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Sliding vs hinged wardrobe doors: which suits your room?
Pick sliding doors when the floor in front of the wardrobe is tight, because they need no space to swing open. Pick hinged doors when you want the whole inside open at once and can keep floor clear as deep as each door is wide.
Hinged, doors open
Needs about 2 ft of clear floor (in this example).
IllustrationSliding, one side open
No floor space to swing. One side covered at a time.
Our 3D planner builds hinged doors.
Which one for your room?
Tight floor in front (bed, walkway)
Pick sliding doors when the floor in front of the wardrobe is tight. Nothing swings into the room.
- Pick sliding
You want to see and reach everything at once
Every door opens, so the whole inside is in view.
- Pick hinged
Your wardrobe turns a corner
Our sliding doors stop at a corner. The corner gets a hinged door or an open shelf.
- Pick hinged
Your wall is narrower than about 3 ft
Our sliding track needs a wall of about 3 ft or more.
- Pick hinged
What you give up
In our example, each hinged door is about 2 ft wide, so it needs about 2 ft of clear floor to open.
Hinged doors
A hinged door needs clear floor as deep as the door is wide. An open door can block a walkway or another door.
Sliding doors
With sliding doors, part of the wardrobe is always behind a door. You open one side at a time.
What you pay for
Hinged doors need hinges and a handle for each door.
Sliding doors need a top and a bottom track the full width, and rollers for each panel.
Your quote gives the price.
For wardrobe makers: the numbers behind this page
How many panels a run takes is the track's own rule, so this page prints no panel count or panel width for the example. The sliding drawing is an illustration.
| Rule | Hinged doors | Sliding panels |
|---|---|---|
| Door or panel width | 300–650 mm accepted (450–600 mm by default) | 450–1500 mm |
| Doors or panels on a run | 4 × 597 mm (about 2 ft) on the 8 ft example | 2–4 panels |
| Run width | any run: each cabinet carries one or two doors | 900–6000 mm |
| Hinge opening | 100° and 107° | no hinges |
| Travel when parked | opens fully | travels 92% of its own width (factor 0.92) |
I make wardrobes
Tell us about your workshop and the doors you build.
Related pages
- Comparison
Wardrobe with loft: meaning and height
A wardrobe loft is a cupboard on top of the wardrobe. Who it suits, what it holds and how tall it makes the wardrobe: about 10 ft on our 8 ft example.
- Guide
Wardrobe dimensions in feet and mm
How big a wardrobe your wall and ceiling allow, in feet and mm: how a 6 to 12 ft wall splits into cabinets, doors and gap strips, and how tall a loft can be.
- Tool
Wardrobe size calculator in feet and mm
Type your wall width and height in feet or mm. See how many doors fit, how wide each door is, the gap strip at each end and the loft height for that wall.
- Interiors
Wardrobe accessories: what fits where
What space and free height wardrobe accessories need. A step ladder needs about 3 ft 11 in (1200 mm) in our planner; a steamer, a basket and a tray less.
- Guide
Wardrobe door size in feet, cm and mm
Wardrobe door sizes in feet, cm and mm: the common door width, door height from wardrobe height, loft doors, the gaps between doors and door board thickness.