to ask why open plan kitchen/living rooms are appealing

[alliecat567]

I'm looking to buy a 2+ bed flat at the moment and approx two thirds of them have open plan kitchen living spaces. I just don't see what the attraction is. Why would you want your cooking smells intruding your living room, and why would you want to look at your fridge / sink etc whilst relaxing on the sofa? Can anyone tell me what the benefits are?

It's the norm here in NZ especially for new builds, we have our washing machines in a laundry room so that doesn't factor, also new builds usually have kitchen/dining/family room and a separate lounge/reception room. I love it personally.

We have a kind of L shaped thing going on so for eg I can't see the kitchen bit from the sofa but can see the dining table.

It's fucking brilliant for parties. We had 75 people this Xmas and it was epic. It was brilliant when the kids were under 10. As they get older it doesn't work quite as well, but we have a playroom/den too that the eldest retreats to.

I don't mind the cooking smells. It's the fucking kettle that annoys me whilst I'm watching telly. Good excuse just to drink wine instead.

Have a big kitchen/dining area, separate utility and sitting room is downstairs. Sitting room is under-used but lovely.

It sounds like a good idea when you have little kids but it doesn't work with teens unless you have other living rooms.

i would have loved it in my old flat the lounge was huge the kitchen was tiny!

Big kitchen/dining/ living room here. No unpleasant smells; the fan is very efficient.

Also a separate living room that we use in the evening. The washing machine is in a utility cupboard thingy in the cloakroom, so minimal noise from that. Love the space!

I absolutely hate it, because of the smell, the noise and the mess.

It's also a nightmare with little ones. Try to cook safely with someone crawling around your feet is not fun, I much prefer banning them from the kitchen full stop, with a barrier at the door if I have to, so I can safely handle boiling water/ hot oven door/ boiling oil without any risks.

Look at some central London new built, the sofas are in front of the units (facing the other way), the rooms are that small!

I'd hate it, my dh loves his music and i prefer tv, so after about 8.30pm he goes in kitchen with his 1000 cds and i stay in lounge with my feet up and telly on. We once stayed in a beautiful barn conversion on holiday, it was spoiled by hubby's music as he didn't realise we could hear it everywhere, although we did make him wear headphones eventually. You have to be really unselfish to go open plan.

There are pros and cons. I actually prefer a separate kitchen/lounge area. But my house has a huge open plan downstairs which is very attractive to look at but there are disadvantages.....

Pros: looks good, huge space, very light with windows and patio doors on each side, the kitchen is off to one end so you don't see it immediately.
The kitchen is very minimalist and neutral so doesn't look 'kitchen-y'. We have a pantry (where I keep all the clobber) and a utility room so bar the fridge and dishwasher, all other appliances are hidden. Without these extra rooms, there is no way I would have an open-plan area.
Very sociable. Easy to avoid clutter with this look which is a bonus in my book therefore easy to keep clean.

Cons: A pain in the arse to heat, smells do permeate (not a problem is summer but not ideal in winter as you can't air as easily), you have to keep the whole area clutter-free otherwise it looks like a disaster zone. So no good if you're messy.

We don't watch much TV so that's not an issue for us. It is good with young kids because they can do homework/craft things while you cook/clean etc but you can still interact and be involved with them.

It's not for me neither as it makes most of your house seem like a hall.
We are selling our house and there is so much of it about.
Today I saw several on rightmove all open plan, so kitchen diner/ lounge diner.
Furniture in the middle of the room, I couldn't live like that.
If it appeals to people that's fine.
I told one woman it was fine we'd soon build a wall or two, her face dropped.

We had this arrangement pre DC, though we had a sort of open unit dividing off the kitchen/dining area from the rest. I really liked it, it meant that whoever was cooking wasn't shut away from the other person, and if we were entertaining it meant again that the cook wasn't excluded from the general conversation with guests. And of course it was really convenient just for making the odd cup of tea etc. It also meant a saving on heating since heat from the cooker helped to warm up the rest of the room.

