It is the screen slider that threw me off. I first thought it was all a slider. When you said it was french doors, It appeared to be on the outside of the door frame which would not open inward and the handle is on the left. So from the outside, it is effectively a slider on the left side as I thought. The part that is no good is the fact that it puts the user walking out along the face of the house wall whether it is a french door, slider, dutch door, or conventional pass door. That is compounded by the cellar window. If budget is not a big issue, I'd change the door. It would be an issue for me, so I don't blame you for sticking to it (but it is poor building design). The sensible solution, barring changes to the door, is to build a wood landing the full width of the wall with the door on it. Then have the steps coming down off of that onto a conventional patio layout away from the house. There are many good ways to do that. Put in two standard metal window wells so that you can fill to proper grade for your slab. Keep a planting bed between the slab and the house where there is no landing. You may as well have the concrete guy waste his extra mix in the area that will be covered by the landing (what they call a dust cover). That will keep burrowing varmints from taking up residence (see that that also pitches the water away). The dust cover does not need any fancy finish, so should not cost very much at all. As long as you resign the idea of keeping both windows open to daylight this is a very standard wood frame step and patio.

Tina, I think if you search my name lesmis you'll find other pictures of my kitchen. I am working on putting together an album on Photobucket of the "before" and "after" but have been too busy finishing up the rest of the house remodel to get to it. You can send me an email at swlesmis@hotmail.com if you need other pics, I can send them to you if you need something in particular. I think people are afraid to email someone directly...not sure why, but I won't send out ANY chain mail, not funny, sad/guilt provoking, political or any other chain mail...I personally HATE it, so I promise all I'll send is what you ask for! :) I do have exposed hinges and they are non-mortised, my cabinet guy insisted on those too because they are much easier to install I think. I hunted high and low for simple hinges and either couldn't find them or they were outrageously expensive. I ended up using Amerock ones that my cabinetmaker suggested, they are actually their antique finish and not the ORB because the ORB didn't match my darker ORB knobs as well. I think you are right, the Blum or hidden hinges don't require any sort of magnet. My cabinetmaker made sure that I would like the little tug you need to open the exposed hinge doors with the magnets, and it's fine, even with glass in the cabinets it's no big deal, but it might be to some people I guess. Let me know if you need any other pics. Kat :)

"I went to work in an office that had a pocket door that never worked right because someone had driven nails into it at some point and it was never the same after" (palimpsest) Yes. This happened to us when DH nailed the baseboard on the wall between the laundry and kitchen. The door came off track. When we renovate I will replace or remove. However, this was builder grade. On our extension I added three pocket doors. The one I had put in for the powder room is a solid core door, not thinner than most doors, as I wanted as much sound-dampening as possible with such a device. We used Johnson Hardware - not the home depot variety which runs $ 40 or so, but commercial grade. Look at the Johnson site under 1500 Commercial Grade and you will also find non-standard size frames (door max thickness 1 3/4"). Use a good carpenter.

If the choices are only pocket door or barn door, then I’d pick a pocket (ha!) door, which I have. However, if you’re open to the idea, double doors, like oaktonmom suggested, is an option worth considering. That’s what I’ll be replacing my laundry room door with, because of the congestion in that area of my house (laundry room door, closet door and garage door all open into a 4’ x 8’ vestibule of sorts). Like your ex, I took the laundry room door of its hinges (I didn’t throw mine away though!) while I was working on reconfiguring the closet that’s catty corner to it because I kept banging stuff against the always-slightly-ajar laundry room damn door (apparently the laundry room is a popular place for cat bathrooms). Plus, the good thing about a traditional swinging door (or two) is that, if storage space really is at a premium, you can hang things on the back of the door, like the ironing board, mops and brooms, clothes rod, wire shelving for cleaning supplies, etc., which you could not do with a barn or pocket door. And here are some clever ideas for those of you whose laundry room pulls double doody as a cat restroom: The Kitty Korner hinge! It turns any door into a cat door!