Photo: Tria Giovan
Illustration: Duo Dickinson
Illustration: Duo Dickinson
Illustration: Duo Dickinson
Illustration: Duo Dickinson
Illustration: Duo Dickinson
Illustration: Duo Dickinson
Swing
There are essentially two types of closets: those you can walk into and those you can't. Reach-in closets pose the biggest challenges, not the least of which are the doors used to access them.
If there's room, a swinging door is the best option because it gives you full access to the inside of the closet. The downside is that you can't swing a door into a single-depth closet, and a standard outswinging door means nothing can be in its path.
Sliding
Your next best bet if space is too tight for a swinging door. But these bypassing slabs are prone to racking, binding, and even popping off their tracks — and you can only get at one half of the interior at any given moment. Swapping out the generic hardware for "HD," or heavy-duty hardware, limits the problems and is well worth the cost in the long run.
Bi-Fold
Because they afford access to the full width of the closet while gobbling up only half as much floor space as swing doors, bi-folds are tempting. Until you realize they've got twice the number of moving parts as sliding doors and twice the opportunity for binding or falling off their tracks.
Front Facing
Front-facing closets should have no more than 2 feet inaccessible at either end.
Walk-in
Whether it's walk-in or reach-in, a closet isn't much good if you can't get to what's inside it. A walk-in should be at least 6 ½ feet wide for easy access
