We have something around that now, I think. Maybe 20 feet. I got used to it pretty quickly, though---not a huge deal. I find it a lot more irritating to carry laundry the same distance from house to garage (though not irritating enough to give up kitchen space to have the machines inside! :) It's a pain when it's raining, but otherwise not a big deal one way or the other.

I have more than that, including a flight of stairs. The price of living in a hilly area. But it's not really inconvenient. Direct garage access would be ideal, but the important thing is to make the path an easy one, that doesn't go past a lot of things that can catch on your bags or your clothes, and not to go through an area with a lot going on. A ten foot walk through a too narrow mudroom and past a desk, for instance, might be more bothersome than a twenty-five foot walk past some closets and through an open area.

Heck mine is a lot more than that...wait I don't have a garage...

Honestly, the much longer walk from the street is better than my other house with attached garage into pokey hall with tiny landing and 8 stairs to the kitchen!!! Distance really isn't the concern. It's how you get there

Ha Igloo, me neither! Think of the exercise! Sometimes I can get quite a few bags on each arm and hand for less trips! Not as much aerobic value but I like to think of it as "strength training"! Seriously I've had both, and the only difference I ever thought about is the weather. =)

Ours is that far and includes a set of stairs, although we don't actually park in the 2 car garage. It houses DH's woodshop (1/2 the garage,) bikes, a trailer full of camping gear, a canoe & paddles, ski gear, snowboards, golf equipment, skates, various balls, etc.

So the distance from our cars in the driveway to the kitchen is closer to 45 feet and includes a set of stairs that leads up to the front door. Is it ideal? No. But my arse looks great. ;P

Mine is about 50 feet. I know because it takes 50' of garland to drape the picket fence. :)

We have a 3-car garage set apart at the top of the drive, outside the fence around the yard (pool).

You get used to the distance. But, yeah, groceries in the rain....... :(

I have to walk through my mudroom, up a flight of stairs and then walk about 40 feet to get from my garage to my kitchen.
in my previous home it was on the same level and about 10 feet. was this more practical? yes. does my current configuration bother me? No.
we have been living like this for over 5 years now, and just got used to it.

If I were building a new house, designing a very short path from garage to kitchen would fall, on an A to Z priority list, at about M--nice, but not essential. We currently walk about 30 feet from garage, then up the steps, across the porch, and into the kitchen. It works.

Now, let me tell you about the half year we lived in Cologne in a fifth floor apartment, with no elevator, with kids who drank a huge amount of heavy, heavy milk...

I spent two years living on a boat. We not only had to walk to the store, we had to walk back home with the groceries, scoot carefully down the dock or finger pier, hand each bag gingerly over the lifelines, one at a time down into the galley.... You get the picture! Added to that, we could only buy as much as three people could carry.

I remember when we first moved back ashore and the house we were renting had a garage door that opened directly into the kitchen. The fridge was two steps away from the back door. I thought I'd died and gone to heaven!

I've never really thought about the distance from garage to kitchen, but now that you ask, I have almost always lived with a hike. Last house, it was more than 25 feet but under a covered walkway. This house, it is probably 20 feet, but up a small flight of stairs that is usually cluttered with outside shoes. I agree with others that eliminating the obstacle course makes more of a difference than the actual distance. If there can be a pantry on the way, or an option to leave some stuff in the garage, all the better.

We don't have a garage, either--previous owners enclosed it into a room--so, we have to walk about 75 feet from where we park to the kitchen with groceries. My husband does almost all of the grocery shopping, so it doesn't bother me much. :)

I've actually never lived in a house with a functioning garage, so I don't even know what it is like. We've toyed with the idea of building a garage at this house, but it would still mean walking through two rooms to get to the kitchen with groceries.

We have a 5 block walk from the grocery store and then 52 stairs up to the apartment.

In all seriousness though, I have been in on these discussions and there was an ongoing discussion on Hometime or This Old House, where in one configuration the garage was adjacent to the kitchen and in another it was all the way at the other end of the house. However, when the garage as directly adjacent to the kitchen it meant that more of the yard was taken up by driveway, and it blocked one of the best views from the house, --and essentially turned the kitchen into a spot that had access to windows on three sides to one that had windows mostly on one side.

