Types of sliding doors: mechanisms and trendy designs for your home

Before choosing and installing any type of sliding door, it is important that you evaluate whether or not it is convenient to adapt it to your living space.

Is your bathroom so small that you can’t find the solution to fit the furniture without it colliding with the door when opening and closing? Then a sliding door is the solution you are looking for. There are also problems of this type in bedrooms and even kitchens, where every time you open the door it collides with some other decorative element of the room.

In these cases, sliding doors offer certain advantages over traditional hinged doors:

1.- They provide more useful space inside the room, to move through it with greater ease.

2 .- They help separate environments and better optimize the interior space with unique and original finishes.

There is an infinity of materials, finishes and designs. For this reason, you can get sliding doors that combine with the windows and also with the rest of the decorative elements.

As we have already mentioned, there are a large number of types of sliding doors. They can be classified in different ways and according to various criteria – let’s see what we are talking about!

Here we can talk about flush sliding doors or sliding doors in sight. The former, also known as concealed sliding doors, slide and are hidden inside the wall by means of a special system of cassettes and guides. While, the sliding doors in sight are placed along the wall through guides and rails, remaining completely in sight.

For the former it is necessary to carry out a work to hide the door behind the wall. However, they are the sliding door model that makes the best use of the available space. The latter are easier to install and more economical, since it is not necessary to break partitions, although their design does not allow maximum use of space.

In this classification we find several types of sliding doors:

– Single-leaf sliding doors
Undoubtedly, the most widespread and used sliding doors for interiors. They consist of a single piece that moves horizontally in both directions.

– Facing sliding doors
This option contemplates two leaves aligned in the same direction, which open towards the side of the wall where they are installed. To give you an idea, these are the typical double sliding doors that separate the living room from the kitchen. One of the types of sliding doors that work best for separating rooms, while providing a large opening.

– Parallel sliding doors
Formed by two panels that are supported by a system of parallel movement rails. It is a type of sliding door suitable for large spaces, such as closets or dressing rooms.

– Sliding and folding
These are another type of sliding doors with several panels that open and close on themselves in an accordion fashion. They are normally used in sliding doors for exteriors. Although they are also used to separate spaces that share the same room, such as the office and the bedroom, for example.

– Stacking doors
They are similar to the folding ones but in this case they work by a modular system where each leaf is placed and slides independently. In general, they are usually the sliding doors that communicate the living room with the terrace or garden.

– Telescopic sliding doors
They use two or more panels in a synchronized movement and with a single frame. When the first panel is opened, the rest of the panels also move, overlapping one panel on top of the other, until the door is fully retracted. This type of sliding door is useful to create open and luminous environments.

– Corner doors
Little used in the domestic environment, but more known in the office world. Corner sliding doors are made up of two moving leaves that open simultaneously in a corner.

The latest trends in sliding doors are bringing new more sustainable and economical materials, such as mirrored glass or lacquered wood designs. However, from Molins Design we highlight the most used materials for the manufacture of sliding doors:

– Wooden sliding doors
Wooden sliding door models are widely used in interior projects. The warmth and comfort offered by this material are combined with other advantages of acoustic insulation and airtightness.

The wood finishes can be infinite, creating oak, pine or walnut wood doors with lacquered and plywood finishes.

If you are looking for a rustic style sliding door, go for wood! You can also combine it with glass, to improve the available space without completely giving up privacy.

– Sliding glass doors
Tempered glass is often used in the sliding doors of kitchens or bathrooms to bring more light and spaciousness to the room. For this type of doors, it is usually opted for exposed hardware.

– Interior metal sliding door
Although they are not the most used, we do find several models of metal sliding doors in industrial style domestic spaces. The robustness and durability offered by this type of elements combines with a sober and elegant aesthetic.

Undoubtedly, the doors with metal and glass profiles become the ideal choice for minimalist spaces.