Does the door have to have any kind of fire rating? If not you could use a door like the below. These doors from IQ Metal normally start at around £800 per m2 (including installation etc.) and can create a really elegant door design for internal use. You can see some more images and info on this system at our website here. If you need a fire rating a different frame design would need to be used depending on the fire rating you need. Let me know if you have any questions Rebecca IQ Metal 01494 722 880

This is similar to another post on here, where they are nearing the end of the build and are now starting to think about furniture placement. You have to do the furniture from the off set, otherwise you run the risk of not being able to lay out a room well. Your husband may not want to indent the room too much visually but i'm sure you will want a T.V in the lounge area, so you need to work out where you will put the sofa and T.V before you build. Hopefully the 2.2 metres is the internal space not the external, is there a reason why it's so narrow? It's going to be difficult to put the furniture in there regardless due to the size restriction. I've just measured our dining table, and when you pull the chairs out either side in order to sit down from chair to chair it measures 2.1 metres, so you can see just how tight the space will be. As you see from the renders above I had to move the furniture backwards in to the existing room in order to fit it in............so it's really important to think about it carefully. This is an average sofa and table fitted in to the extension space without going backwards in to the existing room................as you see, it barely fits.

We watched the George programme too last night on catch up. That Edwardian house was utterly beautiful and we both kept pausing it to chat about the stuff they had done and how we could use the ideas in our house! Andy, I am sorry I cannot help on your dilemma but when you do get it sorted it would be fantastic if you could share your solution with us. Best of luck with it.

I think this is a really common question for a lot of people. If you only need partial opening (so no bifolds) then sliding doors is the most practical solution, for all the reasons you've given - no doors flapping about, doors don't take up space internally or externally and you can leave it a little open or a lot open, plus maximum glass for light and views. As much as I love proper original Crittal, my husband totally thinks they look like glass garage doors - and that image ruined them for me! Still love them in other people's houses (when done well), but together with all the practical reasons, we won't have them in ours.