Front door facing kitchen? Or sideways into living?

8 years ago

We're rehabbing a 2500 sqft ranch built in 1960. The home currently has TWO front doors on either side of a recessed porch (the result of a lazily done addition many years ago.

We would love to wall up the sideways doors and have big double front doors like these red ones...

...but could (more cheaply) just fix up one of the sideways-facing doors to be something like this yellow one:

My dilemma relates to what each of these options does to the flow and function of the interior. Below are the two accompanying floor plans, with the front-facing doors, and the side-facing doors.

The front-facing doors are far better in my view, in terms of curb appeal, period authenticity, and creating an entryway inside the house. BUT they dump you right into the kitchen, make the dining area weirdly broken up, and makes the transition to the bonus room/bedroom squishy.

The sideways facing door opens up the interior more, lets you enter facing into living space instead of kitchen, make the dining space flow better, BUT...is more awkward from the outside and doesn't give much of an entrance area inside.

Which works better? Are there other things I could change to make this work better?

Here is the floor plan with the front-facing doors:

And here is the floor plan with the sideways door:

Any other criticism would be welcome! I'm sure I'm doing some dumb things that I just can't see anymore because I've been staring at this for so long. We aren't working with an architect yet because our budget is tight but I feel like a couple hours of someone's time might be a good use of money.

Thanks so much for any suggestions or advice or opinions!

Featured Answer

miss lindsey (She/Her)

8 years ago

Could you pull the wall forward so the recess is half as deep? Then do the double doors. To be honest, it doesn't look at all like you're being dumped directly into the kitchen. It looks like there is a fair bit of room before you arrive at the kitchen. I agree that the path to the bedrooms is tight and awkward (bringing the wall forward would help that).

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Comments (10)

andemb3
Original Author
8 years ago
I hadn't thought of that. We could...but would require a little more masonry work as it's all brick, and we'd probably lose the room for windows. But you don't think even with that space (you're right in that you're not IN the kitchen) that it's unappealing to enter facing the kitchen? You're also walking in facing sliding glass doors to the back deck, and I'm not sure how I feel about that either.
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miss lindsey (She/Her)
8 years ago
last modified: 8 years ago
All right. I know my skills are a little intimidating*, try not to faint...

:-D

I moved the wall forward, moved the double door to the right and added a window on the left, and added a coat closet to block the view through to the kitchen/slider. That's a pantry cabinet between the run of cabs and the new closet. You could do a two-sided bookcase instead of the coat closet, very mcm. I wasn't sure of the dimensions so nothing is to scale and you would have to play with dimensions to ensure there is enough room to walk through comfortably and keep an open feel. And obviously, if any walls are load bearing they are much easier to erase on my phone than in real life.

*just kidding, this is my first attempt at editing a photo!! As if you couldn't tell...
andemb3 thanked miss lindsey (She/Her)
User
8 years ago
Do nothing.

Two doors, opening to the left and right, are unusual, but effective and interesting. Why spend money on a "solution" that causes as many problems as it solves?
andemb3 thanked User
functionthenlook
8 years ago
I would make the door front facing. What difference if you walk in and see the kitchen. No mater where you are in the dining or living room you see the kitchen anyway.
andemb3 thanked functionthenlook
decoenthusiaste
8 years ago
Front facing. Then if it matters, remove the wall right of the door and put one about 7 feet in front of it so as to block the direct view into the kitchen.
andemb3 thanked decoenthusiaste
everdebz
8 years ago
In some areas, a nice-looking security door, large enough, would be covering that part [in front of both doors].
andemb3 thanked everdebz
latifolia
8 years ago
Unlike Lindsey, I can’t edit a photo at all, so bear with me. Suppose you move the ensuite bedroom on the left side of the house to the front, closing the wall to the left of the door. Then open a passage to the left of the kitchen. You could expand the kitchen by adding a breakfast area in the former bedroom space.
andemb3 thanked latifolia
andemb3
Original Author
8 years ago
latifolia, so I actually have another plan that does just that :) The reason I'm trying to make this arrangement work is so taht those big picture windows in the front don't get monopolized by the master bedroom, and because it makes the transition into bedroom zone more private. But...I might revisit that layout if I can't make myself happy with this one!
andemb3
Original Author
8 years ago
@lindsey, thanks so much for the photo edit! I like the two-sided bookcase idea as a space divider and also the idea of putting a barrier up across from the front door. We may wind up doing something like that. I think making the porch shallower like that may be costlier than its worth, as it would involve dismantling and reconstructing a brick wall...but the concept you've got there for the kitchen I like!