A Simple Poll — Should I Keep This And Widen It, Or Eliminate It Altogether?
Yesterday, I thought I had a plan. I mean, I still do have a plan, but I’m still waffling back and forth over this one detail. My contractor is literally headed to my house right now. He’ll be here any minute, and I’m still undecided on this detail. Do I just widen the door to our bedroom and leave the cased opening? Or do I eliminate the doorway altogether and make the current hallway and bedroom all one, open, continuous area?
If you’re confused about these details, you can refer back to my post yesterday. But if you’re up to speed on the two options, what would you do?
I had planned to move full steam ahead on removing the doorway altogether and making the two areas one continuous space, but then someone sent me this Instagram reel yesterday afternoon, and I couldn’t believe how similar this was to what I’m wanting to do in our home.
If that embedded reel isn’t showing up, you can see it here on Instagram. And if you’re at work and not able to access social media, I got you. 😀 Here’s a screenshot from the reel. It’s not great, but it’s the best one I could capture that shows the layout. The double doors open up to a small hallway/vestibule/anteroom area, and off of that are the bedroom to the right, the bathroom straight ahead, and the bedroom-turned-closet to the left.
I was so excited to see that!! It’s one thing to have an idea in your mind and be pretty sure it will work out, but it’s altogether different (and affirming) to see a real-life version of your idea and KNOW that it will work out great! Of course, the arrangement of those rooms is a little different from ours. In that example, all three separate areas — bedroom, bathroom, and closet — are accessible from that little hallway behind the double doors.
That would be like us turning our hallway bathroom into our master bathroom. But obviously, that’s not our plan. Our plan is a little different since we’ve already turned one bedroom into a master bathroom, and that newer, bigger bathroom is accessible only from the bedroom. And then we’ll eventually be closing up the doorway into the hallway bathroom.
So while the example in the Instagram reel is very similar to what we’re planning, it’s not identical. Where they have all three doorways accessible from the little anteroom, we’ll just have two. The first thing that struck me about that example was that I really liked the look of all three doors being actual doors in that example (it’s not the doors but the uniform trim that I like, which could also happen with cased openings), but they have that balance of the three doors on three separate walls that really benefits from the three identically trimmed out doorways.
But seeing that did make me wonder. Does that translate to our situation? Or does it not translate since ours would just be two doorways off of the anteroom, and the two doorways we’d have aren’t balanced from the perspective of the French doors at all. In other words, if I leave both doorways trimmed out (i.e., leave the closet with an actual door, but the bedroom with a cased opening, and have both trimmed out the same way as they are now), both doorways are over to the left side on perpendicular walls from each other, and nothing is balanced with the French doors. And the bathroom doors on the right wall will eventually be gone, and I’ll just have a solid wall.
After seeing that reel, I started questioning my plan to eliminate the bedroom doorway altogether and make the two areas (the bedroom and hallway/anteroom) one continuous area. But the more I thought about it, the more I started to think that the reason I loved the example in the reel so much WITH the trimmed out doorways is because of the balance, but we’re not going to have that. So while very similar, our situations are actually quite different as well. Right?
I know some will say I’m overthinking this, but y’all should be used to me overthinking things by now. It’s what I do. 😀 And I want your opinion. What would you do in our situation? Would you widen the doorway to the bedroom as much as possible while keeping the cased opening, which would add an additional five inches to the width of the doorway? Or would you eliminate the doorway/cased opening altogether and make the hallway/anteroom and the bedroom all one continuous area with no doorway separation at all, which would give us an additional 12 inches of width in that passthrough area? To be clear, either one of those options works for Matt. Anything 36 inches wide or wider makes things easier for him, and adding five inches would put that doorway width at 37 inches wide. And just as I wrote that last question, I see my contractor pulling up in front of my house. 😀 (Update: The doorway isn’t load-bearing, so it can be taken out quite easily.)
So the options are (1) widen the doorway five inches and keep the separation with a cased opening, or (2) remove the separation altogether, adding 12 inches of width, and make the two areas one continuous area with no separation.
Addicted 2 Decorating is where I share my DIY and decorating journey as I remodel and decorate the 1948 fixer upper that my husband, Matt, and I bought in 2013. Matt has M.S. and is unable to do physical work, so I do the majority of the work on the house by myself. You can learn more about me here.
Yes, I’d still widen it if it was me, you can aleays do something for balance in the dead corner after closing the door to the hall bathroom: a reading corner, a chest of drawers, a wardrobe, something to replicate the case opening for symmetry. There’s the huge benefit of accessability for Matt.
