I like it. Specific thoughts:

- I like those double-pocket doors with a bit of personality.

- The office says pocket doors OR French doors. Since these are very close to the hallway doors of which you speak, I'd want them to match.

- Once the kids are out of the house, this'll allow you to close off this area of the house and avoid heating /cooling.

I think this would be terrific, no downside I don’t think - they disappear when you don’t want then and help with noise when you do

still remember when my DH woke up our toddler opening a beer in the kitchen 😩😅

@la_la Girl, was that your first? We created a monster with our first, but learnt our lessons and had #2 taking naps right in the middle of family activity! He ended up being a much better sleeper, at least until #1 became a teenager and then he could sleep through everything 😄

Adding the pocket doors is not odd at all and plenty of people have done exactly what you want to do. We installed pocket doors in 2 areas, one blocks off a hallway leading to 2 guest bedrooms and our laundry room. Our dogs stay in that hallway when we are gone for a few hours, so it contains them and provides privacy if we have guest over.

All our interior doors are 36" wide, so the pocket doors are also 36" wide.

Your bedrooms need more windows.

Add windows in the bathrooms too, if possible. Bath #3 could definitely have a high awning window over the tub.

I agree; go for it. We have a pocket door to a hallway off the living room that leads to the master bedroom area. Just make sure they’re solid core. And I learned (after we just installed more pocket doors during a remodel) that you can get soft close pocket doors.

lol totally @chispa - we 1000% tried to make everything perfect for him and then #2 had to just deal - and you are right, #2 was a much better sleeper 😅

Sound moves easily through the perimeter cracks, undercuts and pockets of closed pocket doors and will therefore provide some but not much sound abatement.

A better option would be bedroom walls with mineral wool sound batts that continue to the floor sheathing above and 1 3/4" solid core swinging bedroom doors perhaps with gasketing and a drop seal. Given the layout of the bedrooms that would be cheaper than pocket doors.

The next level would involve a double layer of drywall on one side of the bedroom walls. That used to be a standard feature in houses and is still mandated in apartments in many jurisdictions.

Post the floor plans and exterior elevations in a new thread and ask for input to improve the design. Pocket doors are the least of your worries.

Yes, go for the pocket doors. I grew up in a house with several pocket doors in hallways. True, they are not 100% soundproofing but they are much, much better, and they allow visual privacy when moving around in the bedroom halls, like when an adult gathering is in the living room and a kid gets up from bed to use the bathroom.

By the way, in that shared bath, go with one sink. They’ll either not be in there at the same time, or they will learn to wait their turn to spit. They could better use more counterspace and drawers below on both sides for their paraphernalia.

(I’m not a fan of JnJ baths anyway, but some like them so I won’t go into that. But the sink thing. My boys had a shared hall bath with two sinks, my brothers had a JnJ with one sink. Rarely in the bathroom at the same time, and my sons used the same sink. The other gets dusty.)

The last house we lived in--now thankfully in the landfill--had several pocket doors. All stuck in the walls useless. Money is much more effectively spent on sound-deadening the relevant doors and walls.

In a house with seven pocket doors, one count ’em one sticks a little, after 53 years.

I've had no issues with several pocket doors in different houses over the years.

They are also handy for limiting dog access when I visit my childhood home, :)

I love my pocket doors. 1955 home. Meaning they are very pretty, and function smoothly. Downside is they are quite heavy - so I find I rarely close any of them. It's just the two of us at this point ;)

Pocket doors - yes! Very little light into this new home - no!

I would say if you’re looking for soundproofing pocket doors really don’t perform well. Another issue is that your header beam above the doors needs to be roughly twice the length of the door opening. Basically, if you have a 5 foot double door opening, you would need a 10 foot beam above. Just something to consider as they get quite costly for that size probably 4x12”
Pro tip: I usually put a carpet runner under the pocket doors (from room to room), it keeps the sound level down.

What will be in the little space between the front porch and the wall of bedroom #5?

