from study which opens into great room. it's hollow core, not my choice original owner or builder should have know better. the sound is embarrassing. I'm not sure how is it will be to change out for solid. am I looking at deconstruction of walls?

Mackin Drafting & Design I have seen many older houses with pocket doors, most of which work perfect even after a century of use. We could take some pointers from the craftsmen that installed them. Try and use thicker walls than the normal 2x4 framing, good hardware, heavier solid core doors not light hollow core and hiring a contractor that knows how to install them properly are just a few things.

debb1964 Getting ready to install pocket door between existing kitchen and new laundry/mud room. Been planning this remodel for years and a pocket door was always a MUST due to traffic and space saving! The great tips here are helpful so I'll make sure our contractor knows to get good hardware and a solid door.

jang131 I have a pocket door on my walk in closet and love it! Wish I had thought of a mirror as shown above. Oh well, in the next house.

dylan7gig i like all of it! great house!!

mylenguyen If you like the look and function of a sliding door but can't not do a pocket door at this time, you can install a sliding barn door and it would look just as nice, and function just as well!
These images are of my powder room. The sliding barn door hardware is so expensive that my husband designed and made it instead. It works so well, that we're now selling it. Visit us at www.1925workbench.com for more info.

Hava NaturalMama I love the orginal pocket door between our living and dining room in our early 1900's home. It is difficult to close and is usually open, but when it is closed, it totally blocks sound between the two rooms, so I can watch TV and my husband can study 10 feet away without being disturbed.

caroland I have a pocket door and find that there is a LOT of cold air leakage into the house during the winter through the opening.

tammis I have pocket doors in between my back entrance and kitchen. Love them! I don't use them all the time but when I need to, they're great!

sarapnp We updated a very small '50s mid-century modern home and used pocket doors in the bathrooms as a space-saving device. My only complaint about pocket doors is the amount of noise they make when opening or closing. The times I come to bed after my husband has already fallen asleep I think twice about closing the bathroom door because I don't want to wake him. It's something I never thought to consider with a conventional swinging door.

kimcooper tbaisa and Patti -- I think the half-door has glass or something clear in it. and you may not like it, but your dog would love it: no need to put his or her feet on top of the half-door to see what's going on in the next room.

Laurel Ennis FYI: We have had the kind you get at Home Depot, which stuck and drove us crazy. And we've had them with hardware (more expensive) we got at Restoration Hardware which worked beautifully. It makes a huge difference. The only trouble with pocket doors is it takes up wall space in which you cannot place electricals. That sometimes makes it challenging to find a natural place for the light switch.

Liz Davey We have two pocket doors on small bathrooms: one off master bedroom and the other out of a back entry hall to a very small bathroom. Doors in either of these locations would not have worked at all. Granddaughter used to play elevator in lower bathroom, openig and closing the door and pretending to ascend and descend.

mayuenling We have a pocket door installed in on-suite bathroom. It's space saving yet the downside is: it's unable to lock securely like conventional door. It drifted back and forth with the air flow and made annoying sound particularly in windy days.

Patti yes i seen a few comments about pocket doors for outside areas, ...Mine are all interior doors:)

junipergirl Interesting the name 'pocket door' In Australia we call them cavity doors. To me a pocket is something you put in something from the top! Just love the differences in the way we describe things!

Juniper River Home Design Pocket Doors are a wonderful way to create space when you don't have the space to swing a door. Be sure that you are able to slide the door into the wall also spend the extra money on the hardware - nothing is worse than a pocket door that does not work well.
Using reclaimed doors is my favorite way to stay green and add historic interest.

Kristi Nelson Pocket doors are an invaluable design device and as an interior designer, I use them regularly but they do have requirements that must be accounted for before making the decision to use them, and as noted in many of the comments, if you dont have design experience you can run into a lot of hassles. Two keys issues to take into consideration when considering installing pocket doors are: length of receiving wall space and whether the intended interior wall is free of anything but wall studs.

Available wall length: pocket doors with framing are wider than the actual door opening (as is the door itself) so assume the size of the door opening plus a minimum 5" of wall to receive a pocket door. In other words if your door opening is 33" allow at least 38" of wall to receive the interior framing and track.

Interior wall space is free of obstructions beyond wall studs: the wall must be free of ducting, electrical, plumbing or other obstructions or be prepared for an extremely costly reconfiguration. And on this same point, make certain you arent compromising the functionality of the room because now that you have installed your door, you cant put these same items or other things like a towel bar where they need to be.

A GREAT TIP that I use for reducing the bang of the door when you close it: glue a felt strip along the vertical interior of the jam or on the vertical edge of the door to muffle the noise! It wont affect the full close or latching if thin felt is used, your edges are protected and it has a luxury touch.

So, if your space benefits from a pocket door and meets the requirements noted above - then put one in and enjoy the benefits!
(Take a look at a couple of spaces where I've used pocket doors in our projects. The panelled library features a pair of facing pocket doors with antiqued mirror, when closed the space is a warm and cozy cocoon. The bathroom of this master suite features a double pocket door with a "Jeffersonian" track - meaning the pair work together by pulling or pushing just one.)

reginacucina I just choose my Emtek hardware for my new closet pocket door which will be installed in the next few weeks so thanks Kristi Nelson for the tips. I'll give the felt a try!

jccmlarson I love the concept of a pocket door (hidden when unwanted and visible when needed) but find it more difficult and noisier than a hinged door to open and close, especially during a late night bathroom trip. We currently have a pocket door leading into our master bathroom and am currently considering replacing the pocket door with a hinged door.

Liz jccmlarson, that's my situation exactly! I really don't like mine, although my husband loves it. So it stays... But they aren't as great after several years, as they seem. We have had our for 12 years - it is heavy (of course we got the good one), hard to open and close with arthritic fingers, not very soundproof, and somewhat noisy opening and closing. Not very noisy, but certainly more than a hinged door. Not good for light sleepers in the middle of the night.

lsimon004 Is anyone aware of a pocket door that has a mirror on one side and is flush on the other? This is for a master bedroom (the flush side) into the bath (the mirror side in a single panel). Thank you!

BCPowers I'm not aware of one but that doesn't mean that one couldn't be built. The glass would need to be tempered for safety. Use a solid core door like that pictured in "Supa Doors" comment above.

Supa Doors You have two options - One is to purchase a 1 panel door and fill in the panel on the back side to imitate a flush door. The other option that we have done for folks is to build a split design with a flush door on one side and a 1 panel with inset mirror on the other. We build our doors in two halves anyway, so we see this as a pretty standard option (see a split 2 panel/1 panel mirror attached). I encourage you to watch a short video at www.supadoor.com on how we do this. And BTW - BCPowers is right - EVERY GLASS DOOR should be tempered glass for safety reasons. Best of luck however you decide Lsimon004!!

tammis I love pocket doors....they are so convenient, eliminating the need to take up space when opening. I have a set of french glass and oak pocket doors separating if desired the back entrance and kitchen...love them :)