adding door to block off smokes/odor from Kitchen

It is impossible to answer your questions without knowing anything about the layout of your kitchen. But in general, why would it NOT be possible to add a door to an existing entryway?

I cannot imagine you not be able to install some kind of door. What kind of opening do you have now? Is there a frame there now?

How 'bout an exhaust fan? Could be cheaper, less intrusive and ultimately necessary to make sure captive odors don't escape into the living areas.

Thanks for your replies. I'm specifically looking for a sliding door. Like the door will be "conceal" inside the adjacent walls. You can only see the door and it'll only be expose if you close the door. Otherwise, the door is hidden away inside the hollows of the wall. Does that make sense? These are quite common in China, but I haven't seen any here in North America as of yet.

The kitchen is not open, so I guess there is a frame there now.

TIA.

Lee, it's called a pocket door and is used fairly often here. Perhaps not so much in kitchens as it's not easy to open and close when you're carrying plates, etc. between kitchen and dining room.

In order to have a pocket door you will need enough space for the door to slide into. If it is a wide opening, you may want a double pocket door, that meets in the middle, rather than a single one. Pocket doors are not at all uncommon in the U.S. and I've seen them used nicely for kitchens.

I see...pocket doors, got it. Thanks! I don't think I have enough space for a double one, the kitchen is only 8' wide, so obviously, the entrance is even narrower. By say, how much would something like that cost?

And someone mention an exhaust fan...how much does one of those cost? The kitchen now has a microwave one. I have no idea whether those are efficient or not. They look pretty useless to me, but I can't do much, because my building's exhaust doesn't fan outside. Even if I do get a fan, it'll basically be a re-circulating one...which is sad, but this is what you get from living in an apartment. Thanks.

Lee,

You can get a hood from Miele, it is not as good as venting outside but is better then a microwave vent. The cost of a pocket door can cost around $2,000.00