Ground floor approx. 100 sqm, upper floor expandable (planned bathroom, 2 children's rooms, 1 storage room)

But I'm not so snobbish that I need two doors for that

You maybe not - but the mayor. He doesn't want to ring at the utility room door

Doors that you only pass through as a bride and as a corpse are probably unknown in the south. And for these two occasions, the side door wouldn't be the dream of my numb feet

Our cemetery gate is divided into three parts. You are carried through the middle, on the left and right you walk on your own feet.

Well, you know all this in the South too, bet? But it all has its roots in agriculture, and much of it has been forgotten down there because of the high degree of urbanization. Today the striking advantage is, you come with your groceries, zap, right in, and many things disappear immediately into the pantry, others go into the adjacent kitchen. Or you have washed, zap, everything sorted into baskets, then out the back and you are right at the clothesline, where you hang them up. Or the trash bins are of course next to the back door, three and a half steps from the kitchen. And so on. Karsten

We used to have that too. Stable clothes hung in the feed chamber. There were three exits on the ground floor and the television with the canapé was in the kitchen. The entrance that was conveniently located was used. The Säuadupfu (potatoes for the pigs) were always carried through the main entrance. The whole thing was so practical that hardly anyone has it anymore. Who still has a sausage kitchen and a feed chamber?

We have a direct entrance to the building services room. Only that one is large enough, there were no structural contortions, and no one has to pass by the dirty laundry. The second entrance is not needed.

I see it the same way: if I have a correspondingly large floor area, then I can afford two, three, or more entrances. But if I have to manage the qms, then you should weigh the value against each other: space or additional access? Just because you imagine it to be so convenient (and it really is with a sufficiently large floor area) doesn’t mean it goes together with the other requirements I have for the floor plan and the space I simply need (e.g., in a utility room of a house WITHOUT a basement, every cm of wall space is worth gold! Especially if the family consists of more than two people).

I admit: our first draft also had direct access from the (at that time still planned) garage to the pantry. I would have liked that! Also, for example, to be able to leave beverage crates in the garage (and there they are almost ready to drink for 3/4 of the year cooled) and to get there quickly from the kitchen. Until I simply tried to implement my requirements for the pantry (how many running meters of storage space do I need? Freezer also has to fit in, etc.). Well... there wouldn’t have been much space left. So I said goodbye to that because other requirements (storage!!!) are simply more important. The garage also fell victim to another plan, but in return we saved significantly on traffic space on the property; the approximately 90 sqm more garden gained is worth it. Although I do complain a bit that we won’t have a garage anymore. But that’s what I preach: weigh what makes more sense in the long run and then consistently part with a few beloved ideas. That is painful, no question.

For us, friends will simply come in through the front door in winter and in summer, when we are there, probably directly via the terrace. They’ll get a beer too, and we’ll have a cozy time; even without a door to the pantry.

I cannot deny a certain logic to the female previous speakers. You always give something to get something. Unless everything is available in abundance. Our thoughts were like this: We give up some living space square meters in favor of the kitchen and utility room, both side by side. We choose gas because we saw the bulky technology at our son-in-law’s place that such a ground source heat pump means. Then there is space in the utility room. The back door was very important to us. For that, we settled for one patio door. We can live well like this. Karsten

T and S and W are friends, they don't ring the bell, they come in through the back and call out, hello, where are you. They are allowed to do that. The door is always open during the day anyway. A stranger must ring the bell and is let in.

To degrade a representative front door along with the entrance area to a mere defense airlock against strangers seems to me like: spending a lot of money for little function. It feels like tradition, and that’s okay. But does it make sense? Hmm...

And as much as I like the idea, on paper, of having an open-door house for friends, I do prefer that every visitor at least announces themselves by ringing the bell. Maybe I am busy with something and do not want to be disturbed – and a "Hello, where are you?" from the inside of my house definitely bothers me more than ringing from outside, which I can ignore if necessary.

If the people whose opinion matters anyway go through the utility room, why not be consistent and make this access the sole main entrance? As a "side door," you still have access to the terrace.

And whether strangers find it weird having to go through a utility room, I couldn’t care less...

Practical question: Where does the friendly visitor who enters through the utility room store their coats/jackets? What exactly is the front entrance area used for besides its function as a stranger filter?