It would be less work, and look just as nice if you used bi fold doors, and kept the 44 inch opening. Its nice to be able to open a closet wide, rather than just have a regular sized door opening.

I am assuming the 44" opening is cased with drywall. It is not a problem to leave drywall behind a framed infill or something. However, keep in mind:

- On the outside flush face, you will have to remove at least the cornerbead and if you leave the drywall jambs you may have to cut back the jamb face if it sticks out to interfere with the new sheet butting flush in the same plane (strike side of door).

- On the head, the drywall should probably be removed. A door is rough framed at about 82 1/2" high, but you don't know what they framed it at. So they might have dropped the drywall casing down to match a height of an adjacent door frame head, and you need the whole 82 1/2" for a new door.

- On the inside of the closet, I suppose using 2x4 instead of 2x6 saves you from ripping a jamb extension. Leave the cornerbead or remove it, just depends on what's there, how it's finished, and how much drywall you plan on removing.

- It sounds like you are new at DIY, it might be good to try out the drywall installation and finishing yourself. The rough-in frame will be 32" wide, so that leaves a 12" wide piece of drywall on the front and back to fill in. That is not a lot to hire a drywall + finisher to do for you, and a handyman probably has no more skill than you in finishing. So use it as learning. The hardest part for you I bet will probably be getting a sheet of drywall home.