Furniture Blog

When considering interior doors, a great many types exist, each with some typical settings in which they are used. In this overview we will attempt to clarify some of the different kinds of internal door that you may see as you ponder the appearance you are aiming at in your home interior.

Interior doors can mostly be sorted into three simple categories – ‘regular’ hinged doors, sliding doors and folding doors, though of course that there is some overlap between types. We will look at them briefly here, and hopefully look at the details in some other articles.

Interior hinged doorsThese are familiar to us all – the majority of interior doors most likely still fall into this category. This is the most familiar kind of door which closes into the jamb and usually only opens one way. Naturally, there are all sorts of varieties under this category – full-wood doors, doors with glass panes, PVC-coated doors and interior French or double doors. For sheer functionality, ease of installation and simplicity you cannot find much better than a hinged door. However, they have at least one major downside which other types of internal door seek to address – the door always has to swing outwards, and in doing so can hog valuable space and be more of a hindrance for very small rooms like storage rooms.

One kind of hinged door merits special mention here, that being interior French doors, by which we usually use to signify interior double doors that swing out, meeting in the middle, which can often be locked so that just one ‘wing’ remains in use if so wished.Internal folding doorsInterior folding doors try to resolve the space problem mentioned earlier, by folding the door in on itself by one means or another, rather than it swinging out into the living space. On the down side, this usually means that a certain amount of space in the doorway itself will be taken up by the concertinaed door, so you have to think about whether this will be acceptable. Owing to the fact that they usually travel along a groove they might also be referred to as ‘sliding doors’, however read the main section on sliding doors later in the article for an explanation of the differences.

Here are some basic varieties of internal folding door:

Interior concertina doorsInternal concertina folding doors, sometimes referred to as ‘sliding folding doors’, are split into panels which stack up when open and are usually of light PVC. Also referred to as ‘accordion doors’, especially in the US. A particular use of these folding doors is as room dividers wherever there is a wider doorway or natural dividing feature in a home or commercial setting.

Internal bi-fold or bi-folding doorsThese come in a variety of types, their key feature being that they only hinge along a single join in the centre but are held in a groove like a concertina folding door. They are a sort of trade-off between the concertina folding door and a ‘normal’ hinged door, since they still stick out to a certain extent into the room when they are folded, but occupy proportionately less of the doorway as a consequence. Interior bi-folding doors are often used as wardrobe and closet doors, as well as bathroom shower cabinet doors, but maybe are not so often used as divisions between rooms in the home or workplace. When they are, it is often either as a double set, to close off a wide aperture, or when there is a need to have just one half of the doorway open most of the time, while the other wing of the door stays closed until the full doorway is needed.

It should be noted that UPVC and aluminium bi-folding doors are primarily used as exterior doors, leading onto a garden or patio – a subject for another article.

Interior sliding doorsAlthough many interior folding doors could be referred to as sliding doors, the latter term typically is used to describe a sliding system which has one or more overlapping panels in parallel grooves which can slide up to free up most of the door aperture. Other systems even have a rail running completely clear of the door aperture along which a single or even double door can be slid right out of the way. Although the downside of this is that it requires room either side of the doorway, it can provide a very attractive look.

That was just a quick overview of the different types of internal door that you might want to take a look at in the event that you are working on your home interior at the moment. Hopefully it has clarified some of the terminology used and will assist you in making an informed choice about the ideal of door to opt for in your home.