OT: 3 panel or 5 panel doors for baths and closets

14 years ago

We are remodeling the master bedroom and bathroom and a few closets along with our kitchen. I am having a hard time choosing a door style to use for the sliding doors for the closets and the pocket doors for the bath (the doors into all of the bedrooms are painted slabs, which we will likely switch out to match the new style later). Our house is a 1960 ranch and we are going "soft modern" with the kitchen (walnut flat panel cabinets and white quartzite counters).

The doors will be Shaker recessed panel with square sticking; I just can't decide between 3 panels and 5 because I like both looks. The doors will be MDF painted Dunn Edwards "Foggy Day" to match the trim. The trim has a 3-step profile like this (in a friend's house):

My daughter's closet will have 3 sliding doors on a triple track. The center door will be a shaker single lite with a mirror in the recessed panel and the 2 outer doors will be painted 3 or 5 panel doors. The 2 hall closets will be 3 painted doors on a triple track. The bathroom doors will be painted 3 or 5 panel doors, possibly with laminated or acid etched glass in the recessed panels.

Do you think 3 panel or 5 panel doors would look better given my house style and trim?

Modern Closet design by Other Metros Media And Blogs Adrienne DeRosa

Contemporary Kitchen design by Portland Architect Alan Mascord Design Associates Inc

Contemporary Bedroom design by Chicago Architect Searl Lamaster Howe Architects

Contemporary Closet design by Miami Interior Designer Fister Design

Featured Answer

User

14 years ago

Three panel. The 5 panel looks like a ladder.

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Comments (13)

springroz
14 years ago
I like the 3 panel. It gets a bit busy with all those panels.
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Buehl
14 years ago
Three-panel here as well!
breezygirl
14 years ago
The five panel reminds me of some of the old Victorians around here. Three is less busy. I went even less busy with two for the entire house. I love some of your three panel pics. (((sigh))) Oh well. Too late for me!
CEFreeman
14 years ago
I think with your style, 3 would be better.
If you weren't going for any kind of modern, 5 would be fine.

I have been collecting antique 5-panel doors. I love them.
But my style is so ridiculously [ahem] eclectic, I can do anything I want -- except modern! :)

Now, that said, where the heck did you find that beautiful, 3-step trim? Is it stock? I love it. I have no trim or molding at all because nothings screams "ah HA!"

That's leaning that way. It's calling my name.
beeps
14 years ago
Always one to be different - I love the look of the 5 panel. But maybe it's because I love contemporary so the second picture "had me at hello." Good thing about the 3 - fewer little horizontal ledges to dust! :)
kaysd
Original Author
14 years ago
It looks like the majority vote is for 3 panel. (Good point about the dusting, Beeps!) I saved a bunch of pictures of both options on Houzz because I like both. I feel like the 5 panel can lean either very traditional or more modern (or at least contemporary) like the 2 pictures above. The picture with the 5 panels of glass keeps drawing me in. I also like that the panels are clearly horizontal rectangles (like our windows) rather than squares. DH said he preferred the 5, but that if I want to go with the 3 for whatever reason, that is okay, just as long as I do not ask him about it again, lol!

Now that we have chosen the 3 step molding, it feels like the 5 panel doors might be too busy with that molding. The new molding is being installed today in 3 of the bedrooms, so I can't wait to see it when I get home. (We did minor work in 3 rooms while we are waiting for final plans and permits for the kitchen and master bedroom/bath reno.) I need to call the door guy today and place the order so we can have doors on the closets.

CEFreeman, we found the 3-step trim at a local place called Mission Mouldings (I also saw it at a door store.) The baseboards were a stock item but the door casings had to be ordered (it took 2 days to get them). I think they were around 70 cents per foot in primed MDF.
blackchamois
14 years ago
I like the 3 panel. Five seems too busy.
D Ahn
14 years ago
I like the 5 panel in a glass lite door. Is that an option or too expensive?
CEFreeman
14 years ago
Thanks for the info on the trim.

I figured out what makes these doors modern vs. Victorian or Mission, etc. It's the fact the panels are very square. The antique doors are rectangles.

Just in my head maybe?
gone_south
14 years ago
Three panel for the house you are describing.
kaysd
Original Author
14 years ago
We ordered the 3-panel doors. They will be coming in this week or next. I will post pictures of the doors and moldings after install.

We really like how the 3-step moldings look now that they are installed. I feared they might be a little busy, but there is just enough detail to be interesting. I love the combo of walls in Fossil and trim in Foggy Day. The contrast is subtle, but nice to have. I wasn't sure about using darker trim since I am so used to white trim, but my designer was right.
brianadarnell
14 years ago
I like the 3. I went with two and have not been sorry. I think less is more.