I have a whole wall that I need to block off with some sort of door. I'm thinking that a bi-fold door would be awesome. However, my husband kind of wants a sliding door. I just think how cool it'd be to have a whole wall made up of a door that could easily be tucked away when needed. This would make outdoor barbecues a lot easier. It would sure save me from having to open the door every time. http://www.superiorwindows.com.au/content/Products/BifoldDoors.aspx 

I couldn't tick one or the other of the boxes – I think the choice has to be made contingent on so many variables. In fact we have painted timber, double-glazed bifolds (with a fabulous retractable pleated fly-screen) at the end of the dining room leading out onto a terrace and a painted timber, double-glazed slider (with a timber-framed sliding fly-screen) on the other side of the kitchen (but on the same axis) opening onto a raised timber deck. Each works really well in terms of function and aesthetics but they would not be interchangeable as the different locations determined which was more suitable – but they have been made by the same highly skilled window craftsman and have given us nothing but pleasure. And on a hot, steamy evening with both open we have the most wonderful cross ventilation.

Unless you have a showpiece kitchen or a kitchen not used much, grease mainly, not dust so much, is a fact of life in a kitchen irrespective of a good quality rangehood and unless one is like sallybrown168 put it, OCD, who wants to be doing more cleaning than less?? I live 50+km away round trip from my nearest safeway, so when I shop, I buy multiples and when I finally get down to the last of something, I write it on the fridge list. Have tried to train everyone in the house to "put it on the list" so we never end up running out and having the dilemma of needing to travel so far to buy a single necessary item. I guess it's because I live so far from the town that I can't forget something and it's not just kitchen needs, it's everything like the bathroom, laundry, pets and livestock as well. I stock up on bread that is frozen immediately, so I'm sort of a mini store and sometimes neighbours that don't store like me, will call me up for something they suspect I will have stashed away. In closing, I like the look of the open shelves and agree with ozcoley that you can see what things you have but I can see it just as well behind a pantry door too!!

Hi siriuskey, it's actually quite a big house, just awkwardly laid out. There are two other bathrooms - a main bathroom and an ensuite - and the laundry will just be a stacked washer and dryer, so not much space required. Yes, I think one door is a better option for the layout too. The house is on a very good sized corner block. The dining room side is open to a car parking deck, no roof. There is a flowering hedge between the dining room window and the car park area so visually it's private and allows good sunlight. Off the family room is a large covered patio plus lawn and trees, and a large shed that will be turned into a home office. Adjacent to the dining room is a bedroom and past that (so the opposite side of the house to the dining room and car park area), is the neighbouring fence. So there is only a narrow walkway between the house and the fence.