Louvered Doors for Your Interior and Exterior Spaces

Zak Architecture used pocket louvered doors to connect this master bathroom to the private patio. These exterior louvered doors slide into a recess into the wall when they are open. This removes any visual barrier between the interior and exterior space.
In this bathroom design from C. Kramer Interiors, the painted louvered cabinet helps to enhance the coastal vibe. Louvers work well on cabinets with clothes and toiletries so that they do not become too stuffy.
Louvered doors have a unique style and function that works well for all areas of the home. These doors have horizontal slats that overlap and attach to vertical stiles. There are both adjustable louvered doors and doors where the slats are fixed. On fixed doors, these slats are angled down but remain open at all times. 

Louvered Doors Styles

1. Bifold Doors

Louvered doors work well in different settings, but these doors have a unique style which means that they won’t work for every situation.

2. Hinged Doors

Louvered doors have a distinctive style that provides privacy while still allowing airflow and filtered light. These doors work well with some home styles like coastal, midcentury, and eclectic.

3. Pocket Door/Sliding Doors

Louvered Door Advantages and Disadvantages

Louvered doors have a distinct style that works well in particular contexts. We have gathered some of the best-louvered door images to help you visualize the way these doors could work for you.

Pros

• Ventilation – Louvered doors provide privacy but still keep the room fresh by allowing air to circulate from one area to the next. This is beneficial in most areas but works best for small rooms like closets with little air flow. Louvered doors for furnace rooms are also essential as your furnace needs proper airflow to function best.
• Light – The slats of both adjustable louvered doors and fixed doors allow light to filter through but still provide privacy.
• Appearance – Louvered doors have a more custom style than standard pre-hung doors. They work well with traditional, coastal, bohemian, and farmhouse style.

Cons

• Cleaning – Dust also builds up inside the slats and because the slats are close together, they are difficult to clean.
• Maintenance – The hardware for louver doors is more complex, so it breaks more often and is more difficult to fix.
• Appearance – The louvered door has a unique look that does not work for a variety of home decor styles.

Louvered Door Design Ideas

A hinged louvered door is hung with two or three vertical hinges on one side of the door. People use these as standard interior or exterior doors that open in one direction. Also, you can mount small louvered doors with pivot hinges so that the doors open and close in either direction.

Louvered Closet Doors

Louvered doors are a great look for this outdoor shower in this coastal home. This gives the shower privacy while still allowing air and sunlight to filter through.

Exterior Louvered Doors

For this small laundry room, Talianko Design Group used these bifold louver doors to save space and create ventilation. The louver doors work well with the plantation shutters used throughout the home.

Louvered Cabinet Doors

Standard bifold louvered doors are 24×80 inches, 30×80 inches, or 32×80 inches for a single door. Hinged doors, sliding doors, and pocket doors are 30×80 inches, 32×80 inches, or 36×80 inches.

Louvered Bifold Doors

Louvered doors have various benefits including increased ventilation between rooms and into smaller spaces, light-filtering capabilities, and distinctive style.

Louvered Shower Doors

Bifold doors are the most common interior louver doors. Most people use them as closet doors. These doors have two panels that are hinged together and slide on a fixed upper or lower track. They fold in a vertical direction when you pull them open. Bifold doors save square footage compared to standard doors because they do not swing wide to open. You can hang these as single or double doors.

Interior Louvered Doors

One of the best DIY ways to update louvered doors is to remove the horizontal slats and replace the slats with solid panels. If you need to keep some ventilation, you can add a cane insert or a punctured tin panel. A less time intensive way to update louver doors is to paint them. If you paint them the same color as the trim, the doors blend into the background. You can also paint these doors bright colors which updates their look.

Bright Colored Louvered Closet Door

Louvered front doors complement various home styles including the double louvered doors on this eclectic home in New Orleans. Louvered exterior doors also work well with coastal, midcentury, and traditional home designs.
Yellow Bungalow designed this masculine-style home office. They minimized the look of the louvered closet doors by painting them the same color as the walls.

Louvered Front Doors

There is specialized hardware if you are going to install hinged doors, pocket doors, or bifold doors. For hinged louver doors, determine which direction your door will open. Use a pivot hinge if you want your door to swing in both directions. Also, hinged doors can have a door knob if you want your door to open and close like a standard door. Bifold doors require hinges to attach each panel together as well as an upper or lower track. Pocket doors also require an upper or lower track to slide in and out of the wall recess.

Conclusion

Wooden louvered doors are popular door varieties because of their beauty and durability. It is also an expensive option. Pinewood is a common variety of wood that is more cost effective and lightweight. There are also PVC, metal, MDF, and composite varieties of louvered doors.

Louvered doors will not be right for every style and situation, but their unique qualities make them a worthwhile option to consider. 
Use them to create outdoor showers, entryway doors, cabinet facings, furnace room doors, or closet doors.