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??

It's not a good idea if you don't have two separate living spaces.

My MIL is so baffled by open plan, she is old-school and doesn't want guests perched on her counter with a glass of wine as she prepares supper.

I suspect open plan will be very passé soon and the interior design mags will be flogging sitting rooms and dining rooms and breakfast rooms with hatches as the latest chi chi lifestyle. Kids who grew up in open plan houses will love all this separate room stuff and will view large kitchen/diners in the same way that we view wallpaper with borders and flowery carpets.

We have an open plan downstairs, lounge area, wooden floored dining area, and kitchen with a half wall so you can see in / out to dining area, the stairs are also open and in the same room. Boys are 9 and 5 so works well for us as I can cook, homework, supervise playing etc. Still have radio in the kitchen while they do homework and watch TV, and we've always had noise of TV / surround sound at night so it doesn't bother them.

On the other hand, I also have a utility room which has a door, a playroom for toys and clutter, which has a door and a conservatory to hide in. So best of both worlds I suppose. Never had any problem heating it though, only two radiators in the large area and we've done three winters in credit with gas people.

We have a kind of "S" shaped kitchen/diner/living area. The kitchen/dining bit also has a vaulted ceiling. In winter when you sit in living room, it was like looking into the Bat Cave, and looked so cold. We've since got a screen to put up between the 2 areas, which has helped no end. I hate though, that I can hear the fridge rattling when I am in the living area. Hate that when the cooker fan is on, we can't hear the TV. Also the utility room is a tiny separate room off the open plan, so you can hear the tumble drier churning away.

There is a separate living room, but it's not fully kitted out yet. DH uses it as a work space.

We knocked down a wall to create a large open plan kitchen/dining/family area and also have a separate utility room and 'sitting' room. I love the open plan-ness, honestly the best thing we ever did.

I built a house (well, designed it) in an area where open plan is almost obligatory.
I put tons of walls in .

The builder was horrified. But I really hate being in the kitchen whilst Spongebob is squalking away in the same room etc. THERE IS NO ESCAPE!!!

I do think it's way more practical being open plan with toddler as you can cook, have the TV on for them and watch them play with toys so know they are safe. But my kids are older, and so having individual 'nesty' spaces are bliss.

I think I need my own space and headspace. The kitchen still has a breakfast bar and small kitchen table, and a little sofa, but there is a dining room and sitting room. I'm so happy I didn't give into the open-plan fad.

I hate open plan and would never buy a house with it. I like big rooms, but I also want them to feel cosy, which open plan doesnt seem to deliver on.

I suspect it may be a fad, and something that people years from now will snicker at. Kind of like we did when we were looking at houses, and looked at one that had lots of bright coloured foil wallpaper that just SCREAMED 70's.

I also wonder if this has something to do with a lot of people not actually cooking at home. Cooking smells wouldn't be an issue for them, of course.

We built an extension a couple of years ago, then knocked through into the kitchen so we have a big kitchen/diner/family space. I love it. We've got a big squishy sofa that looks over the garden, where I can live whilst keeping one eye on the dinner.

BUT we also have a separate living room, plus a utility room. So people who want to watch tv go in the living room, and pots/pans etc go straight in the utility.

I don't think I'd want to have the whole downstairs open plan though.

Im going against the grain here and must be deeply unfashionable because I absolutely love open plan. I love the light, the space and find it easy to keep reasonably tidy.

We built an extension when we moved here, knocking kitchen through to create a kitchen/diner/ living room. We love it. Especially when we have family over on a Sunday. We have those bifold doors to garden that everyone on here says are dated already. The kids run in and out and get the most out of the garden all year round.

We did put in a good extractor fan so have no real issues with cooking smells. We also kept a separate living room and utility room so still have doors to slam.

Only issue for us is the kettle can be noisy when we are watching tv and the kids can create a higher noise level when we have friends round.

Views and space more than make up for it.

Separate rooms here. it's a fashion driven by magazines who find it easier to photograph larger spaces and the tiny houses people down south have to live in. I grew up in the far north and trust me, when you have acres of space no-one has open plan. Lots of big farmhouse kitchens but only the poor have a sofa in the kitchen , sitting rooms are always separate.

We currently have a three bed house with a big hallway (parties usually end up in the hallway), big sitting room, big dining room and reasonable sized kitchen, small utility room and toilet. It's not big enough with three kids. My ideal house would have a sitting room, a play room, a study, a dining room, a kitchen, a bootroom/utility room, and a loo downstairs. You need space to get away from each other and the mess. Big houses are much easier to keep clean and tidy because there's less multitasking space.

