Barn doors have become one of the hottest trends in interior decorating, and their popularity shows no signs of slowing down. The trend isn’t limited to residential home design, either. You’ll also see them used in commercial spaces.
Accessible Doorways
One feature of sliding doors is that they easily comply with ADA standards for Accessible Design. ADA guidelines say sliding doors need to have a minimum clear width of 32 inches in the doorway and you need to provide maneuvering room for opening the doors. These regulations are much simpler than those governing swing doors. On top of that, it’s easier for someone with a wheelchair or walker to open a sliding door than to navigate around many types of swing-doors.
This makes barn doors an ideal choice for saving space and providing easy navigation in public locations that need to meet ADA standards, as well as in homes with residents who have limited mobility. Barn doors can provide larger openings (depending on the size you order), won’t swing shut on their own, and are easy to operate without running into the door or the surrounding woodwork.
Space Dividers
Tyler Stephens of Core10 Architects says, “I generally recommend to my clients that we use barn doors anywhere you want a large-scale opening – where you are going to leave it open the majority of the time.” This principle applies in a variety of spaces designed for gathering groups of people for work or other actives.
Churches, dance studios, and other locations may want a room design that offers a large space they can open up for gatherings with the option to divide the room for certain actives. Barn doors are a sturdy and attractive way to accomplish this.
Hotels and Restaurants
A traditional swing-door takes up about 9 square feet of floor space, while a sliding door only requires a few inches of floor space and enough room on the wall to mount barn door hardware. This is a huge asset in hotel room design, where space is at a premium. Barn doors’ popularity means there’s an added bonus of making hotel rooms using them look trendy and stylish.
Barn doors are also showing up more frequently in restaurant design. The large doors are seen as a statement decorating pieces, as well as a functional way to close off banquet rooms or the kitchen.
Office Settings
In office settings, sliding doors make it possible for rooms to be left open without having the door take up floor space or get accidentally shut. The doors are then easily closed when you need privacy. This works especially well for meeting rooms and private offices. Sliding doors that are chosen for office settings often have a more modern look than wood barn doors, but you could incorporate wood for a more earthy or industrial-style interior design.
Click here to check out our barn door collection and see which ones might work for your commercial space. We offer completely custom solid wood barn doors, with a discount if your order two or more doors. You get to choose the finished size and select from several different styles.
