I grew up in a house with an exterior door in the kitchen, and it's one of the aspects of kitchen design I miss the most. With the addition of a screen door, it serves as a giant window for air circulation or to regulate heat when it's summer and you really want to bake something anyway (or when it's winter and your cooking is still making the kitchen uncomfortably warm).

Our door led out to a path to the back patio, so it was also the easiest way to carry foods to and from the grill. The herbs were planted right outside the door, so that was a bonus too.

I live in a house with a door in the kitchen that leads out to the back deck, it's great for grilling, but it takes up a lot of space where I could have much needed cupboard space!

Since it's the back of the house, it also means I still have to drag the grocery's through the house from the front door.

Having direct access to the outside--rather than down a back hallway as is so common in older homes in New England--has been on the list of necessities for every place I've lived in as an adult. Even my apartments had a door from the kitchen to a patio or deck. And our first house had a kitchen with a front and back door. I live in SoCal now and it is absolutely crucial.

Because my front door opens directly into my living room, I especially like having my back door in the kitchen open directly onto my back yard patio. Once day I might build a mud room back there, but it works great for now: for coming in while it is raining or snowing, for unloading groceries, and while entertaining outside, I cannot imagine it any other way.

My door to the back porch is in the kitchen. Like everyone else, the big con is that it eats up space in a pretty small kitchen and the big pro is how great it is for grilling and, if it's a nice day, air circulation. I also like being able to hang out on the porch while I'm cooking and not be too far away.

my parents' front door opens into a split foyer, and the first room you encounter "upstairs" is the kitchen. since that's where people gather in their house, it's an ideal setup.

i just wish i had a door to the outside in my kitchen.

My kitchen has a door that leads to my patio and backyard. Easy access to the grill and outdoor dining. I don't consider it much of a space taker, that I blame on the two huge windows that take up the two exterior walls in my kitchen. Of course, they make it really bright so it's not too much of a hardship really. My kitchen is large enough that I can add in an island for extra storage space that I lack in cabinets.

I live in a townhouse. The back door leads out from the kitchen to the deck and patio. It's great for outdoor entertaining--especially since I'm in the South. My husband grills at least once a week!

My backdoor opens onto the deck. We have easy access to the BBQ and backyard, including the vegetable garden. When it's nice we leave it wide open, and when it isn't nice we still get lots of light since it's all glass.

Hmm, that's interesting. I live in South Africa and I always thought kitchen doors to the outside were pretty much standard. Front door goes to the lounge, back door goes to the kitchen.

The house I grew up in had an outside entry right off the kitchen. "Company" came to the front door - but people who really knew you always came to the back door.

@PattiLain
Same- but I'm in Australia. Back door in all my houses bar one has either been in the kitchen or directly adjacent to the kitchen (say, through a laundry). I live in an old gold miners cottage and historically the kitchen would have been in a seperate building out the back. As the house has been extended over its 150+ years the kitchen has been 'tacked on' to the back of the house- same with the bathroom, thus the kitchen tends to be near the back door.

I don't like the idea that people I don't know just knocking at your door can see a very intimate part of my house. I'm italian and I do a lot of cooking (even if I don't like cooking!), so there are many hours during the day when the kitchen is used, messy, not in a show-room condition. I don't like front doors that opens straight to the lounge. In Italy houses used to have a small room at the entrance, separated by the rest of the hosue by a door or more) where you could receive unexpected guest (neighbours, postman...) without having them watching what you were doing, how your home is, what are you cooking/eating/doing and so on. I like my privacy, and I hate that many houses here in England have a external door in the kitchen, often used as main door (rooms are small, so often people close the external door in the lounge placing a sofa in front of it).

I dislike my set up greatly! Yes, I will admit it's nice bringing the groceries straight into the kitchen. When you walk into the back door there is exactly 9 square feet of space. Straight ahead is the doorway to the basement, and to the right are four stairs into the kitchen. It makes it almost impossible for more than two people to enter the house without there being an immediate traffic jam. Worse in winter when people are taking off shoes. Now, if my entry area, was greater than 9 square feet then maybe I wouldn't mind it so much.