Change the swing of the doors to open into the hall or living room. Barn doors offer no sound privacy.

Haaaa I cannot believe my mind didnt even go there 🤣 Thank you for that advice!

Given where doors rest inside the rooms, I can’t see that you’ll gain useable space for furniture. Instead, be conscious of your furniture choices (do you need a king?). If you provide measurements and structural components in a floor plan, as well as your needs, you’ll receive helpful advice.

For instance, where the beds are located now, the door has no influence, so base on the length of wall, is one nightstand enough, could closet organization eliminate the need for a dresser, etc.

I’d test different layouts first, as none of your door options seem ideal, in order to gain 30 inches on one wall.

Hi Maureen - yes, the obvious is deal with the furniture and make adjustments based on door. But I am seeking creative solutions IF there are any that can be given. Of course, if there are no good aesthetic suggestions, then we will have to make do with adjusting furniture decisions. I am aware of this.

Take the twin bed room - the way it is placed, covers one of the windows. Yes, the bed can be swapped and no issues with door, however no night stand can fit at all either.

Take the other 'sunset' queen bed room. No proper nightstands can fit at all (they had a very small narrow one, but it is pressed up against the bed), and bed is also covering the window. Plan is to switch head of bed to the other side of the room.

Yes, if you can flip the door swing the other direction, go for it. Is this a second home? If so, then some considerations when choosing furnishings:

--Keep furnishings comfortable but small scale, preferably up on legs to add a sense of airiness in tight rooms.

--Get beds with underbed drawers for extra pillows, blankets, towels, etc. A small sofa cabinet underneath TV will give you room for remotes, video games, board games, etc. at your beach house. Every piece of furniture should do double duty. Have easy to clean upholstered kitchen/dining chairs that can be used in living room when you have a lot of guests.

--At entryway where that chair is, get a wide but slim console cabinet or bench with drawers for cabinet or stuff. Put some nice woven totle with handles below for beach bags, place for flip flops, towels, etc.

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--If you're planning on weekend guest or renters,, have bedroom hooks across the wall, maybe with a bench below for luggage and small dressers to use as nightstands and don't have big dressers.

--In kitchen, have some open shelves for attractive, but sturdy dishes, mugs, glasses that are in heavy rotation. Works great for guests/rents to help themselves. Open shelves eliminate open and shutting cabinet doors in small spaces, if that's what you have.

Folks - thanks for all the furniture suggestions throughout the house, but if you could just, please comment on any ideas for the BEDROOM DOORS that would be great.

Again, all this furniture in these pictures were sold as is. None of it we are using. We are starting with a clean slate. We already have a pretty good idea of what we are doing to conserve space all over.

Just would really appreciate BEDROOM DOOR space saving ideas if you have any. Please and thanks.

While it seems like a good idea to change the swing, I din’t think it would be a good idea due to the placement unless you intend to always those door closed.

Not ideal, but a bifold could work.

I would look into furniture options. If you want a king bed, put it in the larger room. There are various build around headboards with built-in space.

Hi Eld - this is what I am reading too....it's not that simple. Plus the doors would ALWAYS have to be closed. A bit odd...

The bifold barn idea. As I stated in my original post, always see very cute photos for pantries, bathrooms, closets, but not bedroom doors. Not sure if this would be good or a bad idea to do? Ideally, I would love to just place traditional barn doors in both rooms, from inside. But the other room; not sure if there will be space.

Here are some barndoor bifold ideas I was looking at which seemed like it was placed for a bedroom or room and not just pantry/closet/bathroom to give an idea of what we were thinking and whether this look could be pulled off?

Someone commented on 'privacy' that barn doors would not give compared to traditional door. As this is a beach house, and a small space, the only 'privacy' we are seeking is a door to close for one to sleep/change in. Sounds? Highly doubt a door would prevent that in such a small space :)

I once had a small bedroom door re-hung to swing outward, fortunately into a small hallway at right angles to the main hall. Worked perfectly. It was a bit tricky for the door person to rehang the door, but you might want to consider pre-hung options.

In our second home now, there is a powder room that opens into the living area. Because the powder room is so small, the door must open into the living area. And because it is a powder room in the living area, we keep the door closed or slightly ajar.

I think in your beach house, it might be advantageous to keep the doors closed or slightly ajar, what with suitcases and other stuff taking up some room, and the informal living within (?).

If the style of your house is consistent, the bifold barn doors seem to be a good option. In such a small living area I would try to get hardware the same color as the walls, and an uncomplicated door style.

Thank you Andee.

Seems like many votes coming in to have the door just swing out as the easiest option....

Just seems like the bifold barn door idea can be done but just not as common as a bedroom door option....but just b/c it is not common does not mean it can't be done. In virtually every article I read about how to deal with small space bedroom doors, barn door, foldable doors repeatedly come up as ideas. Just hard to find actual pictures of people doing this!

Reply to Eld - yes, actually we will be flipping the rooms. The current room with the bunk bed is the bigger room; the room next to it is the smaller room.

King can easily fit in the bunk bed room. If door became a barn door type, can easily fit king and two night stands. Queen fits in the other room, but would switch head of bed to the opposite wall so that it wouldn't block the window. You would have more space for one night stand, but cannot put a 2nd night stand.

Here's antryway setup that would work in a beach house--back of well proportioned sectional, up on legs, forms an entryway where everyone can hang stuff, put things down--similar layout to yours. That shallow dresser could be used for extra storage for nearby bedroom. Before you buy anything, though, measure, measure, measure. A small living area like that shouldn't be an obstacle course. Check out "apartment size" furniture.

Bedroom doors typically do swing into bedrooms. Every bedroom in every house I have ever lived has been this way. The only other alternative I personally would consider is a new high quality pocket door. I'd still rather have a regular swing door, but new pocket doors can be quite nice and would be better in terms of saving wall space than a barn door which will take up wall space as well.

We had a lake cabin with tiny bedrooms - in fact, we took out a closet to make room for a twin-over-double bunk as shown in one of your photos. In all 3 bedrooms, the doors did not open all the way - they bumped into the beds - but they opened enough to be usable. Because the cabin was old, rustic, and only used in the summer, we lived with this quaint little quirk for over 40 years.

You don’t need bedside tables. Hang sconces on either side of your beds to serve as reading lights. Downsize the bunk you install into a twin over a twin. And, again, place sconces centered on each headboard for each person to control. Minimize the amount of furniture required in each room. Keep the door swings as they are. No bi folds or barn doors.

If a bi-fold door will allow for better sleeping arrangement for your family, go for it.

Once you worked on layout and if needed, try the doors swinging out, but given their location, I can’t see that being viable.

If replacing, personally I’d choose streamlined french doors with nice hardware (and they can swing into the bedroom if you wish) over using a barn door bi-fold.

I was going to suggest changing the swing, bifold doors or accordian doors, but they've all been noted. My only other out of the box idea would be to hang a curtain instead of a door.