Hallways and landings often have more doors than any other part of the house. In a typical home you might see the living room, kitchen, cloakroom, under-stairs cupboard and stairs all from the front door. Each door brings an architrave, a handle and a slightly different height, and together they can make a hallway feel busy and narrow.

Concealed doors offer a calmer alternative. The door sits flush with the wall, with no architrave and hinges hidden inside the frame, so a row of doors reads as one continuous wall. This guide explains how to plan concealed hallway doors so they look right and work well every day.

Why concealed doors suit hallways

A hallway is a space you pass through, not one you sit in. That makes the walls themselves the main feature. Concealed doors let those walls stay clean and uninterrupted.

Common reasons to choose them:

A calmer, wider feel. Removing architraves and door stops takes visual clutter out of a narrow space.
Hiding the doors you don’t want to see. Cupboards, cloakrooms and plant rooms can blend into the wall while the main doors stay visible.
A consistent look. One door style, one finish and one line along the hall.

If you’re new to the terms, our guide to jib, concealed, frameless and flush to wall doors explains how they differ.

Decide which side is flush: push or pull

This is the first and most important decision. A hinged concealed door is normally flush on one side only. On the other side, the leaf sits back inside the opening and you can see the frame’s reveal.

Manufacturers offer two versions:

Push: flush on the side you push from, so the door opens away from you.
Pull: flush on the side you pull from, so the door opens towards you.

In a hallway, the push version is the usual choice. Doors open away from the hall into the rooms, and the hallway walls stay perfectly flat. Pull versions suit rooms where you want the door to disappear from inside, such as a bedroom or dressing room.

The flush side is built into the frame and can’t be changed later, so decide it for every door at the drawing stage. Our guide to concealed door frame details goes into this in more depth.

Check the swing in each room

A push door from the hall opens into the room, so it needs a clear strip of wall inside when it’s open. Check that radiators, wardrobes and light switches aren’t in that zone.

For a cupboard under the stairs, angled tops and push or pull latches bring their own questions. See our guide to the hidden under-stairs door.

Line up the door heads

With no architrave to draw the eye, the shadow gap around each door becomes the detail people notice. If one door is a little higher than the next, it shows.

Pick one reference height for the whole hallway, measured from the finished floor, and set every door head to it. Don’t measure each opening from whatever happens to be nearby, because small floor dips and ceiling differences add up.

Two things to get right early:

Finished floor level. Concealed frames are set from the finished floor, not the screed. Know your final floor build-up, including tiles, timber or adhesive, before the frames go in.
Standard height or floor to ceiling. A floor-to-ceiling door removes the strip of wall above the head, which can look striking in a hallway with a level ceiling. The ceiling must be flat along the door head and planned with the frame. Our floor to ceiling doors guide explains the details.

Hinges, latches and handles

Concealed doors use hinges hidden inside the frame and the edge of the leaf. Good ones can be adjusted in several directions after fitting, which you need to keep the gaps even along a run of doors. Check the hinge rating against the weight of the finished leaf, especially if you plan to clad it. Our concealed door hinges guide covers types and load ratings.

Magnetic latches are popular because there’s no latch tongue clicking against a strike plate. The door simply closes into the frame.

For handles, think about how hidden you want each door to be:

Main room doors: a slim lever or flush pull in a consistent finish and height along the hall.
Cupboards and services: push-to-open hardware or a recessed pull so the door almost disappears.

Our concealed door handles guide explains the options, and you’ll find hinges and latches in our concealed door accessories.

Switches, sockets and radiators

With no architrave to hide behind, a badly placed switch is obvious. Keep electrical boxes clear of the frame, usually on the handle side, and agree positions with your electrician before plastering. Line switches up at the same height along the hall so they don’t add clutter of their own.

Radiators and thermostats work the same way. Keep them away from frames, and away from the area a door sweeps through on the room side.

Skirting

Skirting can make or break a concealed hallway. The main options are:

Stop the skirting at each frame. Simple, but it marks the door position.
Flush skirting. The skirting is recessed so it sits flush with the wall, giving an uninterrupted line. Eclisse, for example, offers a skirting adapter for its flush systems.
Carry the skirting across the door. The traditional jib door approach. It needs care so the door still opens fully.

Choose one approach for the whole hallway and plan it before plastering, because flush skirting has to be built into the wall.

Finishes: blend in or stand out

Concealed doors are usually supplied primed, ready to paint on site with the same paint as the wall. Done well, only the perimeter gap shows. Our guide on how to paint a concealed door explains how to keep paint out of the gaps.

You don’t have to hide every door, though. A common approach in hallways is to paint the main room doors in a contrasting colour and let cupboards and services disappear into the wall. Wallpaper and panelling can also run across a door, but patterns need cutting cleanly at the gap, and heavy claddings add weight to the leaf.

Fire safety in hallways

Hallways and landings are usually the escape route, so check the fire rules before choosing doors.

Under Approved Document B in England, ground-floor habitable rooms (other than kitchens) should open directly onto a hall leading to a final exit, or have an emergency escape window or door.

In a house with a storey more than 4.5m above ground, the guidance calls for a protected stairway. Doors opening onto it in a single-family house need a minimum of FD20 (E 20). This often applies after a loft conversion.

A concealed door can be fire-rated, but only as a complete tested doorset of frame, leaf, seals and hardware. Our guide to FD30 concealed doors explains what to look for. If your project is in Wales, Scotland or Northern Ireland, check local guidance, and always confirm with building control.

Planning checklist

Before ordering frames, agree:

push or pull, and left or right hand, for every door
one head height for the whole hallway, from the finished floor
finished wall thickness and floor build-up
switch, socket and radiator positions
the skirting approach
which doors stand out and which disappear
any fire-rated doors needed

Frequently asked questions

Are concealed doors a good idea for a hallway?

Yes. Hallways often have several doors close together, and concealed doors remove architraves and visible hinges, so the walls look calmer and the space can feel wider. They need careful planning before plastering.

Should concealed hallway doors be push or pull?

Usually push. A push door is flush on the side you push from, so the hallway walls stay flat and the doors open into the rooms. Decide this for each door before ordering, as it can’t be changed later.

Can concealed doors be fire doors?

Yes, if you choose a tested fire-rated doorset. The whole assembly of frame, leaf, seals and hardware must be tested and installed together. Doors onto a protected stairway in a house need a minimum of FD20.

Can I fit concealed doors in an existing hallway?

Yes, but it means opening up the wall around each door, as the frame is fixed into the opening and then plastered in. Plasterboard walls are usually simpler than masonry. You’ll need to redecorate around each door.

Do concealed doors need special skirting?

Not necessarily. You can stop the skirting at each frame, use flush skirting recessed into the wall, or carry the skirting across the door. Choose one approach for the whole hallway before plastering.

Plan your concealed hallway doors

Ready to create a seamless hallway? Browse our concealed doors, or see our made-to-measure service if your openings aren’t standard sizes.