Sliding or hinged wardrobe doors? How to choose for your room
Sliding or hinged wardrobe doors? When each one wins on space, access, cleaning and alignment, and what drives the cost, in UAE apartments and villas.
By the Ajusteur team5 minute read
Sliding or hinged: what is the quick test?
Stand where the wardrobe will go and stretch your arms out in front of you. If you can touch the bed, a desk or the door to the room, sliding doors will make your mornings easier. If there is a clear stretch of floor, hinged doors are back in the running.
Then think about how you use a wardrobe. Some people like to fling everything open and see every shirt at once. Others grab the same few things every day and close up again. The first group leans hinged. The second barely notices a sliding door.
How much room does a hinged wardrobe door need?
A hinged door sweeps an arc as wide as the door itself. A 500 mm door needs about 500 mm of clear floor in front of it to open fully, and you need somewhere to stand as well. Two doors opening towards a bed will clip it every morning.
In an apartment bedroom with a king size bed, a bedside table and a wall mounted AC unit, that space goes fast. A sliding door needs none of it, because it moves along the face of the wardrobe instead of into the room. Narrower hinged doors help a little: more doors, each with a shorter swing.
Do sliding doors show the whole wardrobe?
No, and this is their real cost. Sliding panels pass in front of each other, so with two panels you see about half the wardrobe at a time. Some part is always hidden behind a panel.
Plan the inside around it. Put the clothes you wear daily behind one panel and the suitcases and winter jackets for the summer trip behind the one you rarely open. Hinged doors open the whole front, which matters if two of you share a wardrobe and dress at the same time.
Do sliding wardrobe doors need a floor track?
Not always. Sliding doors come in two families. Bottom rolling doors carry their weight on wheels that run in a floor track. Top hung doors hang from trolleys in a track above, with a small guide below that stops them swinging, so the floor stays clear. Because the hangers carry the weight, a top hung door also takes less force to move.
Ours are top hung from a ceiling track, with only a small floor guide that keeps the panels in line. There is nothing to trip on and no groove to vacuum, and the panels slow down and close gently in both directions.
Source: Wikipedia: Sliding door
Which is easier to keep aligned?
Hinged wardrobe doors usually hang on concealed hinges, which adjust in place. A couple of screws move the door up or down, in or out and side to side, so a drooping door is a short job with a screwdriver. Boards and doors settle as a home swings between AC all summer and open windows in winter, so expect to use that adjustment now and then. Here is how concealed hinges and the 32 mm system work.
Sliding panels are levelled and adjusted on site when they are hung. After that, the thing to watch is the gap where the panels meet the wall and each other, which should stay even from top to bottom.
Glass, mirror or wood panels?
A mirror front doubles as your full length mirror, which is handy in a small bedroom. Toughened glass, clear or fluted, suits a walk in wardrobe or a room divider where you want light to pass through. Wood veneer looks like furniture and calms down a room that already has a lot going on.
Our panels sit in a slim aluminium frame in matt black, bronze or white. Glass panels are toughened, and mirror panels carry a safety film.
What drives the cost of sliding and hinged doors?
For sliding doors, the size of the opening, the panel material and the frame set the price. On our quote the panels, frames, track, soft close and installation each sit on their own line, so you see which choice moves what.
Hinged doors are part of the wardrobe itself. The number of doors, the finish and the hinges do the same job there, and they are priced with our fitted wardrobes. Neither type wins on price every time, so compare the same opening both ways before you decide.
Can you add sliding doors to an existing wardrobe?
Yes, in most recesses. We measure the opening to the millimetre and draw the panels, the overlaps and the track. The panels are made to fit even when the walls are not straight. Our door makers make and install them, and we check every panel with you before the final payment.
Start with a photo and the width and height on our page for wardrobes and wardrobe doors. Still deciding on the wardrobe itself? Here is how to choose between flat pack and built in.
Quick questions
Are sliding wardrobe doors good for small bedrooms?
Usually, yes. They open along the face of the wardrobe, so they need no floor space in front. The trade off is that you only see part of the wardrobe at a time.
How much space do hinged wardrobe doors need?
About the width of each door in clear floor in front of it, plus room to stand. Narrower doors need less, which helps when the bed is close.
Do sliding doors need a track on the floor?
Not if they are top hung. Ours hang from a ceiling track, with only a small floor guide that keeps the panels in line.
Who makes Ajusteur's sliding doors?
Ajusteur. We measure, draw and price the job, have the panels made and fitted, and check every panel with you before the final payment.