Add french door to dining room? What do you think?

[qwerty]

so below is a picture of the entrance to our dining room. this room is immediately next to the entrance of the house, we were thinking of adding a french door with windows on each side of the door to close off the room, then we would put some some window treatments of sorts, such as hunter douglas' vignettes with the easyglide system that you can raise to expose the interior of the room or that you can bring down to block the view into the room. currently we have a treadmill, a bench press and the pups play pen, so we dont use it as a dining room. there is a butlers pantry as well on the other side of the room and we were thinking of putting a swing door there to completely enclose the room.

I know some of you know this floor plan pretty well (Homer, IHO, USCtrojan), anyone else feel free to comment as well

would you add a single french door with the windows on each side or leave it as is, just wide open? the door would swing into the dining room. my wifes concern is that it would make the entry way of the house feel a little too tight with a wall on one side and french door on the other side. i think it would be fine though.

 

[paperboyNC]

I don't see a pic?

 

[Irvinecommuter]

You should have put like 300 lbs on each side of that weight bar!

 

[qwerty]

I don't see a pic?

IC sees the pic - can you still not see it?

 

[Irvinecommuter]

Seriously though, I think you should consider one of those sliding double doors.  It doesn't take up space in the room and looks nice.

 

[qwerty]

Seriously though, I think you should consider one of those sliding double doors.  It doesn't take up space in the room and looks nice.

ah very good idea, didnt think about that. this may be the better way to go. although i like the idea of a more traditional type door with the french door. but sliding may be a better solution. thanks.

 

[qwerty]

Here you go, homie,

while the sliding doors IC recommended may be a more practical solution, i like the look you have, just something about french doors that does it for me. and you are correct, next to the light switch is the front door of the house, so the french door(s) would have to open into the dining room, the way the equipment is currently laid out there is plenty of room for the door(s) to open into the dining room without having to move the exercise equipment.

 

[Irvinecommuter]

I like french doors but I like sliding double doors more...and it takes up no room space.

 

[qwerty]

I like french doors but I like sliding double doors more...and it takes up no room space.

yeah those are pretty nice doors, didnt even think of the frosted windows, then you dont need the window treatments. ill show my wife and see what she thinks. ultimately she will decide what type of doors 

 

[nosuchreality]

You can't do sliders, the side toward the exterior wall is too shallow and I don't think the current entry is large enough for the double patio sliders. 

I'd do glass french doors like Tyler's but that doesn't really provide the 'mess' hiding you want, so do an integrate blind in the glass similar to these. you can get the linen style blinds or slats:

Or a rippled/frosted glass, that way you can hide the room contents will letting the window blinds to the outside let sun in and create a backlit effect to make the hallway not feel closed in.

 

[Irvinecommuter]

You can't do sliders, the side toward the exterior wall is too shallow and I don't think the current entry is large enough for the double patio sliders. 

I'd do glass french doors like Tyler's but that doesn't really provide the 'mess' hiding you want, so do an integrate blind in the glass similar to these. you can get the linen style blinds or slats:

Or a rippled/frosted glass, that way you can hide the room contents will letting the window blinds to the outside let sun in and create a backlit effect to make the hallway not feel closed in.

You can either build the slider as a part of the door (depending on space) or get a one-side slider.

 

[irvinehomeowner]

I add a vote to sliding doors. It's more modern, takes up less space and is kind of cool.

If you can do them so it's hanging only, even better so you don't have to install a track on the floor.

 

[socal78]

It really depends on the width of the opening. How wide is it, Qwerty? I can't tell from the angle of the pic. The thing is the sidelights on the sliding glass double door are going to restrict your access when you move furniture in & out. It's going to eat up more wall space. With French doors, you can open them up wide so large pieces can fit through. Also, imho, the design of French doors means better longevity - no moving parts or greasing needed like sliding doors. Also depends on how much leeway you have inside the room where the doors swing in. To me, there is something inately beautiful about a French door. If the opening is big and you don't have as much room inside, why not do French doors with sidelights.

 

[furioussugar]

Sliding Shoji Screens--  no window treatments needed

 

[homer_simpson]

Depending what you are going to use it as.  If dining room, I would leave it the way it is.  I currently have mine doorless and it makes it feel more open because facing that door opening is a wall of the downstairs bedroom.  My wife suggested it to me before but I thought it may make the home feel a little darker in that small entry way.

 

[socal78]

Too bad there's no room for pocket doors. I could see a pocket door with mullions there.

Most of the sliding doors look too contemporary for this type of home -- too Manhattan-apartment-ish. The exterior of the home should provide a visual clue as to what's on the inside of the home.

 

[Irvinecommuter]

Sliding Shoji Screens--  no window treatments needed

but inevitable destroyed when you have to fight ninjas in your house.

 

[qwerty]

Whatever you end up picking, just try to be consistent with whatever else is in the house  (e.g. material, finish, hardware, style).  You never want the next buyer to say "i can see where you added this door" after the fact.

Maybe many buyers don't care... but to me if I am able to see work that doesn't match the rest of the house, I'll start to wonder exactly how much work has gone on, and what quality is the work within the rest of the house?

yeah my wife is big on making sure the materials are consistent throughout the house.

 

[socal78]

Why stop at french doors? He also add garage doors to the inside of his home:

It looks like they told him to go to the naughty spot for a time out, but the naughty spot is a spooky corner in the dark garage. Poor kid.

 

[qwerty]

It really depends on the width of the opening. How wide is it, Qwerty? I can't tell from the angle of the pic. The thing is the sidelights on the sliding glass double door are going to restrict your access when you move furniture in & out. It's going to eat up more wall space. With French doors, you can open them up wide so large pieces can fit through. Also, imho, the design of French doors means better longevity - no moving parts or greasing needed like sliding doors. Also depends on how much leeway you have inside the room where the doors swing in. To me, there is something inately beautiful about a French door. If the opening is big and you don't have as much room inside, why not do French doors with sidelights.

great point socal on the french doors allowing you to move furniture in/out, didnt even think of that. i think right now what makes the most sense is the double french door set up like TD, not sure if i want the frosted glass or do window treatments. i like the frosted glass while leaving the shutters in the dining room open to give that backlit effect. the opening is about 7.5 feet (my wife did a rough measurement).