Getting a pup tonight and need advice

[previousposters]

I am getting a bull terrier puppy tonight. I have experience with dogs as I was brought up with lots of different breeds but what are people's thoughts on cages/crates?
None of our dogs were caged and I recall a few of them destroying the house with chewing. This is what I'm hoping to avoid.
I was planning to put a mesh (bad idea?) baby gate over our downstairs toilet door (about the floor space of the biggest cages I've seen) during the night and when I'm at work (max 4 hours at a time) just till we are past the puppy stage then allow the run of the house.
Would I be better with a cage? Tbh I don't really have the space for a large cage without it being shoved in a corner and I just don't really like the idea of it. Any thoughts or other suggestions welcome.

We started with a huge puppy pen and then moved into a fenced off area of the house before a whole room etc up to free range . Our dog only chewed one piece of wood trim on my staircase on one night , DH fixed it and that was that . I'm not a lover of crates because I feel they are open to abuse and I'm fairly sure that there are lots of dogs that are sitting in cages for several hours a day and then again overnight because it makes dog ownership as easy as owning a rabbit / Guinea pig ( who are also mainly abused by being left in cages for too many hours a day ) .

Op said she only works one day a week, not 5 days.

I'm with Floral on the crate thing. In the hands of loving responsible owners a crate is a useful tool and a den that a dog chooses to use but it's so easy to abuse and poor dogs are confined for hours and hours during the day and overnight as well.

Ok, quick update. The crate didn't even make it into the house. I have arranged a pet sitter to come in twice on the day I am at work and I will be in once so she will be left 2 hours at a time

I put the baby gate over the toilet door and she was fine in there overnight (6 hours).
I only work one day a week. It can't be possible that to have a dog you would have to be at home all the time or very few people would have them
When I say I have experience, I was brought up on a farm with several dogs of different breeds both indoor pets and outdoor dogs.