Internal sliding doors add space to any room. At the same time, external bifold doors or glass panels allow for seamless integration between the indoors and outside.
Inside the home, sliding glass doors can be used to separate two rooms or to cleverly conceal a storage area. That’s because these doors come in a variety of materials – not simply glass.
Bringing in the outdoors
Having said that, glass is the material of choice for patio and balcony doors, since they provide a great view of the garden area and allow plenty of natural daylight to enter the space – especially glass doors with minimal frames. And why shouldn’t you show off your horticultural skills if you really do have a beautiful garden? Add a pond or fountain and make the area into a real talking point.
Modernising period homes
Sliding glass doors may be a newish architectural idea, but they can look terrific in a Victorian, Georgian, Tudor – or any kind of period property, in fact. That’s because they are non-intrusive and therefore don’t detract from the original architecture. Instead, they can actually serve to highlight it by opening up spaces that may before have been too dark and dingy to see properly before.
Seamless connecting
Make an outdoor living area appear part of the indoors by extending the flooring outside and fitting sliding glass doors instead of a brick wall. You could even go one better and have an entire wall composed of floor to ceiling glass, rather than brick. The fact it can open too is an even bigger bonus, meaning you can bring in cool air during the warmer summer months.
Adding to the interior design
Sliding glass doors are a great way of breaking up a larger space when we’re looking for a little privacy. It’s what interior designers these days call ‘broken plan’ living. It means we can separate spaces at will when we want our homes to have a cosier feel, for instance.
Concealing a space
Or it may be that we want to do a little exercise but don’t want the rest of the family to watch. And that brings us to another point – sliding doors can be glass but they don’t have to be transparent. Frosted doors, i.e. glass which has been sandblasted or etched, are popular too. These are ideal for a bedroom, for instance, or even an office.
Look twice with double sliding doors
Double sliding doors can give you and your guests a ‘grand entrance’ feel when you dramatically pull them apart when hosting a dinner. It could be that they act as the entry point to the dining room, for instance.
Do magic with mirror sliding doors
Mirrored doors can, of course, make any space appear twice as large as a result of the reflection. It makes a mirrored sliding door ideal for a small space, or to cover up storage space.
@houseandgarden: “A concealed wardrobe with a sliding door is the perfect solution for smaller bedrooms, where traditional hinged doors can cause an obstruction.”