Pocket doors are nice to use where a door will be left open most of the time but there may be times when you want to close it.

Yes - pocket door. We have the exact same set up and did not put in a pocket door. I deeply regret it.

I did a regular door but a pocket door would have been a better idea. It never occurred to me...

Our mudroom is long, almost the entire depth of the house (less the laundry at the rear) and has a door from the front porch and from the garage. There is a framed opening from the mudroom to the kitchen. A door would be impractical. We are in and out of there all day. The cats' water and food dishes are there, etc. None of the mess (when there is one) in the mudroom can be seen from the kitchen, looking from the kitchen into the mudroom there is a wall of beadboard in front of you. The closet and built-in lockers are to the far left, near the front door.

Our mudroom is a doorway from kitchen to mudroom then to door out to the garage. Our mudroom faces the garage door, so, a door isn't necessary for ours. We will also, like you, have a door to the laundry room that it right next to the mudroom. No door for us! The house we are in now, has SO many doors-my housekeeper gripes all the time about it-LOL!

I'm odd man out I guess. I'm not a fan of pocket doors unless there is a space issue. I have a door to the garage and 5-6 feet later, a door to the kitchen.

I don't have a photo showing both doors. This one shows the cubbies and you can see the door on the right which leads to the kitchen. There is another door to the left of the cubbies that leads to the garage. We like this setup.

OK, first item: This is no longer to be called a MUDroom. It's a Back Hall! (I'm on a crusade.)

We have only an arch between kitchen and back hall. Directly opposite the arch is the door to the garage. If you stand in the arch facing the garage door, to the left is the laundry room with window at the end. To the right is a BIG closet with a pair of 3' doors opposite a powder room. At the end to the right is a half-glass door to the yard.

I sometimes regret not having a door to keep our Westie in the back hall. (He would probably scratch the heck out of it though!) Hmm...maybe a Dutch door? The pocket door idea sounds very useful.

LOL Chisue...ours is definitely a MUD room in Oregon! ;c)

Mudroom/Back Hall/Walk-thru Pantry. Whatever you want to call it, it is a marvelous idea and we'll have one connecting our kitchen to the screened porch that leads to the garage where I hope that all the junk that now collects at our front door will land.

I wanted a door between kitchen and back hall because I know that area will not be presentable to guests most of the time. But, I was concerned about coming in with arms full of groceries and having to open three doors to get into the kitchen. But, like lindybarts, I just don't much like pocket doors. Besides I wanted to make sure the door between the kitchen and Back Hall DIDN'T get left open most of the time b/c "not presentable" is probably going to be an understatement. LOL.

My solution was a door style that has gone totally out of vogue but that my great grandmother had in her home built nearly 100 years ago: a double door that swings both ways - like an old saloon door - by way of pivoting hinges located at the floor and at the top of the doors.

My builder is having to make the door because nobody sells them anymore. In case anyone is interested, here is a link to a site that sells the necessary hardware. Ours will have glass inserts at the top (smoked tempered glass) so you can tell if someone is on the other side but can't really see in. However one could use the two halves of a bi-fold door just as well.

With two doors, each one only swings in/out 18 inches so there is plenty of room before one reaches the exterior door at the other end.

Here is a link that might be useful: Source for swinging door hinges

bevangel -- Ah, the swinging door! Our house had a single swinging door between kitchen and dining room. Also a set of chimes and a mallet to announce dinner. (It was there when my parents bought the house; we were't that pretentious!) I think a single door might prove easier to manage than the 'saloon doors'.

We lived with my grandparents who had one swinging door like you are describing. I'd second having only one door instead of the saloon type.

In our new home, we also have a mudroom between the kitchen and garage which doesn't really let you see the mess from the rest of the house. However, I chose to put a door between the mudroom and kitchen. In our case, the stairs to the 2nd floor and also the lower level are within the mudroom, and the master bedroom suite and laundry are also off the mudroom hall. There are times we just want to close off that back area for various reasons--mostly to block out noise from things going on.

Anne

I'm an ally of chisue's: I keep my mud outdoors, so I store coats in my coatroom. Not very hall like, but I may adopt 'back hall'...

Mine has the back door, and links kitchen, garage, and laundry. The dogs will have to go through this space to reach the dog door in the laundry, so a door there wouldn't really make sense. I like the idea of a self closing bi-directional swing door to cut down any noise coming from the laundry, but worry that they could trap a dog if he went part way through, then changed his mind.

I'm a bit concerned, though-- my dogs have always stolen shoes when they were young [the dogs, not the shoes], and they'll have access to most of the family footwear there. I suppose we'll have to learn to keep them in a cabinet or something.

If I do a door at all, it will be a barn door [pocket door without the pocket] slider.

Another vote for a single swinging door. I had a double in house owned in the '60's, and it was a PIA especially when your hands were full. I eventually developed the knack for going through one side (yeah, I was lots thinner in those days) because otherwise my arms would get a gentle scrape pushing two doors at once.

Why hasn't anyone developed a home-style automatic door opener (that doesn't cost $$$) ? THAT's what we really need when our arms are full of grocery bags.

thanks everyone for the ideas for the door on the "backhall" :0)

lindbarts: thanks for the photo. I like your cuubbies. Are they built-ins or did you get them from a cabinet company?

Thanks! They are built-in. Currently looking for cushions to fit! ;c)

Meldy, do a lever on the garage side, if no where else. I can open mine with an elbow, shoulder, even my foot when my hands are full.

I didn't read all the posts, but saw mention of a "swinging door." We had a swinging door between the kitchen and the dining room in our first house and strongly recommend that, if you go that route, that you have a window so you can see if someone is standing on the other side before you go barging through the door--this is especially important if you have young kids. It's not fun to be standing by the door and then have it bang into you.