Solving space issues

I've always loved sliding doors. In the 1970s as a child they looked futuristic and modern to me, despite wobbling when you closed them. Now some 30 years later sliding doors have been improved ten times over and slide effortlessly, as well as looking far more integrated and streamlined.

I suggested using sliding doors early on in our conversations with the architect, but after thinking about paying more than £400 for a door (and we'd need four of them), it didn't make sense to pummel our modest budget on something so "frivolous". However, Living Etc did a feature on sliding doors a couple of issues ago which I recently re-discovered, and it set me off on this tangent again.

The door on the top of this image is a Canto room divider, custom made and stained to order from Draks. It costs from £400 for a 1500mm width door. The door on the bottom left is a pocket door, and costs from £230 for the sliding mechanism and £147 for a door (in your choice of style and dimensions) from Doorhaus.

I ruled out both of these because of a. Cost and b. I didn't like the wooden frame on the Doorhaus version, but then I found out about about another pocket door system which costs from £199 for the mechanism (you can choose your own door from anywhere) from Royde and Tucker. As you can see, it looks perfectly integrated with the wall.

Royde and Tucker designs and manufactures bits to open and shut doors (they used to just do hinges but have branched out). They've developed a clever "Z" section slide, which means the mechanism can fit into any height. All the bits are to hand in the UK, so if you order a system it can generally be delivered the next day! Similar systems from Europe or the States can take up to six weeks to arrive.

Having a room unencumbered by a door means it will be easier to place furniture, and gives the feeling of more space - essential given that all our rooms will be smaller than the ones in our curent flat. Sliding doors are back on the menu…