Do you mean widen it, as in, take it out completely and widen it 12 more inches?
Yes, 12 inches larger. If it’s not symmetrical with the future closet’s door then let it be completely different.
Cased opening.
If it were me, I would get rid of both doors (bedroom and closet). If this is really all the master suite, it doesn’t make sense to have all these doors. Just have the one french door going to the music room.
I did think of that, but most closets have doors on them.
I would leave the closet door for noise dampening from the laundry. I don’t know about everybody else, but sometimes the machines can get a little loud. 🙂
Since you know you are overthinking, get the facts from your contractor and then start to think of all the possibilities. The amount of doors does not matter at this point, it is what is the best for you and Matt. Then ask for us to chip in, which I will not be doing, as you know your home better than I. I just know I will keep following you as you delve into whatever you decide to do, take apart, redo and then start over once again. Thank you for your ability to let us feel your frustration, elation when a room is finished (for the present time) and your journey to keep on going no matter what!
Personally, I would like the look of option one, with the wider cased opening. It would create a sense of an entrance and purpose to each area.
This!!!!
Make the bedroom and hallway one, you and your husband are the only one using it. You’re welcome ☺️
Widen the one doorway where the old cabinet will be removed, for sure, and reduce the number of actual doors where they are only for visual appeal and not flow-through.
1. Ask your mother.
2. I prefer the doors, but do you have the space?
My mom in out-of-state on vacation this week. Doesn’t she know I need her?! 😀
If I keep the actual door, then it has to stay the current 32 inches wide. If I remove the door and keep the cased opening, I can widen it to 37 inches, which is actually the standard minimum width when considering wheelchair users.
Go for the wide opening – not cased. Function has the priority here and you may reasonably expect the possibility of a big power wheelchair or even hospital bed moving through the area. You can use design tricks to balance out the lack of built symmetry with paint, large scale art, furniture placement etc.
This! My opinion as well, for what it’s worth.
And I would add I cannot believe how invested I am in your home, your processes, and your life as you reveal it!
Thank you. 😊
Of course you’re invested! Y’all are my team! What would I do without all of your input? 😀
I concur with Lynne. Future possible needs as well as making it easier for Matt now will make things easier and we all need easier in our lives.
…what she said!…👆🏼😉
I was going with option #1, but you made a couple of good points so I’ve changed my mind.
Agree-future comfort and ease seems like a priority.
I vote widen it, remove the door, and change the door to the closet to be a window paned so that it doesn’t feel as heavy and possibly you get some balance back in the hallway.
I love the idea of swapping out the closet door!!! And I just so happen to have an extra paned door!
Love this idea!
Great idea!
I would remove the cased opening for the door to the bedroom to gain the space. You’ve already created the entry to the bedroom space with the french doors, leaving the cased doorway just makes it look like you took the door out instead of intentionally creating a short hallway to the bedroom. I’m in agreement with the other comment about using the dead corner space once the hall bath door is removed.
An addtional thought about the closet/laundry. While I wholeheartedly agree that a door is needed, is it possible to put in the pocket door instead of a swing door? That way the swing of the door doesn’t block anything.
Both of those doors are already pocket doors, so I’m all set! 😀 I’ve been putting in pocket doors in as many areas as I can for just the reason you mentioned. I love a pocket door!
Widen and case. Also, overthinking is underrated 😀
I wholeheartedly agree. Overthinking is the way to go. 😀 It keeps my mind busy and healthy, or at least that’s what I tell myself.
There’s a 7 inch difference between the two options, does the cased opening have to be 3.5″ thick on either side? Is there some “best of both worlds” possibility where the bedroom side framing on the actual door-hole itself is only a thin trim board against the wall, and instead you build it outwards on the hallway side to look like it’s as thick as the other doorways? I hope that made sense haha. Not building an actual cased opening but framing it on the hallway side as if it were… and still dropping the ceiling too.
This is my question also.
It does make sense, and I’m trying to envision it. I’m going to have to give that some thought.
Check out https://www.instagram.com/westonwillow_/p/C_vITE7pTH6/?img_index=11
Amber is adding an arch to her hallway without adding much bulk to the walls. Might be a good remedy or help you visualize a solution.
Oh my gosh, this is IT!!! I don’t think I want an arch, but this is making the wheels turn in my head, and I think this will be the jumping off point for me! THANK YOU!!!!
Woooowwww that’s so beautiful! Truly the perfect way to go
I like the cased opening. It’s just more interesting.
