To think open plan living is not actually that great?

[Dancergirl]

In almost every homes magazine, tv programme etc these days the focus seems to be on open plan living space. Same old story - the main cook of the family feels isolated in the kitchen, everyone is doing their own thing in different rooms, families are not being together. So the answer is to knock down walls to create one big 'space' so all the family members can be together.

We currently have separate rooms downstairs although some are connected with doors. Kitchen is big enough to have a table in where we have every day meals. Sometimes I do think about going open plan but I can see huge disadvantages:

-Sometimes (especially in a bigger family) you do crave a bit of space to do your own thing and you can't really do that in one big room.

-Dh likes to listen to sports on the radio in the kitchen while the dc are watching telly in the other room. This wouldn't be easy in one big space.

-Dd1 plays piano and flute and practices in the living room. Other family members can sit in kitchen or small tv room and can do something else without having to listen to music practice.

-We are a close family but don't feel the need to spend every waking minute at home in the same room.

Do you think this open plan thing is just fashionable at the moment and we'll start craving walls soon? Or am I missing something??

Yanbu, my idea of a nightmare.

I run to the kitchen to escape everyone, including visitors, by cooking/making drinks/baking/cleaning/procrastinating and there'd be none of that in open plan.
Also if I'm cooking something that creates a lot of grease or smoke that would emminate throughout the house which is just gross.
Plus it seems a bit dangerous giving small children the ability to leg it around the kitchen because without the door or safety gate option how else would you keep them out?

Don't like it.

Err I don't think the home magazines want to force you to knock your walls in. Obviously you should live how you want.

I LOVE open plan living.

We have one big kitchen/dining/living space and i think it feels more like a family home that the closed off little boxes of individual rooms.

I can listen to the DC's music practice, chat about their school days and supervise homework whilst cooking dinner.

I think it helps that we don't have a tv, however there's generally the radio on music playing.

The only down side is having to be incredibly tidy when having friends round for dinner. (Haven't found cooking smells a problem)

We have separate rooms downstairs and they don't really get used much. The space would be much better used if we had a big open plan room downstairs alongside upstairs spaces for people to escape to. Instead we have a front room that is pretty much exclusively used by me, a back room that is almost never used (other than for drying clothes) and a kitchen that gets used for cooking and eating. The children hang around in their bedrooms and DH has a wee room upstairs that he plays videogames and practises bass guitar in.

I love our open plan living room / dining room / play room / kitchen. But there are a few things that make it work. We have a large hallway, so it's not off the stairs and there is good sound insulation to upstairs,and the downstairs toilet is off the hall. We also have a separate utility room, so there is somewhere separate for the noisy machines, drying washing etc. The room is an l shape, so you can actually hide from dirty dishes etc in the cosy corner. And finally, we have really quiet dishwasher etc. and a good extractor fan.

YY to quiet dishwashers and effective extractor fans. Our dishwasher is silent, and was worth every penny. The extractor fan is effective but it sounds like a jet about to take off. Very annoying.

We do have a traditional living room/lounge/parlour/whatever you call it at the front of the house. It is a god-send.

I like it - grew up in Foreign where it's more widespread - but only if it's well-designed. And generally if there is space to have a separate living space as well - so a kitchen/diner/family space, then a separate living room.

I really hate have a small kitchen and separate dining room. A lot.

We have extended and made larger rooms but they are still separate, neighbours have gone fully open plan with bi fold doors and we can now hear everything. I do not think the realise as we now know things about them they would rather keep private. They are definitely more shouty now.

We have a victorian house with all rooms separate, I love it and wouldn't change. I have young DC's and like the fact that they go into the dining room to eat at the table without the distraction of toys and TV. I have friends who have open plan and it's a nightmare to get away from the TV!

I grew up in an open plan house, and when we bought our own with DH, the first thing we did was knock as many walls down as we could.

Absolutely love it, we have a massive open plan living area downstairs now. One can cook and still keep an eye on DC playing in the living room part. And when we have guests, we both get to spend time with them, we don't have to disappear into the kitchen all the time. We have a silent dishwasher and don't keep washer/dryer in the kitchen, so noise is not an issue.

