Trying on a Pocket Door

Before we committed to the new pocket door entrance into the bathroom plan we had to determine that it actually worked. Strange question you ask? Well our bedroom is long and skinny and our bed is currently located on the back wall with no wiggle room to the left or right (thanks to necessary bedside tables for Mr. Christopher and I). Here's the bedroom when we got the house

The framing for the door and the eventual entrance into the bathroom is all the way over on the right of the wall the camera is facing

Chris' bedside table is sitting right smack in front of it. And unfortunately that back wall isn't wide enough to slide the bed and tables over to the left to accommodate the bed, etc. and the door

(Please excuse our non-decorated, wrong-trimmed out and messy bedroom. The fact that this room has walls and a proper floor is exciting enough to not think about redoing it until all the other rooms in the house are done.)

We need to move the bed. But because the closet is on the left wall and the door into the room is on the 3rd wall, that only leaves the wall on the right available for the bed to go on. We don't have a super large bed (standard queen), but I was nervous with the dressers we need (because of a not large closet and my need for lots of tennis shoes...) there wouldn't be enough room to orient the bed in a different direction.

So before we plowed ahead with door switching, wall closing off and the general bathroom floor plan switcheroo excitement we tried out the bed switch. And yay it worked!

(and aren't you proud of me: we vacuumed. Or, actually, Chris vacuumed).

There's not a ton of space around the end of the bed between it and the closet, but we'll eventually put a curtain up instead of doors in hopes of not making things feel even more cramped than they already are. Also, that dresser to the far left and out of the frame will be moving to the corner and we'll be getting a new, small, flat screen TV to put on the wall because YES, WE LIKE TO WATCH TV IN BED. Sue us. I like my TV damnit.

We'll eventually slide the bed more to the center of the room to make a bit more space for a bedside table for me (again, once we get a new TV), but we've got to address how much room there is in the far corner by the door for dresser space once the TV gets moved.

Here's the other view into the room

Once we knew the pocket door would work (yipee!) we headed off to HD to get the framing and hardware for it and then to Urban Ore (a local salvage yard) for the door.

Because there are no windows in this room and not great lighting we wanted a door with at least some glass to let in light from the bathroom. But don't worry, we plan to cover the pane in frosty film so no one can see you taking care of business.

We scavenged Urban Ore for a while and made 2 trips to find a door that fit the space, we liked, and was in decent shape. I liked a few that had 5 glass panels, but none were in great shape. Then Chris came across one he really liked that had one panel of glass on the top and then some nice detailed wood panels at the bottom. It reminded me of the bathroom door at my mom and CBH's house (with obscured glass) so it made me feel good that a house built in the 1920s would have a similar bathroom door.

We made the purchase and took it home. Now it's sitting in the front room. And although there's no toilet in there now (though it did sit there for months waiting to be installed in the bathroom), the door is now keeping a sink and many bathroom accessories company

It's needs some sanding down, a little repair on the bottom right and then a nice coat of paint, some hardware and the window frost applied, but I think it'll look great!