The location of your closet and the amount of space you have in the room will determine the best type of door for your closet. No matter the style, you want a closet door that gives you easy access to the contents inside and reflects the look of your home.

Traditional Hinged Swinging Door

Enlarge Photo Photo courtesy of California Closets

In many traditional homes, reach-in closets feature a simple hinged swinging door or double doors. This type of door allows you to increase the storage capacity of your closet by mounting hooks, pockets or racks to the back of the door. On the downside, a standard hinged door that swings outward means you can't have anything in the way. This can create a traffic flow problem for tight spaces.

Sliding Doors

Enlarge Photo Photo courtesy of California Closets

Traffic flow isn't an issue for closets with sliding doors. A standard for many reach-in closets, sliding doors come in a variety of styles and finishes, from frosted and translucent glass to mirrored or raised panel. Only permitting access to one side of your closet at a time is the biggest drawback to sliding doors. Keep in mind that fully mirrored sliding doors can also overwhelm a room.

Bi-Fold Doors

Enlarge Photo Photo courtesy of California Closets

Installed to fold back to one or both sides, bi-folding doors are a nice alternative to sliding doors because they give you access to the full width of your closet, and only take up half as much floor space as a swinging door. But bi-folding doors also use twice the number of moving parts as sliding doors and that means twice the opportunity for binding or falling off the tracks.

Alternative Doors

Enlarge Photo Photo courtesy of ClosetMaid

There are other options for closet doors. Get creative with your closet door options.

• Pocket doors are great for closets that are open most of the time.
• Use panels of fabric or curtains for a closet "door" to add color and texture to your room
• For a rustic-style home, a barn door that slides along a top track offers a nice design detail for the surrounding room.