Completely agree with the comments about dirty pots, cooking smells and teenagers

I would not want to live in an open plan house ATM as although they look great, I don't think it would work for us. I prefer our kitchen/diner with a little sofa and sitting-room to be separate!

But I am planning on me and DH or just me moving to a big, airy, light partly open-plan flat when we have an empty nest

We started our married life in an open plan house. Never again. No privacy, nowhere to get away from each other, nowhere to dump stuff when unexpected visitors turn up/need to stay overnight.

Lots of small cosy rooms is the answer.

I kind of like the idea of it but I would need a large kitchen diner AND a separate utility room for the washer etc AND a small separate lounge to escape to. Just knocking down walls doesn't work well, it needs to be nicely planned out. I have seen a lot of bad open plans, as have been looking for a new house.

I rented an open plan apartment for 5 years and I hated it for lots of reasons. For a start, I couldn't watch tv whilst the washing machine was on, as I couldn't shut a door to muffle the noise, I had nowhere to put the dogs when anyone was around that didn't like dogs, other than my bedroom, and I felt massively under pressure to keep washing out of sight etc as it seems acceptable to have it drying in the kitchen, but not in the living room!

Moved a couple of months ago into a house with actual doors and I love it!

Totally with you OP! Was watching Phil Spencer the other night and he said to the home owners, " Imagine it being open plan, one child on the piano, the other doing homework and you cooking!" I thought , really Phil? Think about what you are saying! We have toyed with the idea but decided to leave our downstairs as 3 rooms, lounge with TV, dining room /family room with computer and piano and kitchen diner. We all need to escape from each other sometimes!

My dad has open plan - completely open huge galleried 2 storied space with only separate bedrooms and bathrooms and its amazing to visit.
And great for him - he lives semi alone (partner has her own house too) entertains a lot and has a lot of art so it feels like a display space.
It would be terrible for family full time though.

We had this designed once. Open kitchen diner but the washing machine, dryer and dishwasher I planned to put into the utility room. DH hates noisy machines. We did plan for a lounge as well for peace and quiet.

Nope still don't see the issue. I'm home early today, dh is prepping dinner, I'm sitting at the kitchen table finishing up some work emails, ds1 is doing homework opposite, ds2 is sticking 101 pieces of paper together on the floor. It's nice as we can all get on with own thing but still communicate and help each other where needed.

Growing up we had loads of small rooms in huge house and it felt lonely as even with everyone home nobody saw each other. Here is the complete opposite, tony and communal. Ds's might say they hated it as adults I suppose, but now eldest at 5 years doesnt seem to mind.

We all share 1 bedroom and when I mentioned we might move to a 2 bed flat, they both looked horrified and suggested the 2nd bedroom was a guest room only as they didn't like the idea of sleeping alone

I think it will be different when they are teenagers and want to bring friends home.

Maybe, but in a London property, very few teenagers will have acres of space to socialise, they will have to just learn to socialise within one communal space.

I'm not a fan of open plan - for lots of reasons stated on this thread ...
We looked at a house that had gone totally open plan downstairs - (apart from a small utility). Looked stunning - windows to patio etc ...then I thought about how we would live there, where we could put things etc and realised it just wasn't practical.
One of the main things I realised was lack of inside walls also means lack of corners to tuck things out of the way.

The people living there had a kitchen cupboard on a breakfast bar thing filled with papers - bills etc. (I wasn't being nosey - I opened one to look at the quality of the cupboards) - and apart from there was nowhere else to put them... if you put storage in the living/dining room bit it would look like a corridor - cupboards one wall, sofa the other. Unless you put them back to back or had them standing in the middle of the floor - hard to get right. Not open plan you could have a cupboard in the corner of say the dining room for stuff like that. To be fair it wasn't massive but not tiny either. I think you would need very big to get away from the corridor feel.
House we are renovating has a small separate kitchen and a biggish living/dining room. I would love to divide it - but we have a stunning view from one side and it would be a shame to make one room without the view... (and we have a study upstairs to dump rubbish - and reasonable sized bedrooms)

I would hate a house that is mostly open plan. A mixture works for us.

We have a big kitchen/diner which has double doors that lead to snug room overlooking the garden. Great for parties.
Then we have proper rooms as well. Study for homework/jigsaws/craft etc. Utility for all the crap, TV room for DC and a separate living room which I like to be quite cosy- something I would find difficult to achieve with open plan.

I just dont get this 'everything revolves around the kitchen. I spend such a small amount of time in there