why do ...?

[orangeshoebox]

why do doors open to the inside?
drives me mad all the time as it makes the hallway cramped.

My hallway door opens outward.

My hallway door opens outward.

So that you don't slam it into someone's face when you open the door.

Scandinavian dramas often show house front doors opening out. This doesn’t make sense because how would you open the door from inside after a blizzard?

Izzy I think that's the point. If it opened inwards like ours, the snow would fall into the house. Whereas opening outwards means you can use the door to push all the snow to away one side.

You mean like a car door?
Because it wouldn't be practical and would catch in the wind. I've only seen a few front doors opening outwards and they look all kinds of wrong.

Our bathroom door opens outwards!

When I lived in a flat the bathroom door opened outwards and my nephew got stuck in there because he didn't realise. He was inside, trying to pull open the door and starting to get a little panicky, shouting that he was stuck until his mum pulled it open from the outside!

In our house now the downstairs loo door opens inwards and it's a pain in the arse because there's not enough room for you to get in because the toilet's in the way.

You can change them round if you need to!

actually I'm considering it. it's a pain to go in and out with luggage/large parcels as there is no room to turn. plus the radiator position mean the door doesn't open fully.

Mine opens out. When I replaced all doors and windows I was asked if I wanted it to open in but like you there's a radiator in the way. I think we have more space this way but it confuses most deliveries.

DH seems to think if a front door opens out then the hinge pins must be on the outside and could easily be removed by someone wanting to take the door off its hinges and break in also if something is left outside directly in front of an outward opening door (eg something heavy is delivered) then how do you open the door?

DH and I are both overthinking this

There are also building regulations relating to doors which open outward if you have steps.

I don't think there can be a problem with hinges as most French patio doors open outwards.

Birds suddenly appear