A sliding door is just a big window, and if correctly built in (check if the glass is the correct sized for the door if a bit old) with the correct sized lintels this should not be a big problem as the loads would be transferred to the sides, allowing the door to slide easily. Silicon spray (being a Yachtie were we use this stuff everywhere), we now use silicone spray on all our windows in our 1930 home and the windows glide across with one finger before they used to tilt when trying to open them. I would place the door head up to line up with the others and one thing you might consider is placing a window seat, (rebate the bottom channels into the window seat) and have the window seat in and out, place a cushion over the entire seat, should be fantastic and if the deck is built, than no balustrade is required. If it is a stacker slider, i would do the seat for the entire length. So instead of looking a bit funny they will think it was supposed to be like that. We should all think outside the square more often. RAM

In my last house, after adding a living room (the area you see this side of the arch) and also updating bathroom etc I couldn't afford to reline the ancient walls in my little lounge (when I removed the purple wallpaper I found a mixmax of boards, gib, pinex, plywood and holes!) so I plastered walls all over with layers and layers of newspaper and wallpaper paste (papier mache), then after applying primer/undercoat I painted with 2 similar colours (rich reds in this case), and stippled the surface with a plastic bag. This made it look just very slightly textured like leather and successfully disguised the uneven surfaces. Gallons of gap filler filled the gaps between the old T&G ceiling boards and evened out the mismatched skirting and scotia. Again white paint on all the trims. Amazing what can be done when you have to make do! This was a great cosy little room! (Before photo is the 3rd one)

Thanks for all the comments, its great to get the feedback. The apartment is really small and actually very narrow in the kitchen space being only against the one wall. The dark wood makes the room feel smaller and almost pulls the ceiling down lower than it is... To be honest I never really liked it! I am conscious we have bought a lot of American Oak wood scandi style furniture from Icon by Design to fit out the place and it may be overkill going with more timber in such a small area... after getting 4 quotes, I have found it is cheaper in Sydney to buy new doors and have manufactured than to repaint existing doors thats why I thought I could have them all replaced and go handleless We are putting a very small open shelf to the right of the range hood where the existing shelf is, this will be coloured in lighter oak timber veneer to break up the top row colour block.. We decided on the wall/ceiling colours from the beginning and now just trying to work through our kitchen, we found a circuit with easy access to install an LED light strip today which was great, but am now considering whether we put in a glass door to break it up etc. It's so hard to decide!

At least the Crimsafe doors won't take from any design features. What I will throw into the discussion is that you could put your screen door further out in the Entrance area (there seems to be half a metre or so in the photograph) and if they were double frames could latch back when required, rather than one large frame taking up all the space. Just ensure the area is covered, so visitors son't cop a deluge awaiting access. For added security, bolts could be attached to one side top and base and the other frame do most of the swinging.