When designing your home, there are a lot of things to take into consideration – including your wardrobe storage.

Wardrobes are a subtle but distinct feature of any home or office, and choosing the right type of door for them can capitalise on your space. There is one key difference between sliding and hinged wardrobe doors; however, this difference leads to others, including wardrobe door material, finish and functionality.

With hinged wardrobe doors, you have a wider variety of materials; with sliding wardrobe doors, you maximise the space in any given room. Flexirobes is here to help you choose which is better suited to your needs. 

Pros of Sliding Doors

Space-Saving

Sliding doors offer a space-saving solution. If you’re in a tight area and are strapped for space when designing, sliding doors are the best choice for wardrobe storage solutions. This is particularly helpful for bedroom storage, but it’s also beneficial for other spaces in your home, including home office storage cabinets and garage wardrobe storage.

Customisable Aesthetic

There’s a noteworthy sleekness to sliding wardrobe doors that adapts to many styles. Factors such as the balance of a room, lighter or uniform colours, weight, scale and shape all affect the design of a room. Sliding doors are part of different aesthetics and can fit into modern, traditional and unique rooms or spaces.

Smooth Operation

Whisper quiet is the way to go with sliding wardrobe doors. Avoid creaking or whining with sliding doors, even after multiple uses. Our Australian-made heavy-duty rolling wheels are designed to be a smooth experience. The tracks they slide on can be easily cleaned, which preserves the glide and operation.

Cons of Sliding Doors

Limited Accessibility

While sliding wardrobe doors do provide space-saving solutions, it does come at the cost of a bit of accessibility and internal storage. Depending on the design, you won’t always be able to fully access all parts of your entire wardrobe storage at the same time, which may limit your movement or how and if you can store clunkier or heavier objects.

Maintenance Challenges

It’s not quite a con because it can be done quite easily with a vacuum or small brush, but the tracks that sliding wardrobe doors slide on do need to be maintained. All you have to do is regularly vacuum or brush the tracks so their smooth glide is maintained.

Cost Considerations

Depending on what type of sliding wardrobe door you choose to install, they can be more costly than hinged wardrobe doors. The higher-end sliding doors are the fitted ones, as they are bespoke sliding doors made to fit your existing office or home.

Pros of Hinged Doors

Full Access

You won’t have to worry about squeezing into nooks and crannies with hinged wardrobe doors. Thanks to the complete mobility of the hinged door, they allow full access and don’t take up any internal storage, making for better storage when it comes to essentials like linen cupboard storage, laundry storage cabinets and garage wardrobe storage.

Traditional But Flexible Charm

There’s a certain charm to be found with hinged wardrobe doors. This vintage feeling can be a pro, depending on your tastes and preferences. The traditional feeling of hinged doors appeals to many people as a classic way to operate their storage solutions. That said, modern hinged wardrobes can also be designed to be more modern or customisable if that is what you’re looking for.

Customisation Options

Hinged wardrobe doors offer a lot of customisability – and not just with materials. You can choose to have modern or more classic designs depending on what the doors are made of, but you can also shape them to fit in unique spaces, such as under the stairs, under desks or more. This can be achieved with routing, allowing you to attach new hinged wardrobe doors to pre-existing frames.

Cons of Hinged Doors

Space Requirements

When installing hinged wardrobe doors, you must be sure there is room for them to open. You can’t put furniture in front of them or have them in an area with a lot of traffic. Clearance is essential for hinged doors because of the functional space required.

Maintenance & Sizing

The hinges on wardrobe doors must be maintained by tightening them when they get loose over time. There are specific rules surrounding the weight that wardrobe doors can bear; for this reason, you’ll mostly find that hinged wardrobe doors are slimmer.

Things You Should Consider When Deciding Between Sliding or Hinged Doors

Room Size

Measure your space before you start on your custom storage journey. Only once you have gotten the measurements, foot traffic and spacing correct can you decide what’s best.

Style Preferences

Your preferences definitely matter when making style choices, particularly for personal spaces such as your home office, laundry or garage storage.

Accessibility

What are you using the wardrobe storage for? How much do you need to capitalise on your storage space? Sliding doors can maximise your storage space, whereas hinged doors can fit into pre-existing frames.

Budget

Do you need to get bespoke storage? Do you want something classic or modern? All of these answers contribute to your budget for your wardrobe storage. Decide where you can spend a little more and where you want to save a little more by mixing and matching options, styles and preferences.

If you’re ready to plan your wardrobe, then get in touch with Flexirobes today for a free in-home measure and quote with our experienced design consultant. Our team can walk you through what type of storage is best for you, your budget and your space.