If someone wants peace, quiet and privacy, that's what bedrooms are for. And study for working.

So whatever works for you - I can see an issue though if one of the partners loves open plan, and the other one wants doors everywhere.

Hate open plan living and when looking for flats to rent we reject any with kitchens in the lounge. We looking to buy soon and we do the same. Really dont understand how anyone wants to sit in a room wheres you have cooking smells! Each to their own though..

YANBU I hate open plan. I do not want my kitchen in my living room .

However we are lucky to have a large family/kitchen/dining area plus a separate living room. It's ideal.

I love our version of open plan, we have a large kitchen diner where most playing happens but also a separate and generous living room that can be shut off and a study area that is semi open where music practice happens. This is after a lot of building work and is not what we started with. We are dead lucky. I would not like one very open room where everything happened. So yanbu if that's the version of open plan you mean.

Yes most flats these days have a combined kitchen/living area. I hate it. My first flat was a Glasgow tenement which had a gloriously big kitchen and a gloriously big sitting room.

I'm not a huge fan of open plan. I basically like closing doors so no one can see the mess . My husband is forever cooking something or another and I don't really want the smell of whatever wafting through my entire house or into my soft furnishings. I like a lot of things I see on property programmes but could never live with them day to day.

Our ground floor is open plan, and also has a mezzanine over the living room end. Love it to bits.

On the other hand, I do have an incredibly quiet and efficient dishwasher and extractor fan, the washing machine in a separate utility with a thick door and most of all, no children.

I am a naturally messy person and open plan has pluses and minuses for me in that respect-I can't shut off the kitchen but then I tackle it more quickly than I did because I can see it. We have more space now, but have just decluttered because there isn't a separate room to chick things in as there was before. But when it's messy, I envy friends with the totally unusual situation of three receptions including a playroom (or toy/clutter room as it usually is!). I have no complaints though. It was a ridiculous overspend for us but we love our house.

We live in a duplex apartment. Our living room/kitchen is open plan with a "flexi" living space that is separated off with a sliding door. Our bedroom is mezzanine. The only self contained part of the bloody hall!

Its a great place to live but you could hear a mouse fart in the living room whilst in bed. Not too bad when it was just me and DH, however now with DS, I We hear everything. Good in one hand, crap in another.

We have open plan dining room / music room downstairs with galleried living room and study above. No extra heating and partial double height ceiling which is nice. Also if I don't keep DH in the main living space he squirrels himself away and we never see each other - he still uses his headphones to concentrate / block me out when "working". Also we have enough nooks and crannies for DC to squirrel away into but I can still monitor homework / music practise / art projects.
However we also have a separate kitchen big enough for family dining. All appliances live there along with the cooking smells / mess. Personally if we do entertain I like to be able to shut the door on the kitchen and ignore the tidy up if I would rather have fun than get the guests to help. Also I prefer to cook in peace!

I'll meet your open plan living, but can I raise you en suite bathrooms? Unless you have a GIANT bedroom / bathroom, it's essentially someone having a poo in the corner of the bedroom. NEVER AGAIN

LMAO Tranmere We have an en suite with a frosted glass door... in a mezzanine bedroom...

I'm getting a new bathroom and swapping the sink and loo just to put that extra 18 inches' distance between my pillow and the loo :-(

YANBU. I currently have an open plan sitting and kitchen area and, on my wish list when I move, is a totally separate kitchen. I want somewhere that I can make a bit of a mess without feeling the whole living area now looks messy. Also, I hate strong cooking smells all over the place if people call around.

YANBU.
I could have written your OP word for word (as dd also plays flute and piano!)
We all need separate space to do things that couldn't be done in the same room .... one watching TV whilst someone else is trying to concentrate on work and someone else does music practice whilst someone else wants the X-box, etc.,etc.
Plus, what do you do with things like the muddy football kit soaking in the bucket before going in the wash - who wants to have that in the luxurious all in one living space ?

We have those exact conversations, Daimgirl!