apartment therapy changing the world, one room at a time

For bathrooms, visual privacy is only one issue; you also need to worry about some of those other senses, like sound and smell! If the frame around the door opening doesn't permit installation of a real door (and this should be something you could nag your landlord to do if renting, and a must-have if you own) there are also sliding door options (which do need wall space for the door to slide in front of) or the much less attractive folding doors.

If you really can't deal with any of these, a curtain panel in a heavy, sound dampening fabric (e.g., lined velvet) hung on a bar in front of the door is the only other option I can think of; a screen just ain't gonna cut it.

The bathroom has a phone... but no door! Priorities people!

It looks like they did a recent remodel. Did they just forget to put the door back on?

Is the wall on either side of the doorjam hollow to accomodate a pocket door? That'd be my solution if the hallway is too narrow to accomodate a door.

A panel of wood/ felt/ frosted glass on a rolling track would work too.

If you live alone you only really need a door for guests anyway.

if you want more than fabric, bifold doors are easy to install and pretty cheap, all you need is a few screws

but i agree -- your guests will definatley feel odd without a real door that closes/locks

This isn't really on the simple side but it's still a suggestion.

You could call a custom shower door company and have them come to your house. There are a lot of places like this. They have a van and all the hardware necessary for custom made shower doors.

See if they will turn your bathroom door opening into a frosted glass walk-in shower door. Then give the quote to your landlord.

Your landlord will either think you are crazy or will cover it. Or, better yet, he will sense your desperation and install a door himself.

Just curious, is this bathroom in the US? No biggie, just curious.

No I'm wondering if your place is a condo rented from an investor or individual rather than a landlord.

Yep, you may just have to throw some panel shades from Ikea up there.

From the photo it almost looks like you already do have a pocket door. Am I seeing that correctly?

I have the same situation and now I think it really is a problem. www.welterwall.de has a new solution that's like an inside-out pocket door. Don't know if they're installed in the usa or how much they are (probably $$$$), but I'm thinking there might a way to adapt that idea.

I think I see a pocket door too. I have one for my bathroom and people always think there's just no door.

I love the Welter Wall, AT highlighted it once before, I think. Along those lines, you could do a cheap version of the sliding track barn-door: install a long heavy duty rod or pole in the hallway above the door, buy a cheap hollow core door, then hang it from the rod (rollers on a track rod would work best, but I think that those rolling ball shower-curtain rings might work on the cheap)- you can slide it back and forth in front of the door when guests come, or just leave it open when you are along. (because it probably won't be the smothest moving piece) Just make sure to add handles in an accessible place on both sides! I have considering doing this with french doors that have frosted glass.

How about one of those sliding barn doors on industrial hardware rails? They don't have to fit into pockets in the wall, they can just be hung either on the inside or outside bathroom wall.

I'm not the original poster, but thanks for the tips. barndoorhardware.com - in El Segundo has choices, and modern stainless steel hardware too.

The famous Ikea has something like this also.

http://www.ikea.com/us/en/catalog/categories/range/10374/13289/

Click on "All Parts" on the top to see the rails and hardware (1 rail or 3).

A friend just got these for their living room and are actually kind of neat.

There was an Ikea hack that made the rounds on here where someone constructed a sliding room divider/wall out of frosted ikea wardrobe doors. It was a big hit on a variety of blogs. I can't really tell from the photo if the geography of the space allows for a similar solution.


http://ikeahacker.blogspot.com/2006/06/divide-and-conquer.html

What about a screen? Or an exterior sliding door. like an industrial steel sliding door?

Assuming the opening into the bathroom is a standard size, just go to Home Depot and get a door. Or nag your landlord to do it. An acceptable door and hardware should be well under $100.

I thought we were the only ones with that problem! We didn't even notice it until we moved in - I mean, who thinks to check on that kind of thing when you're choosing an apartment?! Our solution was a spring-mount shower rod and one of the thick Ikea linen curtains with the big grommets on the top. We have also, however, made greater use of the guest bath (which does have a door), to address the aforementioned odor and sound concerns.

I agree with Bruised -- we had a bedroom with no door, and we got a pre-hung hollow-core one from Home Depot for 60 bucks. The doorknob was extra, I think we spent 10 bucks on that. We wedged it into the space with shims and long nails, since we were renting and it needed to not be a permanent alteration to the apartment. Worked like a charm. If we weren't so lazy we might even have painted it :).

Isn't that against some sort of code???

I mean, you need a fan in the bathroom, not a door?

I'm seeing the no-door-to-the-bathroom thing more and more. Is this some new design thing to flummox the bourgeoisie?

Definitely seems like something the landlord should fix!

I briefly had no door in a bathroom in an old apartment becuase the landlord replaced the sink, and somehow didn't realize that the new one was too big to allow the door to close all the way, so removed it. I hung a curtain (I think with thumb tacks or something) and it was OK when it was just me, but when my parents came to visit I realized it was totally not OK. I made my landlord replace the door--they had to install it backwards so that it swung out into the hallway instead of into the bathroom, and it looked funny since that's not how the door frame was set up, but at least it closed.

a phone but no door - interesting. i would recommend scented candles and a limited social calendar.

Yeah, maybe the idea is that you're supposed to talk to your friends on the phone and not have them over! We have a similar issue coming up around our laundry room, thanks for all the tips! We went with the pocket door for our bathroom. It was pretty expensive and hard to install, though. I would stay away from it if you don't own. And if you're renting I would send a written letter to your landlord requesting a door. Written letters work like a charm with landlords. Good luck.

Maybe a shoji type door, or for ease of installation a Noren (those curtains hung in Japanese shop doors that have a split down the middle and you just walk right through.) Noren come in some lovely designs.

It's hard to tell from that photo, but it looks like there may already be a pocket door for that bathroom. Either that or they removed a conventional door and just never replaced it.