French doors are old style and wonderful. Unless you've got no privacy, I don't think you can beat the beauty of good old fashioned French doors. I can't believe they'd be considered dated! Timeless, sure, but not dated!

Guess what I'd choose.

well, if french doors are ever out of style, i am in trouble. i'm in louisiana, and french doors here are just a regular. they have been around for as long as i can remember and are still on some of the more historic homes in my area. as far as being 'old style', i guess they are aren't they?

I much prefer french doors. To me they look more classic and higher end. Our FR had a "gardenscape" (I think that's what it was called) door...one door + 2 equal-sized windows on each side. When we went to replace it b/c of continual leaks, we discovered they had been discontinued. We debated putting in a set of FDs, but that would have necessitated too many changes that would have increased the cost too much so we ended up w/a sliding door plus an equal-sized window on the non-sliding side. [We would have had to either take one "window" away and rebuild the outside or find someone to make a custom set of FDs that were 4.5' wide each or worked out some other custom configuration.]

I still miss our old door in the FR!

I love french doors because of the open and airy feeling they give. Throw them open in the summer and let that fresh air flow in (if it's not too hot). What I don't love is how much space they need inside the room. In our area all exterior doors must open in and I just don't have the space. I always seem to end up with a slider which I don't really like but they are cost effective and space efficient.

Oh well - looks like funtion wins over form on this one.

We replaced our slider with out-swing french doors. We love them.

Thanks for the replies. I am really wanting the french doors and I think I will do it. I didn't think about the space when they are open...that is somethign to think about. I live by the beach southern california so they would be open and used a lot. Hmmm? thanks for your opininions I love this site!
Jan

I had FD but replaced it with a slider. The FD looked nicer but they had to open in and they took up too much space in the DR. You can get sliders that look like FDs.

I really wanted a french door to replace my slider, but I wasn't willing to give up the room thay take up when opened. I got a new slider with the panes in between the glass, and it looks like a FD.

I like french doors but I generally don't like how much space you have to allow for them to swing open. I replaced some old sliders with Marvin sliding french door style - very happy with that alternative. The wood surrounding the glass is wider - like a french door. I have one that is four sections - 16 feet wide total - the two middle sections slide toward the sides for an eight foot opening in the middle. I love it!!

I replaced 2 sets of FD with french door looking sliders. I did it for the same reason as gibby....space. I love the look and the amount of the light my doors bring in without compromising the space in a room when the doors are open. No one has commented negatively about them, even when the home was for sale. I actually had people with small children say they are glad the doors aren't french because they would not have to worry about the kids going in and out and slamming the doors or forgetting to close the so that they would swing themselves shut. Love my sliders! I can leave them open with the screen pulled closed and not have to worry about proping them open .

I love the look of French doors and I don't think they'll ever go out of style. The one downside for us is that they're harder to secure, so DH hates them. We got a triple lock set of doors on our last house. Guess what? They still got kicked in.

I live in a pretty urban area, so the house we just finished we didn't do French doors. :(

We replaced our old sliders with sliders. Due to the way the opening is, FDs would not work out. And, with the new sliders, I did not get the kind with the FD panes on the windows because we have a gorgeous deck and back yard, and I want to view the outside without obstruction.

I love the look of french doors if they work properly in the room.

I went with french doors because I wanted to be able to have a large opening between the dining room and the sunroom. I have a 6' wide opening now, plus another 3' fixed panel. I love the look! They are out-swing doors, into the sunroom where there is more room.

We at first put in a swing in french door from the kitchen to the back patio. With 3 kids going in and out we realized it was the worst thing we did. We took them out and put in a slider and we are very happy with it.
The slider looks identical to the FD and now I don't have to worry about the room it took when opened and I love the fact that I have a screen. My FD didn't have a screen (even though we could have purchased)

French doors any day for me. I have 8 pairs of french doors in new house. They are beautiful, I wouldn't substitute sliders for the classic beauty of french.

I vote for french doors, I have one going to the patio and love it. I think the silders end up giving you problems after a while.

I love french doors also, but I was unable to put them in my remodel. I did not want to have the door swing into the kitchen (my island with seating will be in front of the doors). Since we get snow here, I didn't want a french door that swung out. So I compromised and will have sliders with 3 panels - the middle one will be the door and the two on the sides will be fixed.

I am waiting to see how they will look - we are waiting for a piece that is missing. In the meantime, my large hole seems to really open up the space....