Bifold door and kitchen island is it going to date? Pitfalls...

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We viewed a couple of houses like this and it’s in all the magazines and they look gtreat when all tidy ...

Do they work in real life. Reading on here about people with wasps trapped in roof lanterns and flies coming in the bifolds....

Of course flies will come in! But they'll also come in if you've got windows and doors open! I have been leaving my patio doors open all day and we don't get any more wasps or flies that usual.

'Than'

Also thinking of this combo for the future wondered about mice/rats having easy access!

We had a new kitchen last year and sure enough we have an island and bifold doors (not a roof lantern though). They are both great and the kids run in and out of the garden all day when the doors are open. Agree with previous poster - flies will come in anyway if you have windows and doors open?

I guess this look will date and tastes will change - but what's your alternative? Put in a kitchen that looks old-fashioned from day 1, or try to predict future fashions?

Focus on practicality for how YOU want to live. If fashions change then either a) so what?! Or b) update the doors, paint the room, change the window dressings.

Don't worry too much about fashions for things that are still practical.

When I put my bifolds in I had a feeling they were going to be the future's avocado bathroom suite. I didn't want them dh did. I thought something more in character with the period of the house would be appropriate. The stack-back thing of bifolds is a pita. A kitchen island however, I think will never be out of fashion. So useful. I LOVE our island. We've had so much fun with it. (table tennis/kitchen frisbee/countertop surfing as well as the odd bit of cooking.

People have been putting in bifolds for 15-20 years.

I love my bifolds and island in my kitchen. It makes me very happy when the weather is warm enough to open the doors, no problem with rats or mice!!!

Any window will let flies and wasps in. We have bifolds and I never really open them. One thing to consider with large amounts of glass is the heat you'll have. I have internal blinds in ours, didn't regret those for a moment.

Bi-folds are definitely going to date, remember patio doors?
Kitchen islands not so much as they can be re-designed, removed etc much easily.

Kitchen islands have been a thing for donkey's years!

Don't forget the mandatory three pendant lights hanging over the island...

Crittall windows are trendier than bifolds but so much more expensive. Middle class people are still installing bifolds and will continue to do so. I have bifolds and it’s great to be able to open the kitchen to the garden.

I prefer sliding doors to bifolds & love Crittall doors but they are £££

they look great when all tidy ... - I think this is the key point. They look lovely when there is nothing out on the sides for the magazine shoots and with the new able nicely laid on the terrace outside the bifold, but soon look tipped up when you start to live in them. I used to have such a living space in my first house in London, now I would go for a separate kitchen every time - so if I don’t feel like immediately washing up, wiping down the sides and clearing everything away, I don’t have to sit and look at it. Obviously different people have different mess tolerance levels, but I know several people with potentially “dream” kitchens (certainly ones which cost arm and a leg and caused months of inconvenience to install) where I walk in and just think “What a tip”.

Ha we have bifolds and whilst I like them, use them and haven't experienced disadvantages re critters, I do think they will date. However I guess nothing is time proof. I wish my face wouldn't date but sadly it does 😭😭
Lol at the obligatory 3 pendant lights over island. Our place had this when we bought it, but we ended up moving the 'island' as it was actually moveable as not plumbed/ wired in. So now the three pendant lights just shine slightly off centre 🥴 above our dining table.

Ha we have bifolds and whilst I like them, use them and haven't experienced disadvantages re critters, I do think they will date. However I guess nothing is time proof. I wish my face wouldn't date but sadly it does 😭😭
Lol at the obligatory 3 pendant lights over island. Our place had this when we bought it, but we ended up moving the 'island' as it was actually moveable as not plumbed/ wired in. So now the three pendant lights just shine slightly off centre 🥴 above our dining table.

They look lovely when there is nothing out on the sides for the magazine shoots
Mine looks like that all the time. I do this revolutionary thing called “putting stuff away”.

Our bifolds are a nightmare for winged insects. I suspect our location plays a part though too.

I'm not bothered about things looking dated. We chose what works for us and what we liked the look of.
When we bought the house it had the original kitchen and bathrooms from when it was built 20 odd years ago. It didn't put us off buying and the previous owners had certainly had their money's worth.

My parents shaker style kitchen has gone out of fashion then come back in again!

I thought bifold doors were already a thing of the past, didn't realise people were still putting them in.

I have walked away from many previously lovely houses because of bifold doors, they just don't look right unless they are in a newer house. A kitchen island I think also looks dated in some cases, but it is easier to remedy than bifold doors. However, it is something else that doesn't belong in a period property.

Flies and wasps come in through bog standard patio doors, too. My patio doors wil probably outlive some bifolds, though. They're already 12 years old and working just fine with a bit of realignment and new locks.

Our sink is in a shallow peninsula and that is permanently covered in crap, though, because people walk past it and put stuff on it.

Crittall doors look lovely but remind me of the metal framed windows we had in one particular house (also featuring bakelite light switches and an enamel stove) as a child, which were just so bloody cold.

When we did our extension in 2002 we put in bifold doors and hated them. They were expensive and never worked properly. My friends got some a few years later and also don’t like them. I wouldn’t not buy a house just because they had them, but if I did I’d replace them.
Islands are stuff magnets but are also very practical. Though have to say haste the bar stools - usually very uncomfortable and rarely see people use them.

I do this revolutionary thing called “putting stuff away” Me too, but I’m amazed how many people don’t and it’s nice to have the option of just shutting the door on the kitchen sometimes and clearing up a bit later - Open on to the garden and you can’t even go outside to escape (same goes for those with bifolds and an eyesore garden. - you need to be tidy and like gardening. It’s not for those who take a low-maintenance approach to such things).

We went for sliding doors over bifold, in my opinion they look better when closed because they have a much thinner frame and each glass pane can be wider than on bifolds (more glass less frame). And ultimately they are closed waaaaaay more than they are open.

We tend to not get many bugs in, unless we leave them open when it's dark outside.