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??

What is wrong with putting on the washing machine when you are out? confused

I've read the MN warnings - apparently they regularly catch fire - or most likely thing to cause a house fire - so you shouldn't have them on when not around to supervise them.

and I just wonder, what happens when they want to get away from each other?

Bedrooms ? - If lurking in kitchen or dinning area with doors shut isn't enough I do fine I go upstairs to our bedroom.

In summer garden is an option too.

lemony both washing machine and dishwashers (nor tumble driers) shouldn't be left on when you are out or especially run at night time. (Seen quite a few people here saying they do that . They are all fire risks...
A Which? survey actually claimed that washing machines and tumble dryers are the biggest fire risk of all. They caused 1,083 fires and 80 injuries in 2012
Most fires here are the result of faults. Sometimes electrical wiring shorts and causes a fire, alternatively the friction of an incorrectly revolving drum can cause sparks. A lint build-up in a dryer can also contribute to the risks
Dishwashers
These caused 475 fires and 68 injuries in 2012. The government's fire statistics show that overwhelmingly these were caused by faulty products rather than misuse, and the experts stress that this is why it's so important that we don't leave these appliances running while we go out, just in case a fault develops.
I know a family who lost everything except their nightwear because of an electrical fault in a dishwasher - and it had finished the cycle, the fire started from the finished indicator light...

I've just finished frying some pork ribs for a casserole and there's a haze of oil smoke in the kitchen that will settle on everything even though I've had the extractor on and the back door open.

I don't mind having to swab the kitchen down tomorrow but I'm glad I can shut the door on the rest of the house.

My problem is that whenever the door's shut the cat yowls to come in from FOMO. Then he realises nothing special is going on so yowls to go back. Five minutes later he gets another attack of FOMO.

Two minutes since I posted that and the little fucker is back again.

We have an open-plan dining/kitchen/living area. There are lots of windows, and velux in the ceiling (useful for ventilation). It's light, bright and airy and spacious with high ceilings and a wooden floor throughout, with a double door going out to the garden. I have a wood burning stove in one corner so it's always cosy. I bloody love it. We remodelled and extended, changing our home from one where you trooped up and down the house between a dark
coat and bag dump dining room and separate kitchen, and the living room.
The old living room I will do up at some stage. Nobody spends any time in it though.

Our bedrooms are not large so it's nice to emerge have a area where there is space in the house. It's L shaped, so we're not in heap on top of each other either. Works for us, but I can see the other room getting more use as dd gets older (heading for 14)

I don't understand open plan. We have hallway and separate dining room, living room, kitchen, study etc...often I'm watching a film in lounge, husband is on study on computer, teenager is watching netflix on another telly in dining room and preteen is sat at the kitchen table doing homework. We love our family time but we also love spreading out with our own space. I'd hate it if we knocked walls down. Long live walls! Long live doors!

Unlucky - we are either at work or asleep 99% of the time, we would never get any dishes clean or washing washed if we only ran when home and not asleep

Agree with you Dancergirl. Our previous place was a flat, we knocked out walls to make it openplan. Kind of had to as it was too small and it looked good when we finished but drove me crazy, when someone was cooking and the washing machine was on you couldn't hear the TV (and I don't even watch much). Food smells all the time, etc.

This house DH wanted to knock down the wall to the kitchen and dining room, or lounge and dining room (its a long thin house so would have helped with light). I refused and was so glad I did. We have a decent sized kitchen although sadly not big enough for a table but its got loads of room to cook, then you shut the door and leave the mess whilst you eat. If you loose a wall then you loose space - kitchen units or sofa, etc whatever would have been against the wall. Oh and I can shut the door and escape talk sport :-)

Open plan looks great in glossy home design magazines but having lived in both I much prefer walls!

I have a lounge/diner with a conservatory off it and a separate galley kitchen. I do toy with the idea of knocking through to have 1 big open plan space but tbh I like hiding in the kitchen to cook dinner in peace and quiet. I can nose on the internet while everyone thinks I'm slogging away and I don't have to watch cbeebies!

Art thread on here a while ago about leaving appliances on ...I worked ft and managed ...eg put washing in with powder etc all ready to go and press start as soon as you get home/up in morning...buy more crockery and same with dishwasher...
but then my flat burned down years ago (I was out) so I'm particularly cautious/aware...

I like big spaces so we are having a big kitchen/diner/family room but separate drawing room and play room. I find this a good compromise overall.

Unlucky - sorry to hear about your flat. For us it isn't that simple, home 8pm, bed 11pm. I'm not that organised to pre set washing liquid etc after leaving house with x2 small children around 7am, and on arrival home I still need to feed/ bath/ read to them. We live in a small 1 bed flat ( dh, myself and 2 children), we haven't space for ' extra crockery' or extra clothing tbh.

