Wardrobe Guide: Hinged vs Sliding Doors

Explore the pros and cons of these two types of wardrobe styles

Pooja Khanna Tyagi17 September 2017

Houzz India Contributor. An Architect , Interior Designer, Valuer, a Marathon Runner, and love Writing Poetry and Creative Stories on Building Design. Have been practicing since the year 2000 with specialization in the field of Corporate Interiors with projects extensively published in journals of national repute. Recently honoured with the reputed A3 Foundation award for Journalism for the year 2016 an for architectural poetry in the year 2018. Currently practicing and residing in Delhi and Noida. Website: www.khannaenterprise.com, Email: poojakhanna224@gmail.com, M:9891993392

You need to choose between a hinged door or a sliding door when you are purchasing or fabricating a new wardrobe. A hinged door is fixed on to the wardrobe with simple hinges while sliding shutters are panels that slide on tracks. It is essential to check for ease of use, how much maintenance is required and what will suit the kind of space demarcated for the wardrobe before you make a choice. Here is a guide to the pros and cons that can help you decide.

Acastrian Bespoke Fitted Furniture

Hinged doors
The commonly used conventional hinged wardrobe doors have a maximum width of 24 inches so as to prevent excess load on the hinges when the door-panel is open.

Modern Concept Home

Pro: Full visibility

The biggest advantage of hinged wardrobe doors is that they swing wide open, enabling a full view of the closet. This is one of the main differentiating factors between a hinged- and a sliding-door wardrobe. Also, one can install hooks, pockets or racks on the inside surface of the shutter for accessories such as ties, belts, clips and so on.

Prashant Bhat Photography

Pro: More variety

Since hinged wardrobes are very commonly used, these wardrobes come in many designs, colours, materials and textures. Additionally, one can incorporate decorative door handles of stainless steel, brass or leather that match with the design of the wardrobe.

The Aldrich Group, LLC

Another plus is that hinged doors can be customised into folding doors for L-shaped units or be of any shape, like in this image, where they are cut at an angle along the top. Sliding-door wardrobes can only be rectangular.

Jeffrey Phillip

Pro: Easy to maintain

These wardrobe doors are low-maintenance. The hinges can be easily tightened or replaced in case of damage. Also, hinges are much cheaper and readily available in comparison to good-quality track systems that are required and used for sliding doors for wardrobes.

Con: Take up space

Hinged wardrobe doors take additional space as they swing outwards and open into the room. In small rooms, one must ensure that the swing of the shutters does not obstruct any kind of traffic or other functions.

Sliding doors
Sliding doors require a floor track as well as a top track with rollers for the doors to slide on. The standard depth of a sliding-door wardrobe is 26 inches, including a running track of about 2 inches, which is usually fixed into the floor or a wooden base. Note the minimum width of a sliding-door wardrobe should be at least 7 feet. This is allows for two 3.5-foot doors and an opening that is 3.5 feet wide at most. Any less, and it will be too narrow, making it difficult to get at the contents of the wardrobe.

See more sliding wardrobe designs

Pro: Give a sleek, modern look

The straight lines of these huge floor-to-ceiling sliding panels look neat and impart a sleek, modern look. This makes the doors suitable for long wardrobes. Each panel of a sliding wardrobe door can have a maximum width of 4 feet, or the panels will become too heavy to slide easily.

Pro: Space-saving

Sliding door panels work as space savers since they open sideways along the front of the wardrobe. This arrangement does not take up additional space in the room.

A.CHANDRA SHEKHAR

Con: Limited visibility

The main drawback of a sliding wardrobe door is that one side of the cupboard is always covered, making it impossible to open and see the cupboard in its entirety.

Sonali shah

Con: Need gentle handling

Sliding-door wardrobes should be handled gently and not subjected to rough use while opening or closing. Remember, rough use may damage the alignment and cause the shutter to slip off the track.

For long-term durability, it is important to ensure good workmanship and opt for only good-quality hardware that is rust-proof and ensures swift movement of the sliding shutters. Do make it a point to clean the tracks and lubricate the rollers regularly; also get a carpenter to periodically readjust the sliding panels for a stable fit.

Tip: Avoid overstuffing the wardrobe, as this may cause fabric to get stuck between the sliding panels and block movement of the sliders.

Read more:
Experts Tips on How to Organise a Wardrobe Perfectly
10 Clever Alternatives to Wardrobes and Cupboards

Tell us:
What would be your choice – hinged- or sliding-door wardrobes? Tell us in the Comments section below.