Have you ever seen or imagined a Dutch-door-bestowed kitchen that wasn't quaint? The door style - which opens freely on top only (for air circulation) or connects together to operate traditionally - just oozes charm:
Dutch doors really were first used in the Netherlands - as their name would have you think - as entry doors. Today, we see them less at front doors. More often, yet still rare, they're used as interior doors between kitchens and playrooms or living rooms and as exterior back doors. Wouldn't the middle sill of a dutch door be the perfect place to cool a pie (at least in our quaint reverie)? The gallery above is a look at a few of our favorite examples.
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(Images: Veranda, Coastal Living, Old House Journal, Country Home via Marley & Lockyer)
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Comments (6)
I've always wanted one of these doors. Love them!
My parents have one of these as their front door. (They live in a very old Cape Cod in NJ). I always thought these types of doors were rare; everyone is completely surprised when they see it. I think the door is most useful during the summer. The house doesn't have central air so at dusk the top part of the door is always open to get a nice breeze.
Ah, I love these. My kitchen isn't all that quaint, but I've seriously been considering one anyway.
Man, I would kill for one of these.... We had one in our "playroom" growing up, It was a perfect alternative to a baby gate :)
My favorite Dutch Door experience--
Walking with Dutch friends through an old part of Amsterdam; one of them spies a friend thru her window, knocks on it (at street level); she comes to the door, and just opens the top part (didn't even look like a Dutch door).
I liked the way it gave her some distance, she didn't have to open the whole door so we couldn't come in, but she was able to take a minute to speak to use.
i used to have one of these in an apartment i lived in. it was a side door, which meant that i could leave it open for a breeze without the whole world knowing i had an open door in the city. wonderful!