Kitchen Doors

We have two autistic sons, so (limited) access to the kitchen is very important. Yet, kitchen designs have become more "open" over the years, so it's interesting how we wanted to go in the other direction. One of the reasons we liked this house was how the kitchen was fairly closed off to begin with.

Before

Here's the original kitchen access when we moved in. As open as it is, there's still only one access point, so that was great. We started out with a lock on the refrigerator. Unfortunately, it just wasn't enough.

I joked that we needed one of those "roll-top" doors to close off the entire kitchen. My grandfather had a better idea.

Prep

Here, my grandfather is building the standoffs for the new sliding door design. This will allow the wall to extend out enough to house a heavy-duty track.

Installation

This is a track designed for barn doors. It's seriously over-designed, but that's really important. The boys can be fairly disorderly when food is being prepared.

Hardware

Here, you can see the full track, right before the new panel is installed. Already functional and looks great.

New Panels

My grandfather managed to find panels with the exact same color. The doors look like they've always been there.

After

When it's closed, turns out not even the cat can get in there. The doors even have a lock which is the same as the house key. The window panes are a really nice touch, so the boys can see what's happening.

Other images in Lake of the Pines, autism.