Pocket Doors for Living Rooms: Single, Double or Glass?

Open-plan living is popular, but plenty of people find it doesn’t quite suit everyday life. Cooking smells drift into the sofa, the TV competes with homework, and in winter one big space is harder to keep warm. A pocket door between the living room and the next room gives you both options: open it up when you want space and light, and slide it shut when you want a cosy, separate room.

This guide covers how to choose between single, double and glass pocket doors for a living room, and what to check before you open up a wall.

Why pocket doors work in living rooms

Living rooms are full of furniture that needs wall space: sofas, sideboards, bookcases and TV units. A hinged door, or a pair of double doors, needs a clear arc of floor to swing through, which can make it hard to arrange the room.

A pocket door slides into the wall, so you can place furniture right up to the opening. When it’s open, the door disappears completely, which is something a hinged door can’t do. That makes pocket doors a good fit for:

• Living room to dining room, where the two rooms are often used together
• Living room to kitchen-diner, to keep cooking smells and noise out when needed
• Living room to hallway, to keep heat in and draughts out
• Living room to a snug, playroom or study

If the door is between the kitchen and living space, our guide to pocket doors for kitchens covers steam, ventilation and kitchen-specific points.

Single or double pocket doors?

Single pocket doors

A single pocket door suits a standard doorway, such as a living room door off the hall. It slides into a pocket on one side of the opening. Standard UK sizes range from 610mm to 914mm wide on the traditional 1981mm height, and metric doors are 2040mm tall. See our pocket door sizes guide for the full list.

Double pocket doors

Double pocket doors are the classic choice for a wide opening between two living spaces, such as a through lounge or a living room and dining room. Two doors meet in the middle and slide into pockets on either side.

They need a lot of wall. As an example, Eclisse lists a double frame for two 826 x 2040mm doors with a 1600mm wide passage and an overall frame width of 3294mm. So you need clear wall on both sides of the opening. Our post on whether double pocket door systems are worth the extra cost weighs up the pros and cons.

A useful extra for double doors is a coordination kit. Eclisse’s double door coordination kit, for example, uses a concealed cable and pulley so that moving one door moves the other at the same time. It’s supplied with one soft-close device, and Eclisse says it is suitable for wooden doors.

When there’s only wall on one side

If you want a wide opening but only have wall on one side, a telescopic pocket door may help. It slides two leaves into a single pocket. Our guide to telescopic pocket doors explains how they work.

Glass or solid?

Glass pocket doors let light travel between rooms even when the doors are shut, which suits a dark living room or a through lounge with windows at each end. They keep the feeling of openness while still holding back noise and heat. Read our glass pocket doors guide to compare glazed timber doors with frameless glass panels.

Solid doors are better if you want the living room to feel enclosed and private, for example as a TV room or snug. A solid-core door also blocks more sound than a hollow-core one. For more on noise, see our pocket door soundproofing guide.

Plan the wall before anything else

The pocket section of wall has to stay clear for the door to slide into, and this is where living room plans often go wrong.

TVs and shelving

Don’t plan a wall-mounted TV, floating shelves or heavy pictures on the pocket section. Fixings can hit the door, and the pocket wall isn’t built for heavy loads. If the TV has to go on that wall, place it beyond the end of the pocket, or use a freestanding TV unit.

Radiators, sockets and switches

Radiators, pipes, sockets and switches can’t go in the pocket section with a standard frame. Living rooms often have a radiator and several sockets, so plan where they’ll move to. Some systems, such as Eclisse’s wiring-ready versions, are designed to allow electrical points near the doorway. Decide before ordering the frame.

Wall type and thickness

Pocket doors are easiest in stud walls. If the wall between your living room and dining room is brick or block, and possibly load-bearing, read can you fit a pocket door in a brick wall? before you go further. Frames also come in set finished wall thicknesses; our pocket door wall thickness guide explains the options.

Fire safety and escape routes

Knocking rooms together and adding pocket doors can change your escape routes, so check this early.

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

If your living room can only be reached through another room, such as a kitchen-diner, it becomes what Approved Document B calls an “inner room”. An inner room on a storey no more than 4.5m above ground is acceptable if it has an emergency escape window, which the guidance sets at an openable area of at least 0.33m², at least 450mm high and 450mm wide, with the bottom of the opening no more than 1100mm above the floor.

In houses with a storey more than 4.5m above ground, there are stricter rules, including a protected stairway, which affects open-plan ground floors. Fire-rated pocket doors are available as tested systems; see FD30 pocket doors explained. Wales, Scotland and Northern Ireland have their own guidance, so always check with your building control body.

Handles, soft close and finishing touches

• Flush pulls let the door slide fully into the pocket. An edge pull makes it easier to draw the door back out. Browse our pocket door hardware.
• Soft close stops heavy living room doors slamming and is especially useful with children around. See our soft-close pocket doors guide.
• Frame style. A standard frame with architrave suits panelled or period-style doors. A frameless, flush frame gives a cleaner, modern look with no architrave.

Living room pocket door checklist

• Single, double or telescopic, depending on the opening and wall space
• Glass for light, or solid for privacy and quiet
• TV, shelving and radiators planned away from the pocket section
• Sockets and switches outside the pocket, or a wiring-ready system
• Wall type and finished thickness confirmed
• Escape routes checked if rooms are being opened up
• Soft close and, for double doors, a coordination kit if you want it

Frequently asked questions

Are pocket doors a good idea for living rooms?

Yes. They let you open the living room up to the next room or close it off, and they free up the wall and floor space a hinged door needs. They work best where there’s a clear section of stud wall beside the opening.

How much wall do double pocket doors need?

A lot. Each door needs its own pocket, so you need clear wall on both sides. As an example, Eclisse lists an overall frame width of 3294mm for two 826mm doors giving a 1600mm passage.

Can I mount a TV on a pocket door wall?

Not on the pocket section. Fixings can hit the door and the pocket wall isn’t designed for heavy loads. Mount the TV beyond the end of the pocket or use a freestanding unit.

Should a living room pocket door be glass or solid?

Glass is best for sharing light between rooms, especially in a through lounge. Solid is better for privacy and reducing noise, for example in a TV room or snug.

Can both double pocket doors open together?

Yes, with a coordination kit. It links the two doors so that moving one moves the other. Check that the kit suits your frame and door type.

Choose your living room pocket door kit

Ready to plan your living room door? Browse our pocket door kits for single, double and soft-close options, or contact us for help matching a kit to your opening.