Anyone got fully open plan downstairs?

[Lovingmylife]

We are looking at doing some building work and thinking we might make the whole downstairs open plan. Has anyone done this and ended up hating it or regretted it? I wonder if I'd miss a cosy living room or if I'd love the open space.

We had it and it was great but not so much as DS got older because you cant escape from the noise. We have it now in an apartment and it's ok

In our next place we are having open plan again but hopefully with a separate lounge or study.

Open plan is much colder

Why would open plan be cold? Surely your house is as warm as you decide - well assuming you have some kind of heating system installed.

Ours might as well be and I think it's too open plan. The front door opens into a dogleg corner off the living room with the downstairs loo beyond that. The stairs are at the back of the sitting room. There's then double glass doors into the kitchen diner which we tend to keep open.

I love the open kitchen diner. I wish we had a separate sitting room and a separate entrance hall. The acoustics are terrible and it gets cold easily. Ideally, the kitchen diner would be bigger to fit in a play area, but it's so open I can hear what DS is up to in the sitting room anyway. And I'd also love a utility room but that's a different topic!

Used to. However washing machine going while the tv on was an issue! So noisy!
Also, couldn't stand the cooking smells when trying to relax, and can't leave the washing up till the next day of you have guests or are tired as the mess is there in front of you.
As well as it being a hassle to heat, in the summer with cooking made the heat unbearable!

@KatharinaRosalie

Why would open plan be cold? Surely your house is as warm as you decide - well assuming you have some kind of heating system installed.

If it's a big space, a few radiators around the walls may well not be enough to keep it warm, even if you turn everything up to its maximum, particularly if the insulation's not great. They really need more distributed heating -- probably underfloor, though commercial spaces often use warm air through floor ducts and/or false ceilings.

I found it a pain and wouldn't have it again - dishwashers, kettles etc are louder than you think when you are trying to watch TV and there's no hiding from the cleaning up not being done

We are looking at the moment and are discounting any house without a separate lounge. I want to be able to shut the door away from the kitchen, which for me is a space where chores happen!

I want a separate study, separate lounge and not too big a kitchen as it just means more space to tidy. There’s only the 2 of us though, no kids to worry about.

There seems to be very few houses on the market which haven’t been knocked through, we may have to think about buying somewhere and putting walls back in, which would be a pain.

Don’t do it!

It’s probably quite practical with younger children but once they get older you need different rooms for different activities.

There’s 5 of us - what with music practice, homework, listening to the radio, watching TV, cooking, reading quietly etc... one big room would be a nightmare.

Plus you need space alone when you have teens 😂

We’ve put glass bifold doors between rooms instead - keeps rooms separate but you can open them up for parties.

Unless you have two tiny rooms that would make one normal sized one if you combined them, then I'd say don't do it. We are looking at the moment and discounting anything that doesn't have at least a small separate living room. Mostly so we have the option of using it as an occasional guest room, but also I like having different 'zones' in a house so completely open plan is not to my taste.

Don't do it. Nightmare to regulate heat in the house where you want it without spending a fortune. And noise travels pretty far!!! Little things like containing babies/kittens/puppiesor if there is work being done on windows/doors. We are currently open plan and going to build a wall and door. Good luck with your home!

I haven't got an open plan, as I have taste.

Sounds dreadful.

I don't want to smell fish being fried or hear the noise of a dishwasher being emptied when I am relaxing up on the sofa.
Plus the heat thing.
I can pump up the heat in the living room and leave the hall, kitchen dining at a cooler temperature.
I don;t want to waste money heating a kitchen area when cooking is finished for the evening. Sounds very wasteful.

Mumsnet seems to be a totally different world from the one I inhabit with the open plan hate. Was thinking about 20 or so friends of mine and all bar one have open plan kitchen-living room. The one doesn't as she's renting, hates the separate rooms and her main criteria for the house they're on the market for is open plan. But we all like to entertain so the more room the better.

Open plan kitchen, dining area and sitting room. Great when kids were little but now no privacy, feel like we're on top of each other. I can't listen to the radio when I cook as the kids can't hear the TV. As a result the kids are mainly on their rooms. We're putting internal French doors in to separate the sitting room from the rest

The ground floor of our 4 bed house is open plan. I do miss having a hall as we have a dog but apart from that it works fine for the two of us. There is a separate utility so we can shut out the noise of the washing machine and dump stuff/mess.
It wouldn't work so well if we still had children living at home although all the bedrooms are quite big which helps. The ground floor is a great entertaining space and we love it.
If I could change anything it would be to have a hall. Or at least a porch.

We did (previous owners removed the walls), but we put the walls back up. The house had more of a ‘wow’ factor when open plan, but my god it was a fucking nightmare to heat/keep tidy/have five minutes to yourself out of sight of small demanding DC. Also, we do a lot of cooking and everywhere would stink of curry/chilli/fish or whatever was for dinner that day. Never, ever would I buy an open plan property again.

We do. Have a large kitchen, diner, chill out area all open plan. New extension about 18 months ago. We do have a small separate lounge. But in all honestly no one ever goes in it. Always in the open plan space for everything. Plus got the views of garden and sky light which makes it light and airy. We love it

I love having a snug room.
I have a big hallway, a large open plan kitchen/diner, which is great for entertaining- french doors lead into a sunroom and open deck area outside. So when I entertain - plenty room for eating and socialising.
But it is good to close the doors on the kitchen- especially if it is messy/smells of rich food/dishwasher skooshing and clanking.
I love being able to have a change of mood in downstairs living space.
After a bright buzzing meal or having friends over or just OH and I it feels so good to retire to a cosy sanctuary of a warm living room with low lights, no noise, calm surroundings.
Having separate defined space feels good to me.

Mine is (apart from the hallway) and it has worked well. Now kids are a bit older they tend to spend more time in their room. It's good as the kitchen is quite small but doesn't feel like it because it opens onto the dining area and living room.

@G5000

Mumsnet seems to be a totally different world from the one I inhabit with the open plan hate. Was thinking about 20 or so friends of mine and all bar one have open plan kitchen-living room. The one doesn't as she's renting, hates the separate rooms and her main criteria for the house they're on the market for is open plan. But we all like to entertain so the more room the better.

But entertaining surely involves accommodating more than one type of guest?

Dancing in the kitchen types, chilling in the lounge and smokers in the garden?

@HypnoRuler

I haven't got an open plan, as I have taste.

Wow, that’s rude.

To each their own.