The kitchen entrance is complete! Door and porch are in and as expected — this new entrance makes taking out the trash AND bringing in the groceries SOooooooo much easier. It just makes sense. In my opinion, it looks like it’s been here all along. Like some very smart person who thought about how a person would actually live in this house. planned and executed a plan to achieve most efficient functionality from the get-go.
But instead a very smart person planned and executed it after the fact. Haha!
Well it’s in now –and I have to be honest with you, I photoshopped that picture above (and not very well) because right now we have a couple bright white garbage cans sitting on the porch for our recycling. At some point I’ll have to build a little recycling center. At some point way down the road.
We’re keeping that big “some kind of green bush” intentionally large because it hides the giant garbage can. It’s a perfect little garbage can retreat! We keep it here instead of in the garage because the garages are in the basement which is part of the reason the layout of this first floor required putting this side door IN. Basement garages are a thing here. LOTS of hilly driveways…
So the giant trash can will always sit in this little hideaway along with some kind of recycling center that I’ll build way down the road and that dumb little scooper-upper that we HAVE to have on hand because Maya (stray cat that we adopted as an outside cat but she has somehow come to be inside more than outside even though we are allergic -we’re soft hearted suckers…
Maya kills moles and presents them to us as a lovely surprise. I find them on the sidewalk and porch frequently — it’s really gross.
So I’ll have to build a little house for the mole-picker-upper too. Sometime down the road…
Regardless of the current aesthetics of all the necessary accessories, the new side entrance is a straight shot into (and out of) the kitchen –which we are finding to be extremely convenient.
Liz VanKirk says
Looks great! Very handy with the recycling/garbage so close. You’ll have to build a covered recycling bin to keep the rain & wind from blowing stuff out of the bins. Just curious – are you planning to paint the door red to match your front door or keep it a subtle color so it blends in more? We have the same scenario except our side door is in the garage on the front of our house.
Andrea says
Hooray for functionality!
Kim says
The door looks like it was always there!
Gotta admit though, I was distracted by green grass and sunshine. Here in Ontario, Canada we are piled high with brown snow on the first day of spring. Not fair.
Love your blog. I have learned so much from it! Can’t wait to see your finished kitchen.
Guerrina says
It really does look like it was always there! Great job!
Cathie says
I seriously need a mole hunting cat.
Your house looks great!
Ann C says
Perhaps if you could build a bench to sit on with storage in it for the recycling. I think Rubbermaid has a storage unit for outdoor items if it isn’t too big for the porch might work perfectly. Going to need some paver stones for walking out to the car… But then lots of time spring really is coming.
Chantelle - ThousandSquareFeet says
I was trying to figure out why you were carrying groceries in through an outside door rather than through the garage into the house. A basement garage answers that question nicely. And, yes, the door looks perfectly at home there.
Feral Turtle says
Looks great! Way to add good function to your home Sandra. Cheers.
kim massa says
Great job, And the previous suggestion to build a bench to house the recycling is a very good idea. You might want someplace to sit while taking off muddy, wet, snowy foot wear. Or someplace to store the towel you use to
dry the dog off before coming in.
Cheri says
I wonder if the original plans called for this door & porch, but the builder thought “better?”
It looks perfectly planned. Congratulations!
BethJ says
The design doesn’t *at all* look after-the-fact! Totally blends. Little dog seems to approve too. 🙂
Laura C says
Looks great. Are you going to put in new pavers to create a path to the new door?