Sliding dividers are an excellent solution for living spaces of any layout. They are extremely flexible in providing the level of privacy you wish for. Sliding doors and sliding partitions are almost the same thing; the main difference is that sliding doors are installed in a wide doorway.
Probably, sliding doors and partitions are the best option available today to divide any open-concept living space. Their only disadvantage is a high price.
Sliding doors
The sliding doors distinctive feature is the possibility of opening “into the wall” or parallel to the wall. The advantage of sliding doors is that they do not take up space in the room for opening the sashes. The area next to the wall can be used to place furniture. When the doors are pushed into the wall, the room looks open and spacious.
Sliding doors can be made of wood, plastic, metal or glass. The most often used material is specially processed glass. It is a very strong and resistant material, difficult to scratch or break. And you don’t have to worry about safety issues (look around – skyscrapers made of it).
Hanging sliding dividers
Ceiling-mounted sliding partitions are the most popular, which is not surprising. They look great and allow you to freely clean the room. Suspended sliding dividers are a perfect solution when it is impossible to drill into the floor. For example, the apartment has water-type heated floors and it is unknown at what depth and where exactly the tubes run, so the holes for attaching the lower rail to the floor cannot be drilled. A sliding suspension system on a heavy-duty aluminum profile with the rail attached to the ceiling was chosen. However, this type of sliding dividers has some disadvantages such as wobbling and making a light noise during opening and closing.
Ceiling-floor-attached sliding dividers
The floor-attached sliding dividers have the roller mechanism directly on the floor. This significantly complicates the cleaning process and is unsafe, because you can trip over and fall. But there are many benefits too. Firstly, a partition with such an attachment will be able to completely cover the entire opening and provide better sound insulation. Secondly, it will not stagger.
Frameless sliding dividers
Frameless sliding partitions are the latest trend in home interior design. They are usually made from frosted or clear glass. Sometimes coloured and stained glass is used, which gives the room a special chic. However, such partitions have a high weight and a large solid body, which cannot always be brought into the room.
Japanese sliding room dividers
There are two classic types of Japanese sliding room dividers – shoji and fusuma.
Shoji
Shoji are usually very simple and plain – just a wooden grid frame with white paper pasted onto it. It is a room divider used in traditional Japanese architecture, consisting of transparent sheets on a lattice frame. Fully traditional Japanese buildings may have only one large room with a few or no permanent interior walls. The interior is flexibly subdivided as needed by these removable sliding wall panels. Shoji are very lightweight, so they are easily slid aside, or taken off their tracks and stored in a closet, opening the room to other rooms or the outside.
Fusuma
Fusuma are also sliding rectangular paper panels, and often they are the same size as shoji. The major difference is that fusuma are made of thick, opaque paper that does not let the light through. Historically, fusuma were painted, often with scenes from nature such as mountains, forests, animals, autumn leaves, cherry blossom, trees, or geometric graphics.
Both fusuma and shoji run on wooden rails at the top and bottom.
Today, many types of advanced materials are used for Japanese sliding room dividers
There is no limit to your imagination and available options.
