For many bedroom and closet spaces, hinged wardrobe doors are a better option than sliding doors for a variety of reasons. Any room with wood floors, especially antique wood floors, will benefit from hinged doors because unlike sliding doors, tracks do not need to be affixed to the floor to allow the doors to function. Tracks can cause scratches and other damage to a floor, while hinged wardrobe doors are affixed to a door frame. Hinged doors also allow for access to the entire wardrobe space at once, unlike sliding doors, which will conceal half of the wardrobe space at any given time.
One of the more important benefits of hinged wardrobe doors over sliding doors is the lack of a track. Tracks can damage floors, and they can also be a tripping hazard when someone tries to access an item deep inside the wardrobe. Sliding doors that are installed improperly or are quite old have a tendency to slide off the track or become stuck in a certain position, while hinged doors avoid such problems entirely by employing a simpler design with less hardware and therefore fewer parts that can fail.
Access is perhaps the most important advantage of hinged wardrobe doors. Sliding doors block one half of the available access to the wardrobe in most cases, while hinged doors can be swung open to reveal the entire wardrobe. This allows for easier storage of larger, bulkier items, and it increases available light inside the wardrobe without having to install an electric light inside. More access allows for easier organization of the wardrobe space as well, and if drawers are present inside the wardrobe space, they will be easier to open fully to access the contents therein.
Aesthetic appearance is another advantage of hinged wardrobe doors. These doors can be affixed with hidden hinges, and the handles for opening and closing the doors can be customized or eliminated entirely; some doors feature hand slots rather than knobs, thereby providing a smoother, cleaner aesthetic in the room itself. The biggest drawback, however, of hinged wardrobe doors is the amount of space the doors will take up in the room when opened. Unlike sliding doors, which stay flush with the face of the wardrobe, hinged doors swing outward, meaning more space will be necessary in front of the wardrobe to safely open and close the doors. They can obstruct a clear walking path in some cases as well.
