#112 Multiple Entry Doors

My house used to be someone's cottage, and therefore it does not have some amenities that newer houses have such as laundry inside the house or an attached garage. The only available laundry hookup is in the detached garage which was added at a much later date than when the house was originally built. And actually, the garage is almost as large as the house with half of it available for vehicle parking, and the other half is a recreational/storage/utility area with baseboard heating. While the detached garage is convenient for things such as painting and doing work that creates loud noises, it is not domestically convenient.

I live in a part of the United States that experiences all four seasons for about three months each. So that means when I have to do laundry or go out to my vehicle (parked in the garage), I have to go outside. I don't have to walk very far - perhaps 25 feet or so - but going through so many doors is what irritates so much.

When leaving the house I have to go through a front door with a knob and a latched storm door, down a few steps to the ground... walk along the path then to get into the garage I have to pass through a latched storm door and another entry door which also has a keypad (so we can leave it locked and not require a key). Now I'm in the garage, but to get to the laundry room I have to open yet another door with a knob. If I want to get to the section of the garage where my vehicle is parked, I have to open an entry door with a knob AND push open a screen door. Then, of course, to get the vehicle out of the garage there is an overhead door, but that's not such a big deal because all you have to do for that one is press a button.

"Why so many doors?" you may ask. Well, when the weather is pleasant the storm doors are kept screened so that the fresh air can pass through without allowing any bugs or critters in the structure. The entry doors are installed to provide insulation to keep the heat or the air conditioning contained in the structure and, of course, to protect against people trying to get in. But when you put all of these doors together with trying to carry something in your hands (i.e. a laundry basket or a child in a carseat) it becomes rather annoying and challenging to say the least.

Laundry is a pain in the ass enough as it is, now you're telling me I have to go through (count them) FIVE doors - while carrying a laundry basket full of clothes - just to do it? AND I have to walk outside when it's 20 degrees Fahrenheit?!? I don't think so.

Now that we have a kid, it's not just him we have to haul out to the car... OH NO. You have to carry a ton of stuff with you at all times. So trying to juggle a car seat with a child, a diaper bag, a bottle bag, an extra toy or two, PLUS whatever I need to bring for myself, then have to go through (count them) SIX doors AND THEN the vehicle door........ well that's just one giant pain in the ass! It's too much opening and closing. If I could put automatic openers on my doors somehow, I would absolutely do that.