To ask if anyone actually likes open plan living?

[Thesystemonlydreamsintotaldarkness]

I love property porn. Always looking at big fancy houses well out of my budget.

I’ve noticed that there is a lot of open plan living out there! I think it would be horrible: a kitchen/diner with a bit for sitting, and a separate living room. Fine. But completely open plan?! Gives me the horrors! How do you escape the noise? What about privacy?

I adore open plan! Hate poky little rooms.

I am a New Zealander and I agree it is very popular here. I am thankful though I could close off the kitchen - we use the room next door as an office though originally it was a breakfast room. I am lucky enough to have a separate sitting room and a dining room. I appreciate eating without seeing pots and pans. My rooms aren't pokey or dark. We accept we may have to open the kitchen up before we ever sell. Keep hoping the tide will turn. I don't know how people put up with the noise.

New Zealanders do have separate laundries though (which my Irish mother always called a washhouse). A dishwasher and a washing machine must be awfully noisy.

After this winter I'm wondering how people heat them!!! Our kitchen is freezing. The living/dining room warms up nicely.

I have an open plan kitchen/dining/living room which we love.

I also have a separate lounge room but we never use it, we enjoy the bigger room more, so much more social and inviting. It really works for us (four teenagers in the house)

Saying that, I have a separate utility room so washing machine noise isn't an issue and with them being teenagers they disappear to their bedrooms a lot.

A smaller house with no separate utility and younger kids would probably not be so relaxing.

We used to have open plan but now I find myself a big fan of doors and walls. I am over the open plan thing, though an eat in kitchen is important.

We have open plan kitchen/living room/dining room, we love it but only because we have other living space to escape to - I wouldn’t want my only space to be open plan.

Oh, and the washing machine & tumble dryer are in the downstairs bathroom so no noise from them.

All the members of my family! DH, DS, my mum, FIL, the dog! I like to have peace to cook (and my own music on) and not listen to the crap that Everyone else has on the Telly. And I like the living room to be a haven of calm (DS and DH have been shunted to the playroom if they are playing on game consoles. DS also likes to take over the entire house with toy cars: so as the kitchen is separate I can chase him and the hotwheels out)

Mind you, open plan with a separate lounge/snug wouldn’t be as bad!

I used to have a huge open plan now post divorce I have a small open plan. I love it. Mostly, the feeling of space.

I never understand comments about kitchen smells - do y’all cook stuff you don’t like?!

Have it and hate it! No escape from teenagers and their friends.

I have open plan, it's popular here. I like open space. Also means I tidy as I go as I hate to see the clutter.

We have open plan. It's hell. No escape.

Nah not for me. Cost a fortune to heat! Looking at our next house move soon and can't stand the open plan style that's in just now. Give me a house with larger rooms with doors to get cosy!

I prefer open plan kitchen/dining rooms but I need a separate sitting room. Nothing worse than stale cooking smells or sounds of washing/dish washing machines, whilst having family time or watching TV. And I love listening to music whilst cooking.

Completely - then we moved to a bigger house with more rooms. It was great when they were little though

Not for me. I have always wanted a cosy adult sitting/tv room in the evening without toys and looking at other jobs that need doing. We have a snug where the teens watch tv or play xbox in the evenings or with friends. I don't want them having TVs and screens in their bedrooms so my sense of 'together' in busy weekdays is that we all tend to be busy in different rooms downstairs at times, to do stuff in,
depending on what it is - cooking, homework, tv, utility/washing. These things combined in one room would not be ideal though I recognise it's a luxury not to have to. We eat together and sometimes watch films together but with tweens/teens I like to be able to have space to do different things and we all value not being disturbed by each other.

Not for me. We have separate kitchen, living room, di ing room and garden room. None of them are poky.

We were extending our kitchen and adding a playroom but ended up opening up the kitchen and living area which we so love. I can cook while the kids are doing homework at the table. Cooking whilst watching TV… there’s young kids in the house so it’s always noisy but you can keep an eye whatever they’re doing. The sense of space when you enter is amazing.

But we also have the separate playroom which is great, close the door on the kids and we can talk in peace even when they have friends over.

Having the kitchen as part of the living area works perfectly for us.

Houses are standard open plan in Australia (except much older homes). It's just better for the lifestyle here. Good airflow, we can make meals while listening to the kids do reading at the dining table or watch them play outside. TV isn't on until night time.

We have a second lounge and a covered patio. We also have separate laundry rooms as well, usually well away from the living area.

I admit I don't like the new style where the second living area is open to the main one. I suspect that's more about the cost savings of building it in.

Hate open plan don't work for us in last 2 properties with 4 kids and now it's great and I didnt realise how cold it was to

Detest it. Everywhere stinks of cooking downstairs and you have to be really on top of things so the place doesn’t look like a tip. Lived in NZ and it was the norm w more modern houses and because there was more space there and houses generally bigger it did work better. But in the UK or Ireland no. Apartments esp seem to ALL be open plan now and I am yet to meet a single person who enjoys living in them for that reason. Awful.

Live alone so open plan works ok for me, mine is at an angle though which helps
I do dislike the cooking smells though

This is the angle so you're not directly staring at the kitchen!

Is this a haiku?

I hate it. We had it for a while and it was horrible. Also, everyone needs doors to slam when they are angry; and open plan just reduces the opportunity for good door slamming.