For whatever it’s worth, I live in the Phoenix suburbs, and here it is quite common to have a double door into the master suite, then a closet door off to one side of a narrower entrance area that then widens into the full bedroom with a bathroom off of that. So it would not seem odd here to eliminate the door into the bedroom altogether. It would be practical for Matt and aging in place (things I’ve recently started to think about for me), and gives an open, airier feel to the suite. I think you could easily “balance” the end result with decor/small furnishings/artwork, etc. which would also make the layout look purposeful, instead of just practical.
If you are planning on making the french door glass opaque or more translucent I would widen the bedroom doorway and leave as a cased opening. I am sure you can find or build something to put on the wall to the right for some symmetry 🙂
A little late, but you wanted more room for Matt to maneuver.
Design-wise, you can’t go wrong. I would make this decision based on Matt and function.
Take it down! Less doorways, more open – Easier for Matt too. Bigger more open space and less cluttered.
I am on the “function priority” team as well as thinking about possible future needs based on changes in your circumstances. I assume those changes are inevitable.
Open it up for Matt’s benefit and once it is done, then later tap into your creativity to visually balance what you think you need to. Nobody will be in that space but you two.
What did the contractor advise?
He didn’t advise me to go one way or the other, but he did tell me that it’s not load-bearing, so it could be taken out easily. He also told me that the scuttle holes for the attic and the crawl space can be put in the corner of the hallway where the cabinet currently sits, so that means no scuttle holes in our bedroom. Yay!
What about moving the electrical box any info on that
For now, the plan is to keep it there and disguise it. Maybe in the future, I can put it on the hallway wall when we close up the bathroom door.
So the only downside I can see to removing the door is needing to then redecorate the “hallway” space … But you’re going to need to do that anyway when you pull out the door for the bathroom, so I think that’s a moot point. Especially since you enjoy the decorating and aren’t bothered by redoing something when needed. Removing the door would make it that much easier for Matt to navigate, and that’s a huge win in my book. (Even if you left the door it’d probably be open most of the time. 🤷♀️)
You mentioned removing the hall “closet” … Where are you planning to relocate your box?
Where will his hoyer lift be stored in the latest iteration?
Happy planning 😁
Do you mean Felicity’s litter box? Since she spends so much time in my studio, I’m planning on carving out a space in there for it. I’ll either find a way to disguise it in the studio, or I’ll put it in the storage closet and put the cat-shaped entrance hole through the wall by my desk into that closet. I had thought of putting the cat-shaped entrance hole on the closet door, but since that’s a pocket door, it would add too much thickness for the door to open into its pocket.
I’m still not sure about the Hoyer lift and shower wheelchair. Eventually, I’ll carve out space for those things in our home gym, but we won’t have that until we do the addition. In the meantime, I guess I’ll just be shoving them out of the way and tripping over them like I have been. 😒 I don’t love it, but I’m kind of used to it by now.
When we remolded our kitchen, we made our pantry a cased opening rather than a door. I love that there is a cased opening there. It creates the visual separation into a new area while still allowing it to be open.
All of that to say that I must be team cased opening (but wider for the wheelchair).
Widen the opening only .
Double doors to bedroom
I say cased. It’s easier for you to decorate two divided spaces and it gives a clear start/stop. The more you’ve worked to have large individual spaces play nice the more complication indecision there is.
I would reach that decision with the question in mind what is the best solution for Matt’s movements. I see advantages in both options and because Matt moving in a wheelchair is the main reason for you to go change something I would decide on the optimum for him.
I would widen the extra width. If you go the 5″ that will give you right at 36″ opening with a door there. I am not crazy about a bedroom without a door. All my doors are 36″ or 72″ to make sure a power chair can get through them. I suspect you will be better served with a door there. RE: the blank wall. Make a very large piece of art work like a quilt or whatever floats your boat. Make sure it is something that will make you happy every time you look at it. Even a small mural wallpaper piece would help balance the other 2 doors, particularly if you trimmed it with a frame.
Or build a cabinet similar to the one in the master bath for either storage or to highlight a collection. Or build in a storage cabinet for cleaning supply storage so your closet/laundry are not overflowing with extras. ? reuse the cabinet you’re removing from the other room???
I might be late, but I think the benefits of the extra space in the door way make it worth it. All 12 inches. It won’t be symmetrical anyway when you remove the bathroom door later, and it might look more off balance having the two trimmed doors on one side.
Having had a husband in a wheelchair and knowing how much trouble it was for him to go through doorways (not just for him but the damage he would do to doors and the trim, he always felt so awful when he’d hit it) I say the wider the better! Even if you change your mind and decide that you want to put the door back in later it’s way easier than trying to take it out and match wood flooring to make it wider down the road.
