To Think That Open Plan Living Is Just a Fashion of The Moment

[Lazypeopledrivemecrazy]

Me and my DH have recently moved house, and the plan for the place we chose was to integrate the kitchen, dining room, and living room. However, now that we've settled in, and begun getting prices for the work, I'm getting a bit worried that all this open plan living, is just a bit of a fad that will go out of fashion in a few more years, and then we'll all want all the walls that we knocked down put up again. Thoughts please people.

I like an open kitchen-dining space because they're part of the same function. In our first house, pre-children, we rarely used the dining room as the service hatch was a bit too small, and it was a trek through the house to move plates and condiments around. It was a major reason to move rather than extend as the layout wasn't conducive to going open plan.

I would hate having my only lounge space open to the kitchen. Too many noises/ smells and I'm absolutely not minimalist. If there is a seperate, private lounge/ den, that's different.

I like cosy, warm and soft furnishings. My home is decorated for the way we function, not fashion or resale.

We're on the start of the teenage years and the DCs have taken themselves off into their own space for years. I wouldn't change a house to open plan for young children because that benefit is only for about 4-5 years. The older child/ teenage/ young adult phase is far longer. Plus DH and I have different interests. I like to get away from his whisper, whisper, crash-bang-wallop films 😁

I've got open plan and don't think my sofa has ever smelled of garlic. No doubt someone will be on to tell me that that's not possible and my sofa definitely reeks of garlic and they can smell it from where they are. 😁
We do open the windows and one of my teenage dds is easily bothered by smells but hasn't mentioned it.

I considered that but decided against: didn’t like the idea of my entire house smelling like kitchen and it will be hard to avoid because we cook daily.

I don’t think something is a fad that’s been going on for 20 years

I am definitely team open plan however purely on the basis that we have a separate living room too!

Definitely. My particular hate is the kitchen integrated with the living room.

We recently tried to sell our house and it took ages because everyone wants a vast kitchen with bifolds and space for sofa etc. Our kitchen is about 6 x 4m. We have a large living room next to it (5.5x5m).

Its not that people want open plan per se. Its that they want huge kitchens, and unless the house is massive, you only get a huge kitchen by knocking into living and dining rooms. We are moving to a house with a big kitchen but its got separate living room.

I don't think separate dining rooms will really come back though.

We have open plan but also upstairs sitting room. We would never sit and watch tv in the open plan bit it’s like an adjunct to the kitchen. I wouldn’t like it if that was my only living room as would feel like I was sitting in a kitchen.

We had essentially an open plan kitchen diner through to living room until we got a dog! Then realised we wanted the option to stop him entering spaces such as living room when we were out or stop him getting under our feet whilst cooking.
As it wasn't a full blown open plan but more areas with one knocked through wall and no doors it wasn't costly to put doors back in.
Also the living room was just wasting heat. It would go straight up the stairs. Now with doors it's warm and cosy and heating bills have reduced.

Agree, do what suits your lifestyle rather than following fashion.

I think I could live with a combined kitchen and dining room but not living room. Growing up we moved to a house where the wall between the dining room and living room had been removed and I hated it. I really missed getting cosy in front of the TV, there was always someone wandering around or doing stuff in the dining area.

Open plan worked for me when my children were little - I could see what they were up to when I was in the kitchen. And there were no smells in the living room.

Now they're older (like grown up and moved out older) I am re-thinking the layout but not to the extent that I'm reinstating the walls between the two reception rooms.

I’ve lived in a couple of open plan places and personally prefer it. Better if you have a utility room, or if you have a large kitchen / diner / area for a sofa and then a separate living room. But agree do what you want now, no point planning for what could be fashionable in the future.

It depends on your family set-up, I think.

Open plan is really handy while your kids are very young as you can cook or do do the laundry while they are playing in the living area and keep an eye on them. As they get older, I think separate rooms are more beneficial.

I also really hated the pervasive cooking smells and seeing dinner stuff left out or laundry drying on airers. The slightest thing left out makes it feel messy. I love having a dining room now where my DC can leave painting or crafts drying or lego half built and not have it in my eyeline.

I've gone from an open plan house to one with separate rooms.

I mean maybe. But property prices are extortionate, people struggle to level up, so it’s not just a fashion but a way of feeling as though you have more space.

I chose to keep compartmented spaces, because I like the separation it gives. But I’m well aware they also because I’m lucky enough to already have a spacious kitchen.

My preference is for a large kitchen diner and a separate lounge. I dislike lounge diners and their serving hatches, very 1960's. And think that entirely open plan lounge kitchen diners are not very relaxing. If you've cooked a huge meal for guests you might not want to be scrubbing the pans immediately and it's not very relaxing to be able to see it all. Plus if you cook fish or curry your entire house would stink, whereas if you have a door you can close off and ventilate one room.

Sure, I guess decades is a “moment” in the grand scheme of things.

I think open space is the best for life with young children. As they become teenagers, separate living spaces work the best. Room to have their friends over, room to escape to for quiet time, etc. Fortunately, we've always had one separate living room and then because of the design, we were able to put double doors from kitchen into main living room and same from kitchen to what was the play room.

Means we can have friends in and the teens/young adults can still be downstairs doing their own thing or they can have their own friends in without going up to their bedrooms and then their's quiet space for chilling out/doing your own thing.

On a practical level, noise, cooking smells, heating and less wall space/arrangement of furniture would put me off, (and not being especially tidy!) but can see they could work for families with young children and maybe more sociable if entertaining guests.

I assumed new builds (or previously did) put them in to create an illusion of space

Yes it is a fashion.

The best thing you can do is make your home adaptable. Children grow up, don't design your house for a toddler to play in and leave it unsuitable for older children or elderly visitors.

Use double doors to link spaces or separate them, maybe knock a large doorway between rooms rather than the whole wall. I don't think we will go back to tiny poky kitchens and formal dining rooms through a hatch, but the whole ground floor open plan is a bit limiting.

How is it a fashion? It's been a thing since the early 90s!

I don't understand people who say complete open plan is good with small chihldren - Kitchens are the most dangerous room in the house. When mine were small it was great to be abel to close off the kitchen and let them play in the lounge/diner. Much safer. Otherwise you need to take the kids with you everytime you go to the loo or pop up stairs to put washing away etc.