I used to and I miss it. 13x13 isn't bad. If there aren't many other doors I'd try really hard to fit it in. You could do a French door and lose a window somewhere so it's not a total loss of storage.

I find I don't get fresh herbs or dump stuff in the compost as often when I have to make a detour.

Yeah now you have me thinking I DO need to put my kitchen on the back of the house when I remodel...

We have a door in our kitchen. It's on our back wall between our sink/dishwasher counter and a bay of windows and kitchen table. It leads out to the deck. As much as it limits what I can do with the kitchen without making some major changes, I can't imagine not being able to have easy access to our grill. My DH grills all the time and having that right off the kitchen makes it very convenient.

It's all about trade-offs. Perhaps you can post a layout of your kitchen and the adjacent roooms to see if something could be reworked to get the best of both worlds.

We originally had a window on the south side of our kitchen. After we added a deck (off our sunroom and kitchen), we took out the window and put in a single door (full glass). Don't know what we'd do without it!!!

Plus we have a storm door and it's nice in the summer to be able to have just the screen door. You won't regret it if you add this to your kitchen!!

jody

We have a glass slider (patio door) by our table onto the deck. It was a selling point for me when I bought the house, easy access to the backyard because I had a small child.

Yes, we have an exterior door. I use it all the time (let dogs out, fill dog water, BBQ grilling, grabbing things out of the garden, dumping compost, cross-breeze when I burn things ;), etc.)

I agree this depends on your layout relative to the rest of your house. We have large double sliding patio doors (Andersen) nearby, but they aren't convenient to open constantly (double locks.)

Yes I have a door exiting from the kitchen eating area to the backyard. Especially in the summer it makes it much easier to get necessities from the kitchen (drinks, snacks etc). A single door doesn't take that much space out of the kitchen and the benefits are worth it imho

We actually have 2 doors to the backyard in our Not very big galley: a pair of french doors near the banquette/ window seat and a dutch door at the other end. I seriously considered getting rid of the dutch door to get more kitchen space especially as we already had the french doors and the family room with the french door is right around the corner.. But we decided not too as it original architecture of our historic house and it really facilitates the indoor outdoor living we enjoy here in Norcal.. It is not uncommon to take her toast and milk in the morning outside for a picnic breakfast.

Lalitha

i made sure i had a door from the kitchen in order to take out garbage and go out to the garden or grill. i think it is very functional to have one. you would have to give up about 3 feet of counter space if you have one. but if you plan the door to be along where you were having an aisle or something, it might work out.

Yep. We've got one too.
Ours is between the kitchen and pantry, and leads to the patio where the ever essential grill & smoker live.

My kitchen door goes to my backyard deck. When we were thinking of redoing the kitchen, we did consider getting rid of the door to have more cabinets. A few nieghbors with the same split level like we have have done this. They put in sliders or french doors in the dining area which goes out to the same place.
After considering this, I felt my dining area was too small to be used as a frequent exit, so we kept the floor plan the same in the kitchen.
I think you answered your own question. If you keep feeling inconvenienced than you are a candiate for a door in the kitchen!

My parents' kitchen has a door to the garage and a door from the garage to the back yard. While guests use the front door, the kitchen door is the most frequently used. It's convenient for bringing in groceries, picking herbs/veggies from the back garden, letting the dog in/out, grilling out back, taking compost/garbage out, etc. It does take up space but it is very convenient. I have to walk garbage out my front door (through a small part of my living room) and have to go through the family room to get to the back or through the family room and the laundry room to get to the garage. Hauling in groceries, taking out garbage, letting the dog in/out, grilling is less convenient but it does save me some wall space in my kitchen.

Can you make a window into a door with glass and mullions or just glass so that you keep the light. Our neighbors did that to their summer cottage kitchen window - now door.. It is their way to the grill, to the patio and it gets afternoon light - the best of both worlds.Another choice would be a dutch door- bottom half to let the dogs out, when needed and top half to be open for air and sunshine (you can also lean out to tell your furry friends to stop barking too) It would depend on your climate....especially if the mosquito is an issue- we call it the "national or state bird of Essex County" up here on Boston's North Shore. Alas- a dutch door would not be practical here - but I love the look of them.

The PO's had walled off the original backyard door to get more kitchen space. We put it back when we redid our kitchen. I don't know how I lived without it. Our kitchen is 11x11.

We also have a door in the kitchen/dining room:

It leads to the back yard and patio and it gets used about 10 times more often than the front door, and maybe even more often than the garage door, which is also in the dining room. It's very convenient for trips to the garden and compost pile, the BBQ, and anything happening at the back of the house. (Those are stickers on the window to keep birds from flying into it.)

I wish we had a door in our kitchen. Our closest outside doors are out through the garage or down a hall and through a family room to the deck.

We go outside to bring compost out (all year), grill (all year), and pick herbs for cooking (summer/fall only). It would be much more convenient to have a door right in the kitchen.

If you can do it and have similar usage, I'd say add a door and give up a little counter space.

I have two, too.
I have a slider next to the dining room, which is the other side of the peninsula. I don't know what to call that area, so it's where the table is.

On the other side of the kitchen is a door to the mudroom. (Kitchen: 12x14) From the mudroom is a door to the outside with a dog door in it. I keep the internal door open most all the time, until it's time to put everyone to bed.

Both doors run to the same back yard area, but both seem to serve different purposes. I suppose that will change once I get the patio extended, etc., but in the meanwhile, they're both necessary.

Before I had a fire, I didn't have a door. There was a weird area between the kitchen and the laundry, which eventually became the mudroom when we moved the kitchen. This weird area had a door where you stepped up once, then down twice. It was the most uncomfortable door ever.

Now? I can get out of the house through every single room in it! Doors and huge windows galore.

OP, here. Thanks, everyone, for the feedback. Sounds like it's a good thing to have. I agree, but was starting to talk myself out of it. I was also surprised to hear so many people mention a Dutch door... that is what I envision, if there's a way to make it work. I will post a layout in a new thread in the near future, and hope to hear from you. Thanks again!