Opinions Please

[Steven Hockstein]

An informal poll:

What do you think about placing a door between the kitchen and the dining room?

[Richard Moore]

We used to have a single cafe door (one that swings both ways) between our kitchen and dining room. While that was handy if you had your hands full, we still found it unnecessary. I think it depends more on the view into the kitchen rather than a need to physically separate them. I guess you would call our dining room semi-formal. After our kitchen remodel, the view from the dining room is partially the side of (nice) floor to ceiling cherry cabinets and partially through the kitchen to the view at the back of the house. Had the door been in a different place and the potentially messy prep areas been readily viewable, the swinging door would probably still be there. We do like it gone as far as traffic goes. The dog also very much prefers it this way. So, my answer would be..."Depends, too many variables, whatever the wife wants."

[kurt]

Maybe. Entirely dependent on house design.

In my own life, never. I dislike isolating a meal from whence it came.

[John Kogel]

Old house - pocket door nobody ever closes.

Newer house - there isn't even a wall there. []

[ghentjr]

Remember this if you put in double doors. "The one on the right is the one you go in, come out on the left and your neat as a pin".

No door.

[Chad Fabry]

Removed the door.

[Marc]

The trend for kitchen/living/dining is towards an open floor plan. Doors between kitchen/formal dining still common on some upscale houses I've seen here.

Marc

[Jim Morrison]

My younger brother used the swinging door between the kitchen and the dining room to give me my very first black eye.

I oppose them in the strongest possible terms.

[Tom Raymond]

Aren't younger brothers swell? One of mine pushed me down the basement stairs because he wanted to turn off the light. I have 4, it's a wonder we all survived.

My mother-in-law runs a thrift store out of a 1906 home that belonged to her in-laws. The kitchen is her office/staging area and having a door conveniently isolates it from the showroom. I was fortunate to find the original slab in the basement.

[Greg Booth]

My younger brother used the swinging door between the kitchen and the dining room to give me my very first black eye.

I oppose them in the strongest possible terms.

..........swinging doors, younger brothers or both?.........[]

[Steven Hockstein]

Like Marc noted, our clients' requests are trending towards a more open floor plan. People generally entertain more casually and their guests circulate throughout the kitchen.

The dining room doors are often removed in the older homes I inspect or renovate (excluding historic properties).

Aside from our change in lifestyles, I think that when people spend a fortune on renovating their kitchens they are proud to show them off.

We were discussing this in my office and I was just wondering what other home inspectors thought. Thanks.