Art - it is a risk you take ...(and we all take different risks everyday...I wouldn't take that one - you wouldn't do something I do...)
But you can do it - just change your routine - so whenever you set the machine up now you still do but press start when you are around...and more crockery doesn't take much space up - you don't need that much more - just a few dinner plates ...washing whilst you are eating - clean goes away, dirties in...
But like I said I know I am maybe overly cautious about it

I have an open plan living room / dining room kitchen. If it wasn't I think the rooms would be dingy as 2 are north facing.

I would be very cautious about open plan. It can really work if done well, but I visited some houses when we were buying where it would have clearly been a nightmare.

First thing is we bought a house with more bedrooms than we need, so the largest (which is an awkward shape) is a multi purpose 2nd 'lounge'. It has a TV & snuggle chair, as well as somewhere I can work and my clavinova. Obviously if we needed 4 bedrooms we wouldn't be able to do this.

We also have a small study area DP makes a mess of uses.

The other things have already been mentioned upthread:

• The best and quietest extractor you can manage
• Ditto dishwasher if you have one
• A utility room or similar for washing machine, tumble drier, hanging up clothes etc.

Some downsides are definitely:

• Harder to keep a bigger space looking tidy if not on top of every room
• I spent a fortune on quiet but also 'pretty' brushed steel appliances because I don't want a whopping great plastic looking dishwasher in my living room
• Harder to decorate and furnish. I found we ended up sticking to a fairly neutral palette where we might have taken more risks with individual rooms.

Overall though, I like it.

We have the best of both worlds and bought a double fronted house which needed complete renovation. On one side, we have a sitting/cinema room, in the middle is a large hallway (with the piano), cloakroom, stairs and small library/music room. On the other (extended) side is an open plan large kitchen/dining/triple aspect family area with bifold doors onto the patio/garden. Off the kitchen is a separate utility room and a separate study. We then have a "boot corridor/passage" between the main house and the double garage where the muddy boots and wellies live. Totally works for us. On a smaller budget or restricted space, I would have a well designed open plan kitchen/diner with a separate sitting room. I would definitely opt for a small utility area/room off the kitchen. I would never go completely open plan nor opt for open plan hallways since noise travels.

Am lucky enough to have a kitchen big enough for the kitchen table and a sofa as well . Pity the greyhounds regard it as their own and look very bootfaced if anyone dares to sit on it and prevent them from seeing what I'm cooking. Couldn't do open plan here , I'd end up peeling potatoes to the tune of DH1 snoring to the accompaniment of the Grand Prix . No thanks

I dislike full open plan. Here we have a sort of square u-shape downstairs. You come straight into the kitchen, no porch or hall. There's a tiny utility, just big enough for the washer and dryer stacked on top of each other, no clothes drying space or other storage. The downstairs loo is also directly off the kitchen, with a poorly fitting door so everyone gets to share in that!
Cooking smells travel, the extractor is noisy and as the areas aren't actually especially large they get very cluttered easily. The stairs also lead off from the kitchen so all sound and smells travel up.

My flat was semi open plan and I wasn't totally keen on that. There wasn't room for a utility so the washing machine drowned out the tv or conversation. There was a small hall and a door to the living room so that helped with heating.

We're looking at houses now and ideally would like kitchen/diner, separate living room, large utility and a downstairs loo that's not practically in the kitchen. An extra room for a playroom would be useful. I don't think we'll get it on our budget though.

I think it helps that we don't have a tv

I love it. Big kitchen diner, separate living space. I like the light and space and its so sociable.

I love it too. Open plan kitchen diner, although in an L shape.
I am a tidy and organised cook, when I am entertaining I tend to have the kitchen cleared before serving. I also have a large 25 x25 foot conservatory leading off from the dining area so after a meal guests can take drinks and coffee though there while a bit of a clean up happens.

We've just made our downstairs open plan. We extended, and knocked down. Moved to ds toilet, now have a laundry room and cupboard space.
We've made the kitchen larger by knocking out the ds toilet, and moving the wall making our hall smaller.
The kitchen is huge now, and dining room, then leads on to the playroom/informal lounge. We have a separate living room, and this will become a formal lounge no toys
I'd love to put pics up, but I think I may out myself.

I think open plan living is fashionable just because houses and flats are so small these days. It makes rooms look bigger. Fair enough if there are just two of you but with kids, it's not ideal imo.

If I didn't put the washing machine on when I was out we would never have clean clothes at all. Seriously what do you do when you work, your partner works, your kids are at school, if you can't run the washing machine either when you are out or overnight!

It would not be my preference although I wouldn't mind it if I had to live like that. Most teenagers would hate it though including mine. It certainly doesn't seem like something to aspire to.