Since balance doesn’t bother me I could go either way.
For the Instagram, I don’t like all those doors in the bedroom suite.
Add 12 inches and remove the cased opening.
I don’t quite understand what you are talking about. I’d make it the way I want to make it if it were my house. That is what you will do anyway, do what you want to do.
Option 2, then make that area a little sitting/reading room.
12 inches, yes. If you do 5 inches it only gives a couple inches extra for Matt. Making things best for him, always wins.
I like the idea of double glass paned doors from your sitting room into the anteroom, I like the idea of a glass paned door on your proposed closet, and, if you can, widen the doorway into your bedroom somewhat but use a pocket door there also in case you might want more privacy in your bedroom at some point. I love the table with your chapel picture facing the sitting room as it is now, and I also like the idea of perhaps repurposing the storage cabinet in hall there now against the area to be closed off from the bathroom. My thoughts!
Whatever makes it easiest for Matt to navigate room to room.
And make sure the opening to the bedroom will accommodate a stretcher, in case of emergencies. Turning corners with emergency personnel and equipment can be dicey (as me how I know).
Widen it all the way.
If you decide later you want it cased, it would be super easy for you to add that. It would be a pain to do the opposite – decide you do want the extra 7 inches – if the floor isn’t finished underneath.
I would remove the cased doorway so you can see the beautiful bedroom you want to create better. I love open spaces. Have you thought of creating a coffee bar where the old bathroom door is currently? I envision a wall of built-ins on that wall that you would walk by as you enter your bedroom.
What caught my eye was the wall of art with a reading chair where you are stuck on the electric cabinet. I love that look and can see you creating new things for the wall.
I would at most remove the bedroom door for space and leave the rest. You don’t talk about removing the closet door.
Widen the doorway as,much as possible. Use a pocket door if a door is needed. W the cabinet & guest bath door removed, you have a perfect reading nook area + lots of space for Matt to manuver. Use the planned laundry room reading nook for the hoyer lift storage.
Widen to 12 inches and do the decorative “casing” from the Instagram post that someone posted in the comments to mark the entrance. A typical casing will look like the door is just missing, and I think the more space the better to get into the room.
Okay, I’m a Johnny-come-lately to the poll but think you could get rid of the doorway, sort of. Have you considered putting in a jib door at the opening? The reason is that if you are up but Matt’s still in bed, you can still shut the bedroom door and use the closet/utility room without disturbing him as much. Just a thought.
Let me correct myself, I mean an embrasure door you could pocket into the bathroom wall, not a jib door. Apologies for any confusion.
Widen the door as much as possible. If you turn this hallway into more of an anteroom to the bedroom with a library/reading nook it would be lovely for the grasscloth wallpaper to flow from your room into this space – meeting up with bookshelves and whatever else you include. You could have so much fun decorating it to coordinate with the bedroom! I don’t think casing is necessary in this instance, but as others have said, you could always add some demarcating woodwork if you later feel it is lacking. As for privacy, the bedroom already has a little hallway which gives the feeling that it is set apart from the entry space/anteroom.
For Matt’s sake, widen the door. You can always come up with something decorative to balance the symmetry. Question: In the video tour of the Instagram bedroom, I noticed that the curtains on either side of the bed seem to make a deep closet on either side. More storage space?
I was curious about that, too, so I dug a little deeper into his Instagram account and found that those are the original bedroom closets flanking the bed. They’re actual closets, not anything like IKEA wardrobes. They have actual 2 x 4 framing, drywall, and a door. He wanted to keep them for the additional storage, presumably storage for items they don’t need quick and easy access to on a regular basis, but he added the curtains to soften the look.
I had the same question – thanks for the details!
Could you trim out the corner without adding a cased opening? I keep thinking about something like this to give you the separation between the grasscloth wall treatment and whatever you want to do in the anteroom. In my mind it could be thinner than the cased opening giving you back a couple inches, but still creating the separation you’re looking for. https://www.pinterest.com/pin/71987294030867772/
1) 37” cased opening, to define space
I’d remove it all together, but I’d want solid doors into my bedroom vestibule.
I know I’m late to the party, I would widen the doorway to accommodate Matt and his wheelchair, but I would keep a door. Doors provide protection from fires and an help you regulate room temp, especially with Matt being so sensitive to temps. God forbid you lose power, you can still keep that room warm with a small space heater.
I would also just widen that doorway to the bedroom (remove it) and bring the opening up to the ceiling. It directs your visual path to the main room (bedroom).