For my European friends…

[AprilBaby]

I like to look at home and garden magazines for inspiration, many British. It appears many homes have folding glass doors to the outside to blend inside/ outside space, amazing! The only problem is if I had that I would have flys, ladybugs, wasps, bees, dragonfly’s….in my house. How do you manage?

 

[Austina]

We had bifold doors on our orangery, which were always open in summer (yes, we did get good summers in England ). We didn’t get the same kind of bugs as in the US, mainly flies or wasps, sometimes butterflies. They’d fly in and eventually fly out.

 

[DutchJackie]

like this:

 

[AprilBaby]

Ah! Every picture in the magazine is WIDE open! Thank you!

 

[MaisOuiMadame]

I have those and my doors are open in summer. There are fewer bugs like @Austina has already said and for the bedroom windows we haves
screens like @DutchJackie posted. Mainly because of mosquitoes.

We do have the occasional wasp / fly and in late autumn ladybugs. Which is not a problem for me personally.

There are no roaches /Palmetto bugs where I live nor by if quantities of flies or huge amounts of mosquitoes.

 

[AprilBaby]

I would love this! Maybe because our houses are less open the bugs would never get out! Stink bugs, June bugs, spider……

 

[Arcadian]

So, I don't have screens and on occassion I get gekkos and tree frogs in my house as well as whatever bug Florida wants to have in it. I'm in the midst of building a screened in area for some "outdoor living" to keep the bugs and most of the lizards out of the house.

I'm used to the lizards occassionally getting in, but they die in here which is the gross thing.

 

[ringo865]

Omg we would have nothing but mosquitos, yellow jackets and box elder bugs in my house. Although, this would be completely awesome to have - when it’s not -25 degrees like it is now … (Fahrenheit)

 

[Austina]

 

[Garnetgirl]

I just LOVE the look of these wide open window walls, but like @AprilBaby I regret that I could never have them. In summer, my house would be inundated with flies, mosquitoes, etc etc …..

 

[Garnetgirl]

Screens on all my windows, and never keep the doors open longer than necessary.

 

[prs]

We had them when we lived in Atlanta. They looked great but were hardly ever used. Trust me, you do not want wide open doors in HOTLANTA.

They faced West, and it turns out their main function was to leak water whenever it rained and ruin the carpet.

 

[Ally T]

One end of our dining room is an Orangery with a glass lantern roof & bi-fold doors that push right back & open the wall up into the garden. In the summer at weekends, they only get pulled closed at bedtime, opened right back up at breakfast. Rubbish picture as I'm not at home & it's just one on my phone, but you can see them pushed back next to the bookcase.

 

[AprilBaby]

So you must have no bugs! I have never seen a roof like that in the US. Maybe it gets too hot here for one to be practical.

 

[dk168]

I would never have a conservatory as I find them too hot and you'll not see me sit and rest in one. And I don't like the idea of creepy crawlies hanging from plants in there.

I have a door in my kitchen/diner that leads into the garden, and it stays open when I am cooking and to let the dog out. Otherwise it is closed.

When I had a new shed built in the garden to replace the storage space in the garage I removed to make room for my RV, I incorporated a canopy in the design, so that I could sit underneath it when the weather is nicer, even when it rains.

DK

 

[Ally T]

So you must have no bugs! I have never seen a roof like that in the US. Maybe it gets too hot here for one to be practical.

We definitely get bugs! See the ledge where the walls meet the glass roof? Well that pelmet is a graveyard - bluebottles, wasps, bees & sadly the odd very beautiful butterfly. If you look down from the bedroom directly above, you can see them in all their deathly glory. Periodically I have to climb up & hoover them out. But we don't get icky nasty bugs in the UK, so nothing more dangerous than a wasp or horse fly to sting you.

@dk168 It doesn't get too hot or too cold with these roof systems, as they are thermally insulated reflective blue glass. They keep the heat out in the summer & the heat in during the snow. There is a regular radiator in there on the right wall & it's fully part of the house with no heat or cold issues at all.

 

[canuk-gal]

HI:

These open doors are so appealing; but with AC?

cheers--Sharon

 

[Austina]

We didn’t have a/c in the UK @canuk-gal

 

[canuk-gal]

We didn’t have a/c in the UK @canuk-gal

Ah ha!

 

[dk168]

@dk168 It doesn't get too hot or too cold with these roof systems, as they are thermally insulated reflective blue glass. They keep the heat out in the summer & the heat in during the snow. There is a regular radiator in there on the right wall & it's fully part of the house with no heat or cold issues at all.

No doubt technology has advanced significantly from the older conservatories that I am accustomed to.

DK

 

[missy]

I love the outside inside living but I loathe (OK fear) bugs. So no open doors or windows without screens. And when you visit (post pandemic and yes I hope for this to happen soon) I will usher you in quickly as not to allow bugs to get inside and same for when we go outside (where we will probably be entertaining in the backyard). Quickly out and I shut the glass doors. Sorry, I am serious about NOT letting bugs inside. I don't mind them outside (that is where they live) but not in my home thank you very much.

So we never leave our glass doors open. But our windows have screens and on beautiful weather and temperature days we do leave our windows open for fresh air and cool breezes. The kitties love it too.

 

[Calliecake]

I like to look at home and garden magazines for inspiration, many British. It appears many homes have folding glass doors to the outside to blend inside/ outside space, amazing! The only problem is if I had that I would have flys, ladybugs, wasps, bees, dragonfly’s….in my house. How do you manage?

This is gorgeous and would be my perfect dream room. @AprilBaby this is never going to happen where we live. The house would be filled with flies, bees, wasps, and box elders with in an hour.

 

[chrono]

We are currently building something similar with lots of windows and a wide door. We will put up screens because I refuse to go sit anywhere mosquitos and other insects will get to my sweet delicious blood.

 

[lissyflo]

I like to look at home and garden magazines for inspiration, many British. It appears many homes have folding glass doors to the outside to blend inside/ outside space, amazing! The only problem is if I had that I would have flys, ladybugs, wasps, bees, dragonfly’s….in my house. How do you manage?

Not that it’s any consolation, but these style rooms won’t be allowed in the U.K. anymore. New build conservatories have been banned because of their solar gain properties. The folding/sliding doors are still allowed on structures with significantly more brick though. We had them in our old house and having an open wall really expands your living space into the outside. I loved them.

 

[VRBeauty]

I can’t stand mosquitos! If I detect a mosquito in the room when I’m trying to sleep, I get up and try to swat it and won’t rest again until I know it’s dead. So - no open windows or doors for me if there’s any chance of mosquitos. And I spotted a few - outside, fortunately - just yesterday!

My sweetie and I have a vintage truck with a camper shell, the kind with a big back window that you lift to get in and out. We came up with ways to attach curtains all around so I can sleep in in the morning. The original curtains were made of a “blackout” material and really helped, but I just added even better blackout liners, and can’t wait to try them on a trip later this week - but I digress. One of the niftiest “curtains” I made is a screen door! It’s one of those fabric screens with little magnets that open and just walk through and - zip! - they just find each other and close right behind you!



I love that picture, @missy! It brought to mind many years ago when I had a small backyard pond and hence, mosquitos. My kitty at the time, Oscar, was quite the insect hunter. He couldn’t get mosquitos high up on the walls or ceiling, of course - but he’d spot them and stare at them so I could find and swat them!