You just need to add some insulation or other sound-reducing "stuffing" in the walls. Not very expensive. Our builder is doing that for us.

I grew up in a home with pocket doors all over the place bewtween LR and entry , music room and hall all bathrooms on the upper floor so not weird at all function always comes first and this is agood idea for function for your family.

Would you consider the following change? Push the middle bedroom out to the left and create a hall to them behind the fireplace, then close one of the doorways. Benefits: only one doorway to worry about, A corner in the living room, which makes furniture arrangement easier. More usable space in the living room, since there is now only one walkway to the bedrooms, instead of two (one on either side of the fireplace).

I suppose it doesn’t matter which doorway you keep, I chose the one by the library since there is already a natural walkway with the foyer and library.

Even if you keep both doorways, though, I rather like the circulation route provided by the hall. (I don’t show a door to the middle bedroom, put it and the closet wherever. Also, if you keep the JnJ, swap it with the closet so that it can have a window. Another thought, use the hall bath at the top for bedrooms 3 and 4, and the JnJ can become an ensuite for bedroom 2, or be a hall bath to also serve as a powder room. In that case, I would either lose the wetroom door altogether, or just put the tub beyond the door, so that when it is closed, you have a half-bath for company. )

If the hall looks too long, you could create a niche into the middle bedroom, for art or a console table.

I would recommend solatubes in the bathrooms, and in the new hall. Even if you stick with your original plan, add solartubes in the two halls and baths.

I actually had the same thought as @bpath but just didn't write it up yesterday as I would want to change that entire wing...get toilets off bedroom walls, get more usable closets (those walk-ins don't store much) and add a lot more windows. Just changing the orientation of the tub/toilet in the J&J would help (I'd also want to get rid of the J&J). Do you have another powder room or is Bedroom #4's bathroom supposed to serve the rest of the house?

Pocket doors are fine but not great at soundproofing. They will provide a separation for private spaces.

I would also focus on adding insulation in the living room wall. If you plan on watching TV at all, no pocket doors will prevent sound from going through the wall the TV is on.

I would make other changes, too, like reach-in closets on either side of the bathrooms, or at least the wet walll

Re-reading, I see that the OP has three small children. I’d like all my children to be in the same hallway. Easier to check on them at night and get them up in the morning.

What do you like about this floor plan?

Add to plan early because wiring will be effected.

Sound passes easily through cracks and gaps so think of an entire pocket door assembly as effectively acoustically transparent and the separation benefit as almost entirely visual.

Don't put the pocket in an exterior wall. If the pocket doors are in a bearing wall, the headers will need to span 5 ft.

Don't overlook exterior problems like the one Mark highlighted. This is where a simple 3D model is helpful.

I would continue the face of the cabinets to the sides of the room and use pairs of doors.

The sound leak would then be at the middle and bottom of the doors instead of the entire perimeter, a 50% improvement. Gaskets and bottom sweeps would also be possible.

Word of warning on pocket doors: recently stayed in a very stylish air bnb that used heavy pocket doors at each bathroom, possibly for extra sound insulation. Problem was, the doors were so incredibly heavy that neither DH nor I ever closed them all the way, and we're not frail little people.

Res2’s option is nice. It better defines the bedroom area, the new side wall will help deflect noise, and the doors will open and close more silently than pocket doors. Note, however, that you might want to widen the doorway such that the two doors, when open, don’t make it too narrow for passage, carrying a laundry basket or furniture, etc.

Adding pocket doors to hallway entrances isn't bizarre at all; it's actually a smart and stylish solution for managing noise in homes with open floor plans. These doors can be seamlessly integrated into your home's design, especially when chosen to match or complement the existing interior. Stained wood doors, for instance, can add a touch of elegance. Besides being functional for noise control, they also offer flexibility in defining spaces. Just ensure they align with the overall style of your home to maintain aesthetic coherence.

None of the specified locations should have pocket doors... Period.