We live in a 2 bed flat built in the late 90s, before open plan was all the rage. Our kitchen is separate, far better as you can just close the door on it and not hear the washing machine. We've still got a decent sized living room (20 foot by 11 foot), which is bigger than most combined kitchen living rooms, however the kitchen is tiny (about 5 foot by 5 foot) but it's very well planned and has a decent amount of workspace. You wouldn't get a table in there though.

The benefit is that you make more ££££ if you are a developer/owner selling say a two bed flat with an open plan living/kitchen than selling a one bed with a kitchen and a living room.

we are fingers crossed moving from a flat with open kitchen/diner/living to a house with a separate kitchen and a separate lounge/diner.

The flat is new so our kitchen is all integrated and pretty to look at (as long as you tidy as you go!) But I absolutely hate hate HATE not having a kitchen window (balcony doors at opposite end of the room) so that I can air the room while I cook. I know this sounds really precious but it's one of the reasons I am desperate to move.

I also just hate the fact that it's not a separate space - I like being able to shut myself away with a glass of wine and the radio and a cookbook. It feels like there is no place to escape from my fiancé (not that he needs escaping from, but you get what I mean!)

I agree that a big dining kitchen (possibly with a small sofa) and a separate, 'formal' living room is the dream.

On a similar note I loathe bathrooms with no windows. I am very lucky to have two (one en-suite) but lovely and shiny as they are I just can't get past the fact that they're essentially little caves.

We have big open plan kitchen with a dining table and sofas. Means you can eat in the same room you cook, and you can use the kitchen for parties as people can sit but you have easy access to make drinks or get snacks. Or you can sit on the sofas and chat while someone makes dinner, while someone else finishes their homework at the dining table. It's just a great living space, really.

We have a separate living room and utility though. The living room doesn't get any food smells (although I never notice any in the kitchen sofas) and that room is used for relaxing or watching TV. The utility means the washing machine and tumble dryer is behind a closed door so it's very quiet. If it's your only living room that's open plan with the kitchen I could understand why it wouldn't be your first choice, but I absolutely love the set up we have.

Don't like combination kitchen/living rooms, my husband and I had this in our apartment when we first got married.

I tend to make a mess in the kitchen while making dinner and also don't want the smells to go all over the house. And too much going on in one room if you have a combination. People might be trying to study, play the piano or have music, or watch tv and then you have the banging and smells and mess of the kitchen intruding.

Love having separate rooms and doorways, some big rooms but still enclosed and private with little hallways. I love nooks and crannies. I miss the separate breakfast room we had in the old house, it had all separate rooms and in our new house it's all separate room too, except the kitchen has its own area for a table, it just doesn't have a wall.

The washing machine in the kitchen?

We are house hunting now and I'm really ruling out places that only have a dining table in the kitchen. When I have friends over for dinner or even just eating a nice meal with DH I don't want to spend it looking at cooking debris, I can't relax when I can see work that needs doing.
Ideally I'd have a kitchen-diner for informal meals and kids doing homework etc and a separate dining room or dining table in the living room for dinner parties and special meals.

steff13 which country do you live in? In the UK I'd say it is pretty normal for flats to have the washing machine in the kitchen.

I am from America where the housing is bigger (obscenely big actually), and I now live in London (the complete opposite). The rooms are teeny tiny here, as is the housing in general.

I like open plan because I'd much prefer to have one larger (read: normal size) room than two closets.

also, we have two young DCs and they can play in the reception room while I cook and we can chat and talk. If there is a wall there, they would either have to be in the kitchen or we couldn't talk.

Yanbu, love my separate kitchen, gives me some me time to cook whilst dh looks after baby in lounge, if rooms where together no way would I be able to chill out and cook (check mumsnet)

The only reason they do it is that it is cheaper for developers.

I always had my washing machine in my bathroom when I lived in Europe (mainland Europe).

We have a glass sliding door between our kitchen and lounge.

Best of both worlds.

I think there is a distinction between "open plan" and combination living room/kitchen. we have two separate rooms, just that there is a large doorway between them.

We have large kitchen with island huge dining table and sofa and tv area. Also a separate sitting room. Christmas was fantastic everyone congregating in the open plan room but I could be pottering and cooking but still part of it all. It is a v social space. At weekends DH can watch football the DCs can be doing homework at table I can be cooking but we r all together.