What people want from their homes alters over time as trends change. Also, as families grow priorities change which results in rooms being used in different ways. The need for space and light are often high on people’s list of needs and desires. Here, we discuss what people want from their homes, the problems they may face, and some possible solutions.

NATURAL LIGHT:

We want natural light in our home. Natural daylight is always better than artificial light as there are a number of health and wellbeing benefits such as increased focus, better productivity, reduced blood pressure and reduced stress.

PROBLEM: 

Walls and doors, block the flow of light. It’s not always possible or practical to install skylights. Even if you are able to install extra windows, they may not allow in the light that you want at the right times. People tend to think of light from the South as being the best, the warmest and the brightest, but light takes on different forms throughout the day. Light coming from the East, at sunrise is a blue, cooler light, whereas light from the North is an indirect light, that is a flat, clear light, which is great for kitchens, and we all know that when the sun sets in the West in the evening that it produces a red, warmer light.

SOLUTION:

In order to make your home lighter and brighter you want to increase the levels of natural light rather than artificial light. To achieve this, you can choose fully tempered frameless glass doors to allow extra light into rooms. And because pocket doors between rooms create a better flow throughout the home it also allows light to flow from one room to another.

It’s possible to take this design concept a step further by oversizing your doors, in either height or width. You can create a grand opening with a floor to ceiling door. You could even opt for a telescopic door that would create an expansive passageway opening up to 4700mm wide.

If you have extended to add an extra bathroom or an ensuite, once again a pocket door would be the perfect solution to allow more natural light into the room without the need to add a skylight. Elsewhere a glass door between rooms such as a lounge and a dining room would make both rooms feel brighter. You can read our extended blog on using oversized doors to create an illusion of spaciousness to find out more about how this can be achieved.

SPACE: 

We want to extend. We need more space.

PROBLEM:

It is very common for people to want to extend. But what are you going to do with the space? How will it affect the flow of the home? How will it affect the way light enters the home? Will you be able to put windows into any extension, what if planning permission does not allow it?

An extension is by definition an afterthought. Most commonly they are a square or rectangular extension at the rear of the property. The footprint of the property has been changed and this affects the flow of home.

SOLUTION:

A large telescopic pocket door from the original main part of the house into the extension might be a great way to overcome this problem. And a fully tempered frameless glass pocket door would allow natural light to flow between the rooms.

DIVIDING SPACES: 

We want somewhere for the kids to play. We want them to have their own space. But we want to be able to watch over them.

PROBLEM:

We don’t want it to be detached from the other rooms in the house. We want to be able to keep an eye on them while they play. And to be able to interact.

SOLUTION:

A pocket door offers a level of delineation between rooms but is a less permanent barrier than a hinged door. A double pocket door can be opened for a wider passageway and a larger aperture through which to keep an eye on the kids, and it can be closed off at the end of the day to keep clutter, mess and toys hidden away from sight.

FLEXIBLE LIVING: 

We want our home to be open plan.

PROBLEM:

Open plan living is great in principle, but less workable in practice. In real life, big open spaces don’t work as well as you might expect and are harder to heat in the winter.

SOLUTION:

Open plan areas of the home, but with zoning, using pocket doors.

The best part is that pocket door systems aren’t expensive. Just because something works really well and looks fantastic, it doesn’t mean that is has to be expensive. ECLISSE pocket doors can be incorporated into any home and they will open up a world of possibilities that you never previously knew existed.