Sick Of Your Closet Doors? Try Replacing Them With A Fun, Budget-Friendly Alternative

Unfortunately, most closet doors are pretty boring — they are often neutral colors with simple panels and hardware. On top of being uninteresting, they are also bulky. Regular doors that swing out into the room require you to leave enough clearance space in front of the closet to accommodate the swinging path. Even folding and sliding doors can take up quite a bit of space. If you want alternatives to builder-grade closet doors, hanging a tapestry instead of a door might be the perfect solution for you.

Traditionally, tapestries are heavy, handwoven textiles featuring various patterns and designs and often used as wall hangings, although you'll also find lightweight, screen-printed fabrics listed as tapestries. A large enough tapestry can work as a gorgeous closet door alternative in your home. Not only will the handwoven texture and color bring vibrancy and interest to your wall, but it will take up less space than a typical closet door. Once your tapestry is mounted to the wall, you can simply hold it aside to access your closet, just like you would for a curtain or another piece of fabric. However, the fabric of a tapestry will be more substantial than covering a closet with curtains, macrame, or beaded curtains, giving you more privacy for your closet space. 

Before shopping for the right tapestry, measure your closet doorway. It is important to choose a tapestry that is big enough to cover the closet opening completely. If your door frame has trim around it, include it in the measurements. Covering the trim will give you a more polished, intentional look. When it comes to the length of the tapestry, decide how high you want to mount the fabric above the closet door to ensure the tapestry has enough length to reach the floor.

Determining your aesthetic can help you find tapestries that match your room's color scheme. When looking at patterns, imagine the tapestry in different orientations. A landscape tapestry that looks good when rotated vertically can be a surprise contender. You'll also need a curtain rod that coordinates with the tapestry and will hold its weight to use for hanging the fabric closet door. While there are other ways to hang tapestries, such as using Velcro strips, nails, or clips, a curtain rod gives you the best access to your closet space. It also makes it fairly easy to take down the tapestry for the maintenance it requires.

Once you have your tapestry, iron the fabric to start with a smooth, wrinkle-free closet cover. If the tapestry does not have a rod pocket, sew one onto the back with a piece of heavy-duty fabric. Then, install mounting brackets for the curtain rod. Typically, these rods will be between 0.5 and 0.75 inches in diameter. Then, slide the tapestry onto the curtain rod, and place the rod on the brackets.

While an inexpensive tapestry that isn't handwoven might survive the washing machine, if you bought a high-quality handwoven tapestry, you should know the right way to maintain your tapestry so it will always look stunning. Dust tends to accumulate more in fabric than on solid doors. You will need to use a handheld vacuum or wipe the fabric regularly to keep the dust under control. You might need to iron the fabric regularly as well. Additionally, since the tapestry will be frequently used rather than simply displayed on a wall, you are more likely to encounter stains and wear. These issues will require you to bring your tapestry to an experienced dry cleaner or textile professional for cleaning beyond dusting or vacuuming.

Even if you do your best to maintain your tapestry, it might fade over time or show signs of wear from frequent use. Placing your tapestry near a source of heat or in direct sunlight can contribute to fading and shrinking — if you use your tapestry as a closet door alternative, you can't control the location and whether or not it's near heat or sunlight. Before you buy the expensive tapestry of your dreams for this design, consider whether or not it is worth it based on your room's layout and how much upkeep you want to do on the fabric closet cover.