Completely open plan downstairs - yes or no

[PippaFawcett]

We want to remodel the downstairs of our house, there is a redundant chimney breast in the centre of the downstairs and an internal kitchen causing issues. The cheapest and seemingly most logical thing to do is to knock out the wall and chimney breast and make it all open plan.

DH is keen, but I am worried about cooking smells, noise and privacy. We do have a separate converted garage as a playroom/study area and loo downstairs but the living room, kitchen and dining space would all be open plan and the stairs come into it too. Do you love or hate your open plan?

Is there something like internal bifold doors? I wonder if that might be a solution as the light issue is one of the things DH is trying to address with the open plan idea.

Glass double pocket doors look lovely.

I'd say glass doors on parliament hinges rather than pocket doors (which I've seen get stuck)

I wouldn't live in an open plan house again - our first home was one big living room/ kitchen diner and even though there was loads of space, I just felt I never had any peace or space of my own.

My house now is quite old so has a separate sitting room, living room and dining room. All three rooms get used all the time - we are a big family and the oldest DC are teens, so we don't all want to be doing / watching the same thing all the time! I predict that tomorrow afternoon DH will be watching the footie in one room, DC1 will be watching it in a different room (different team!) and one of the younger DC and I will probably be doing something a bit quieter in another.

IMO 'open plan' only works of you are a couple with no DC in a DFS advert!

op we have internal bi-fold doors between our dining room any conservatory. You lose a little bit of wall space each side when they're open obviously, but they look lovely.

Could you put up a floor plan? We might be able to offer up some suggestions!

No don't do it!! We have open plan and at first it was great when DC were small. Now they are older and I hate it. In the evening everyone ends up with headphones on. Someone playing piano, someone watching TV, someone watching something on the computer. I long for a separate living room to chill out in. Thinking about putting some doors in or something.

Also, as been said before you end up with no walls to put furniture against.

I like open plan but I would prefer a door on the kitchen - we have an open doorway currently

I don't think you will get away will fully open plan incl kitchen and open onto staircase as building regs want a protected exit route

We have lived in an open plan place for a year. Much prefer it. When people come round you aren't off in the kitchen alone , you can still join in on conversation. No problems with cooking smells as we have a fan. We only watch something in the living area at night when it's all quiet, not while someone's cooking etc. Dishwasher can go on whilst you sleep.

No -for the same reasons others have said (cooking smells, noise, etc).

Also, if your stairs are open too then the smells and noise will also be channelled upstairs

As well as all the other reasons for not liking open plan, I like a separate hallway; it gives greater privacy when random people come to the door.

Can you do a sketch of your floorplan?!
Just so we can get a visual - one as it is now, one as it would be open plan.

Here is a floorplan, but the house isn't as straightforward as this makes it look. There is no window in the kitchen, and there is a big chimney breast to the left of the doorway from the dining room to the back family room.

The lounge, bedroom and shower room on the right are a converted and extended garage which is not exactly level with the main house so we would want that to be left alone as we do not have the money for floor levelling and the family room at the back is a step down from the rest of the house as that was extended. Hope that all makes sense!

That's not completely open plan! It's an open plan West Wing with doors in the East Wing

When people say no to "totally open plan" I don't think they're imagining 4 reception rooms, 2 of which are separated by a door?!

Lugs, my second post on the thread says that there is a converted garage which is separate but that the main body of the house would be open plan.

The converted garage area, is currently a playroom which is explained upthread.

The 'family room' at the back - is that a proper extension?
Is it only accessed via the dining room?
Do you use it as a living room? Or do you use the lounge as your main living room?

Guy at kitchen shop told me a lot of people knock down wall between kitchen and dining room to make a kitchen/diner, then put a wall between that room and the living room to keep lounge separate from kitchen.

I was thinking of knocking through and creating one big open space, but having internal bifold doors so I could close off the kitchen/diner from the lounge if I wanted to (eg, glass ones you can also get solid wood)

You're quite right OP, I need to read more carefully. My apologies. I'd read spaces instead of doors.

To answer the question you actually asked (!) smells didn't bother us but the dishwasher and washing machine etc used to annoy DH. We did miss walls to put stuff against and separating tv, music practice and work desk makes it easier for us to live together!

Mango, we use the lounge as the living room. The 'family room' at the back is our dining room currently. There is an archway - not a walk through archway) from the kitchen to that space but the kitchen is very, very dark as there isn't a window. It is a proper extension, I think, but the family room at the back is a different level (step down) to the rest of the house. It is only accessed from what is called the dining room on the floor plan, or the garden.

Lugs, I think it is because we don't actually use the converted garage space currently that I see it as quite separate!

Short, I think internal bi-fold doors might work somehow. I don't have an eye for any of this stuff, I only know what I like and don't like once it is done which is rather dangerous.

Mine is entirely open plan - but I live alone! I think I'd go mad if I had to share it, let alone with a family.

Upside - great for entertaining, holding meetings and events, music rehearsals, etc. It's very light and very spacious. When people go in, they always 'ooh' in excitement. People want to hold parties / events in it. Made sure that the dishwasher and washing machines are quiet ones, so that I can have them running while holding a meeting etc.

Downside - I can't cook sausages without the smoke alarms going off and the whole upstairs smelling of sausages (not the downstairs, but the upstairs). Same with fish. If I have laundry / ironing etc out, my knickers are visible to anyone that comes to the house. It's cold. I have to be incredibly tidy at all times, because I can't turn my back on mess.

Upside / downside - It's quite difficult to get volume of radio / music right. If it's loud enough for me to hear at one end of the space, it's too loud at the other end. If someone is having a (phone) conversation, you can't not hear it.

Essentially, it's great for either one person, or entertaining. It's not great for a family hanging around, doing the family sort of things that families do (mooching, someone reading the paper while someone else does the washing up while listening to the radio, etc).

What about something like this?!
(I love diagrams )

Reinstate living room wall to separate hall.

Keep kitchen as is, but with opened up step through to back dining room (for light)

Back room is dining room with sliding doors through to playroom (so can close off playroom).
patio doors to back garden (more light)

The converted garage, flip round so that playroom is now at back (get rid of door from outside into new front bedroom).

Living room now is whole of old living room & dining room - have a high long internal window at back end for extra light (above head height).

I like mango moon's plan

Mango, that is really, really interesting. The kitchen is currently tiny though so we really need it to be bigger. We did think about opening the archway up to a walk through and extending the kitchen into it but it means it is in separate parts. I also cannot stress how dark the kitchen is so extending the wall, whilst giving the living room privacy would make the entrance area even darker.

I hadn't even thought about opening up the garage conversion more like you have done at the back so I'm going to mull that over.

But, having said all of that, I am going to go home and look at the house with this in mind.

You are very good at diagrams!

Thanks - but I am just very bored & have graph paper is all