Hi all, do you think it’s possible to have a built in sliding wardrobe with narrow sliding doors? Although the standard large doors can look great they won’t look right in my room and I’d really like painted doors (either ply/wood/mrmdf). The total width is ~2200mm wall to wall and I was thinking 6 narrow sliding doors on two tracks (so two doors taking up the same width as a normal sliding door) all on their own rollers. Unfortunately I have to have sliding doors due to space (only 30-40 cm before you hit the bed). Was also thinking a top hanging roller system so the door tracks don’t take up much space. Would appreciate your thoughts. TIA
40-50cm sliding wardrobe doors possible?
- Thread starter Lizzie01
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Cabinetman
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Hi Lizzie, gap width 2200 divided by 6= 367+ Overlap so each door is less than 400 mm they will not run cleanly and drive you nuts basically, it’s like trying to open a very wide short drawer – it binds.
Let’s imagine the doors are 400 mm each and you move all 6 to 1 end that means you have an available gap of 1000 mm to retrieve what’s in the cupboard. If you were to move 4 to one end and 2 to the other the gap of 1000 mm moves towards the centre but too much of the cupboard is covered by doors- it’s always a problem with sliding door wardrobes. You could alleviate this by having three tracks.
I would investigate having them hinged and folding bi-fold style I think you could do them at 400 mil each but haven’t done it so please don’t take my word for it, at least when they are open you can get to the whole wardrobe except for the space at each end where the doors bunch up, and there is just space before they hit the bed by the sound of it. Best of luck Ian
Edit, they would of course be tri-fold not bi-fold.
Let’s imagine the doors are 400 mm each and you move all 6 to 1 end that means you have an available gap of 1000 mm to retrieve what’s in the cupboard. If you were to move 4 to one end and 2 to the other the gap of 1000 mm moves towards the centre but too much of the cupboard is covered by doors- it’s always a problem with sliding door wardrobes. You could alleviate this by having three tracks.
I would investigate having them hinged and folding bi-fold style I think you could do them at 400 mil each but haven’t done it so please don’t take my word for it, at least when they are open you can get to the whole wardrobe except for the space at each end where the doors bunch up, and there is just space before they hit the bed by the sound of it. Best of luck Ian
Edit, they would of course be tri-fold not bi-fold.
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Thanks Ian, that’s really helpful! I’ll investigate a bifold option
RobinBHM
Established Member
I would say your best option is 3 doors on a triple track.
Could you have traditional shaker doors - maybe make each door to look like 2 doors
Could you have traditional shaker doors - maybe make each door to look like 2 doors
Great idea. Thanks
doctor Bob
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3 doors you only need a double track.
TheTiddles
Established Member
It could work, but you’d probably want track top and bottom (which will fight each other if you don’t get them just right) and three tracks, which will get deep.
A long time ago they made wardrobes with tambour doors that went over the top and down the back, for exactly this problem. Not a common thing to get a hold of though, could be fun to make though
Aidan
A long time ago they made wardrobes with tambour doors that went over the top and down the back, for exactly this problem. Not a common thing to get a hold of though, could be fun to make though
Aidan
Thanks Aiden. Tambour would look great but I’m at the start of my DIY journey so a step too far at the moment
Thanks Bob
Richard_C
Established Member
Theres a lot to think about before you buy anything.
Do you want any internal fittings, shelves or pull out drawers/baskets, if so you need to think about the door width especially with pull out stuff,, will you need/want a central divider in which case it would be good for the doors to meet/overlap at that point.
Generally: fewer doors = heavier doors - might not be an issue depending on what they are made of; more doors = a bit more lost to overlaps when they are closed and more general faff to align when you are fitting them.
Generally, not calculating for overlaps: 2 doors on double track, 50% can be open at any one time, 4 doors on double track also 50%. 3 doors on double track, 33% open at any one time, 3 doors on triple track 66% but the extra overlap takes away some depth, either inside or outside depending on how they are fitted.
I suggest you look at the IKEA website for design ideas. Their PAX range is modular, choose box, add internals, choose doors so by scrolling through 100+ pictures of the variations it gives you loads of ideas which you can then adapt to your project. I have them as office storage in my study with 2 big but light sliding doors.
I'm not suggesting you buy IKEA, diy will be more satisfying although you might be surprised by the price of the timber you will need, but their designs are really well worked out.
Do you want any internal fittings, shelves or pull out drawers/baskets, if so you need to think about the door width especially with pull out stuff,, will you need/want a central divider in which case it would be good for the doors to meet/overlap at that point.
Generally: fewer doors = heavier doors - might not be an issue depending on what they are made of; more doors = a bit more lost to overlaps when they are closed and more general faff to align when you are fitting them.
Generally, not calculating for overlaps: 2 doors on double track, 50% can be open at any one time, 4 doors on double track also 50%. 3 doors on double track, 33% open at any one time, 3 doors on triple track 66% but the extra overlap takes away some depth, either inside or outside depending on how they are fitted.
I suggest you look at the IKEA website for design ideas. Their PAX range is modular, choose box, add internals, choose doors so by scrolling through 100+ pictures of the variations it gives you loads of ideas which you can then adapt to your project. I have them as office storage in my study with 2 big but light sliding doors.
I'm not suggesting you buy IKEA, diy will be more satisfying although you might be surprised by the price of the timber you will need, but their designs are really well worked out.
doctor Bob
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Mechanism's, the more you pay the better you get.
Screwfix quality £100 ish
Hawa £1000
Screwfix quality £100 ish
Hawa £1000
Thanks Richard!
Thanks Bob!
Thanks!
If you are going to make them out of MDF or such, top tip is to put the roller mechanism on the door, screw in only just then take them off and drip thin CYA into the threaded holes you have just made until it will not absorb anymore, it will soak in and reinforce the area, those shown above have been up just about ten years without any maintenance and still slide as well as they did when first assembled.
Thanks so much Mike!
sometimewoodworker
Established Member
A tambour is really basic and simple woodworking, though a vertical tambour of that size is a rather different case. One of my first Christmases after I got my first router had me make 2 tambour front breadbins as presents. I was in my early 20s at the time, it was long long before the internet existed and information videos on many subjects were a click away. I had probably been doing wood work as a hobby for about 6 months or a year by then.Thanks Aiden. Tambour would look great but I’m at the start of my DIY journey so a step too far at the moment
The tambour looks impressive but is just a bunch of slats, usually with an edge detail like a chamfer, stuck onto 1 wide or 2 narrow strips of cloth, the whole lot slide in grooves in the end pieces. the only challenge was getting the groove shape and size correct for the slats to ride in and that needed a few test pieces. You can get fancy and have the ends thinner and with a curve to reduce the width of the guide groove but that just icing on the cake.
For the door tambour I would probably use guide pins (round head wood screws are a possibility with nylon washers to slide on the track) in the top to hang the slats from the track and steel guide pins at the bottom for the bottom track. Your challenge is not making the tambour it’s sourcing the track or getting it made for you.
Many thanks
