Pocket Door Small Bedroom Install: Cost, Steps & Hardware

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Installing a pocket door in a small bedroom was the only option once we looked at what that room could actually hold. The bedroom at the lake house only fits a bunk bed and a small nightstand, so there was no wall space for a regular door to swing without hitting the bed.

We had already run into this same space problem in that same rooms closet and solved it with bifold doors (DIY Bifold Closet Door Installation).

white solid core pocket door for small bedroom

But the bedroom door was a different issue. Even if we could have squeezed in the swing door clearance, we didn’t want to. The bunk bed and the bedding look genuinely cute from the living room, and a swinging door would’ve hidden half of it!

Aesthetics mattered here just as much as function. 😉

Building the Wall For The Pocket Door

This wasn’t a retrofit into an existing wall, although that is doable but a little tricky.

We built this one from scratch and when Jim framed out that wall during the renovation, he built it specifically to fit a sliding pocket door. This meant leaving enough clear wall cavity for the door to slide fully open and making sure no studs sat in the path.

If you’re working with a wall that already exists instead of building new, you will need to open up the wall and confirm there’s enough clear cavity and no studs or wires blocking the path before you commit.

Pocket Door Installation & Hardware

We went with a Masonite solid core 2-panel slab, paired with a pocket door rolling kit from Horner Millwork.

Below is a picture of the bedroom (to the right of the clock) that shows the pocket door closed.

white 2 panel pocket door closed small bedroom

Pocket doors come as a slab, not prehung like the doors we usually install (Why We Picked Prehung Solid Core Interior Doors).

A nice additional option is soft-close hardware, so the door doesn’t slam into the wall when someone opens it fast. The door slides shut slow and quiet! This was one oversight on my part, I didn’t order the soft close and if I had to do it again, we would go with soft close!

The install of the hardware is super easy.

First, install the door track inside the wall where the door will slide.

pocket door hardware track attached to top of door frame

You can see below, Jim installed the pocket door hardware on the top of the door slab as well.

installing pocket door hardware to the top of the door slab

Then attach the door slab to the installed track in the wall.

adjusting pocket door hardware on the top of the door slab

It really is a simple process!

tightening pocket door hardware on the top of the door slab

You can see the track up inside the top of the door frame and the screws are what attach to the door hardware.

pocket door hardware on the top of the door slab

Total cost for the door and kit came in under $400. You can find the hardware kit at your local hardware store, no special order needed.

Why We Keep Using Pocket Doors in Small Rooms

This lake house bedroom isn’t the only place we’ve used one. We’ve also installed pocket doors in the bathroom at that same lake house, the office at our RI waterfront Airbnb, and a bathroom at the RI house.

bathroom black pocket door — bathroom pocket door at our Airbnb in RI

Every one of those rooms has the same problem. They’re either small, or there’s a piece of furniture a swinging door would slam right into. In this case above, the bathroom vanity! Pocket doors require a flat pocket door pull.

Matte black flat pull for pocket door from Amazon

A standard knob would not allow the door to slide into the wall.

That office at the RI Airbnb actually got us a funny message a couple months ago.

A guest asked if there was a door to the office as they couldn’t find one. The pocket door was tucked so completely into the wall they didn’t realize it was there.

Kind of funny, and we think they felt a little silly once they figured it out. But it’s proof the door works exactly the way it’s supposed to: out of sight, out of the way!