My son has a pocket door in his tiny ensuite bathroom. He’s the only one in there though so I doubt he even closes it half the time! I would never want it in a master bath. A proper door is better. It’s better for sound and privacy.

I avoid sliding doors. Get rid of the barn door, you do not have wall space to contain the barn door. Sliding door have their place in certain instances and your master bedroom suite is not one of them.

Where does the bed go?

Why do you think this would be functional?

If by sliding you mean barn doors they are pretty noisy to open and close so using them at night when your partner is sleeping would obviate the reason for a door.

Do most people even use doors in their master bedrooms when they have a separate room for the toilet with a door? I realize it is a dated look but so many bathrooms built in the 1970's had no door between the bedroom and the sink area because it was assumed most people didn't require privacy for what they did over the sink although noise could be a factor if partners had completely different sleeping schedules.

@Mark Bischak, Architect . Not much choice -Bed will be on the long wall facing bathroom.

I don't mind this look -

You will sleep better if the bed is in the floor facing up.

I avoid having the head of the bed the first thing that is seen when entering a bedroom. If it is not a king size bed you could possibly extend the closet wall that is common to the bedroom and put a 2'-8" opening in the extension to pick up a few inches on that wall. Not ideal either, but I think about furniture layouts when I space plan.

I don’t like sliding doors because of privacy and noise concerns. And I triple-dog-hate barn doors inside the house because of privacy and noise and the industrial-look hardware.

In my modern home, I installed numerous pocket doos. there is a pocket door in the water closet, to the bathoom, walk in closet and bedroom. I made sure the doors ere solid wood. I absolutely love them and I love that I can certain spaces open wthout a doo in the way.

We have pocket doors into our master bath because of space issues. They’re fine.

We have a pocket door for our master bath in a condo we purchased. Hate it. Will change out as soon as practical.

We have numerous pocket doors in our new build and love them. They provide more wall space and don’t get in the way when you’re moving around.

Thanks for all the feedback! We've had pocket doors in other houses and had problems with them falling off the tracks plus the noise is a good point for not using a pocket or single "barn door" style into my bathroom.

After reading this post and doing more research, I have decided to keep a regular door for the entrance into my bathroom and probably closet as well. I am still open to using a sliding "barn" door for the closet since there's no need for a lock, privacy or noise issue. It would match all the other regular doors but just slide on hardware instead of opening into the closet. I'll do a bit more contempating but at least I have one less decision to make on this house build! 😁

We recently sold our house that was built in 1978 with a pocket door that was the bane of my existence. Our new build does include a few pocket doors so I’m hoping pocket door design has improved over the past 4 decades. I contemplated barn doors until my parents installed one going into the primary bathroom at their house. It’s heavy and cumbersome to use. I’m not sure if there are alternatives other than pocket or barn doors that slide, but if there are, definitely consider them.

I chose to add pocket doors for practicality of use when regular doors would not have a good resting place. For example, there was originally a regular door going from my son’s bedroom into his bathroom, but it blocked his toilet and he would have to close the door to his bathroom every time he wanted to use the toilet. If the door opened into his bedroom, it would have blocked the entrance to his room or wall space. I ended up changing it to a pocket door.

The challenges I see with using a normal door for your closet would be that you would either block the walkway into your bedroom or block a portion of clothing to where you would have to go completely into your closet and shut the door to access. It may also interfere with the access door into the attic. Depending on measurements and space, maybe see if french doors opening outward would rest flush against the walls on either side of the closet? French doors opening into the bedroom might also be a possibility for the entrance into your bathroom so you don’t have to close your door every time you want to enjoy the view of your beautiful freestanding tub and natural light coming in from that side of the bathroom. Good luck!

Barn doors take up wall space where artwork could hang.

As an aside I would put the closet door on the wall facing the word master .. walking from the bathroom after a shower to the closet door all the way near the entry to the bedroom is far… if you just have a towel on what a way to get a chill….just a thought

Barn doors are definitely cool looking, but i think they are a fad and a mistake for resale > 8 years from now. Certain hotels have them and i would prefer a door. i would go with a regular door or pocket . i understand the issue. pocket doors are ok. they are discrete and will not block the visual of your bathtub.

oh. saw your post. good luck with regular door

@jennjag . Thanks for the info - I'm really torn about my closet door for the reasons you gave. Trying to do what's best for the situation but also resale and it appears a lot of people dislike 'barn' sliding doors. Guess I know what side my hubby's clothes will be going! 😁

Also, @Lisa Dipiro, I pondered that situation as well. One choice was a full double door on that wall but then I lose a wall for a dresser or TV. I see how a closet attached to the bath would work nicely but we had some constraints as everyone does when designing/building. I think it looks a lot farther from the bath to the closet on the plan than it actually is in reality. Guess I'll have to be sure to keep a robe in the bathroom😁 .