So, will the kitchen have better views if the garage is remote from it? Will the house look better? Will the rest of the house work better? I would not mind an extra walk on occasion (how often do you do heavy shopping?) in order to give priority to views and function for the living part of the house.

We park in the driveway and bring groceries in the side door and up a half-flight of steps, or at the curb and carry bags up the front steps, over the porch, through the entry room.

From a theoretical time-and-motion standpoint, it is imperfect. But in reality, the inconvenience is trivial. Honestly, you're talking about an extra 17 feet. 8 footsteps.

I've had more. My last house was built on a hill with the garage taking half the basement. Physically it was directly under the kitchen, but there was half a basement and some steps to traverse to get into it.

Pain in the rear? Sure. But I was lucky to have an attached garage in that 1920s neighborhood. It wasn't convenient to anything but the cat box. I didn't care. It was the way it was.

I wouldn't mind the distance if I were planning my own, but the stairs and the fire door? I'd avoid those.

We have a detached garage in back of the house. Approx ~ 20(?) walk from garage to back door; then through a short hall past mudroom and powder room into kitchen. Doesn't bother me at all because I prefer the look of a detached garage to one in front of the house, and I can kick off my shoes in the mudroom before entering the kitchen.

I think the distance of the walk is less important than what space you walk through; e.g. do you have to pass through a LR, DR or other nice space, or can you walk down a hall?

We have an attached garage, but we still have to walk about 20-25' to get to the kitchen at the other end of the house (where the views are). I don't find it inconvenient, as I've never had a garage right next to the kitchen in past houses. What I dislike is the long walk to the garage to do laundry. In our last house, we had a laundry room adjacent to the TV room, so I could easily pop in loads, check on them, fold the clothes, etc. while watching my evening shows. Now it feels a lot more like a chore, lol.

Thanks for the responses. Now that I think about it, before living in my current house, I used to live in apartments which did have a long walk and I had to go up and down stairs. I guess I am spoiled by my current 8' walk to kitchen from garage door for the last 13 years. Also back then, it was dh and me and one child to shop for. Now it is 3 kids including 2 teenage boys (actually one is a tween) and their friends with their big appetites.

As long as you can park by the house to unload, the walk is no big deal.

Except if this is what it looks like outside . . .

We don't have a garage, we have a shop. I keep my car in there. I have an extra opener in the laundry room, and if I aim it out the farthest back window, I can get the big door to open. Then I can make a run for the car no matter what the weather is like. It's about 50' away.

Though when it's like the picture - I'm staying home by the fire.

Khj133, Text the kids as you get close to the house. Tell them you need them to bring in the groceries. They don't help, they don't eat any of the food. It usually works in our house. : )

I am with debrak. I call home and ask for help to be ready after a big shop. Otherwise, for the more common smaller trips, I can carry a few bags on each arm. The reusable, non-plastic bags are great because their straps don't cut into flesh as much and there are no walks with a falling apart bag.

My garage is not adjacent to our kitchen and has been full of materials for the 4 years we have been here. There has been no room for a car in there. Instead, I park on the street and walk through my house to the back where my kitchen is.
In my last house the kitchen was in the front and very close to the driveway (no garage). It was convenient, but I really don't notice it as a big difference. I do miss my larger kitchen and can't wait to finally have a good size one again.

I have about 50' to go from car to house (door) and it's been killing me. Stuff doesn't always get inside the same day I buy it... last week I bought a used wagon on CL and that's working great! wheel it over to the car, load it up and pull it over to the steps. Then each time the dog has to go out / in I pick up a bag, water jug etc and bring in with me! cold/frozen foods get to come in asap tho.

After reading the responses about the long walks, and seeing Macybaby's photo (I would be tempted to call Peapod), I shall not complain.

I usually go to the grocery store during the day when I am off and kids are in school, so these kids luck out. Evenings are so busy. But I like the idea about telling kids if they want food, they need to get the groceries or it stays in the car.