I have a pocket door for the master bathroom entry. We also have a solid core door for the water closet for privacy. Our master is its own ”wing” so we have a lot of privacy and we normally dont close it anyway. Our pocket doors are wonderfully smooth closing and quiet, modern pocket foors have a new slide mechanism rhat doesnt allow for it to come off of the tracks. Spend the money for a better door and you wont regret it, and it should be durable and give you many years of service.

What is on the other side of the closet wall? Because I wonder if it can move to the right, maybe even split into his and hers, and the bedroom door move to the left? Gives a better placement of the bed.

Are those windows on the left side of the bathroom wall, above the vanity and shower?

@bpath Laundry room is on other side. I do like your idea - we would have needed to add a hallway tho. There's always the never ending give & take decisions with building and being constricted to a certain sq.footage/budget. Ideally, I like the bed to 'face' the doorway. In this situation, we will enter seeing the side of the bed. The other wall is a full patio door to outside.

We have removed the window above the vanity and are putting an opening window above the toilet. Window in shower is just for light as 10' ceilings on this main level.

I do not know all the circumstances of your project, but consider these concepts:

Much better. The door isn’t so convenient for the toilet, but it might be the best compromise. Or, could the toilet and the shower door ”flip”, so that the toilet backs up to the closet (not that kind of backs up, Mark), and their doors are next to the vanity? or isn’t there enough room?

@Mark Bischak, Architect Thank you Mark - you've drawn a nice set up. We are on the main level and do have a nice view on the patio door side (with a hottub) so I guess that's why I don't mind the bed being on the long wall for us to see out. I have moved the bathroom entrance door a few times as well trying to get it right.

We're on heated slab that has already been poured with stacks, plumbing in place. Windows ordered. I can only tweak framing a bit! 😅

I have pocket doors on both bathrooms and love them. They are sold doors and we love them. They give us more usable floor space and plenty of privacy.

With the door moved down, is there room for the bed to back up the the bathroom wall? That way, when you walk through the bedroom door, your eye doesn’t go to the bed pillows, but to the view.

@bpath No, it would be tight. I find it so interesting the fight for me not to have the bed against the long wall😂 Guess I will need to hang a crystal ball according to this - Feng Shui

The way it is set up now, my thoughts are: when you enter the bedroom, you will see a full wall of view but yes, the side of the bed. When you come out of the bathroom, you will see the view, laying in the bed, you will see a view and with the bathroom door closer to the patio door, I will have plenty of wall space/ corner space for a dresser, mirror, TV.

I love all the feedback and will definitely be posting our 1 bedroom Airbnb suite for layout ideas!

And this all started with the 'barn door' dilemma 😅

I am not sure what the issue is if you see the bed when you walk into the bedroom. My bed is lovely and there is a specific niche that is large enough for a king size bed so I imagine it was a deliberate choice of the builder.

Also if my bed were against the other long wall I would see the television upon entering which is far less attractive. Since most people have a television set hung on a bedroom wall I would imagine the choice would be either an initial view of the bed or of the television set. 🤷🏼‍♀️ My bed wall is far more enticing than the television wall - unless I had one of those spiffy cabinets where the television set rises up but is otherwise hidden.

It's also the look of the nightstand. Lamp cord, maybe phone charger, books, crossword and pens, etc (there's always etc). Then again, I'm projecting my own nightstand on to others lol. The dust that settles behind the headboard. Actually, at least this way it will be visible and is actually make a point of pushing the Swiffer back there really well.

Generally the objection is the head of the bed being seen from outside the bedroom; privacy. The bedroom is a private space and the views into the bedroom from outside the bedroom should be limited to preserve that privacy.

@Mark Bischak, Architect - Not trying to belabor the point but why is viewing a bed an invasion of privacy?

I truly don't understand why anyone would have such delicate sensibilities that the idea of someone who is visiting the home viewing the bed would be embarrassing.

When people are actually IN bed and there are other people in the house, the door is generally shut and anyone wanting to enter the room would generally knock so what difference would there be if they saw the bed when they opened the door or had to turn to the side to view it?

Exactly what is "shameful" about someone potentially seeing a bed? What do you think needs to be hidden from possible errant glances?

Well, there are certain activities that sometimes happen in or on a bed that involve two people . . . do I need to go on??

Most designers suggest the bed be centered on the longest wall of the bedroom (which mine will be) There are also Feng Shui issues such as having your bed in the 'command' position so you can see the entrances (you don't feel vulnerable)

The bed is supposed to be the focal point of the room. Also, like a lot of people, I don't have a lot of choice of my bed placement but I'm confident that I can make my bedroom balanced and beautiful. This has been fun😊