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Original poster

Is there anyone that DOESNT want a kitchen/diner/open plan?

188 replies

palacegirl77 · 23/10/2019 18:13

Ive posted recently about loft conversions as this is next on our list - so my youngest daughter can have a larger bedroom. However, I was speaking to my brother and his wife and they suggested we concentrate on (opening up the downstairs) first - they totally assumed that we would want to knock down the chimney, several walls, extend and have a massive kitchen/diner/family room type thing. Don't get me wrong, I think these are nice but I LOVE the downstairs in my 1930s semi. I like having separate rooms - I dont want kitchen smells in my lounge and I like the kids to have their own space, I also want to keep some of the character of the house. They were genuinely surprised as they thought everyone wants open plan nowadays - am I really the odd one out?

OP posts:
MsTSwift · 23/10/2019 19:09

I love our massive save with kitchen then eating area then sitting area. Teens voluntarily congregate there rather than bed rooms all the time. We have a separate sitting room too otherwise I would feel whole life lived in one room

IDontWantToCookTonight · 23/10/2019 19:10

Ugh no I hate open plan. I like a separate kitchen, Somerset dining room and separate living space.

Disfordarkchocolate · 23/10/2019 19:10

I once stayed in an open plan holiday home, after 2 nights I wanted to cry as I could not stand the noise of the dishwasher, extractor fan and boiler. I must admit I don't cope with noise well but it was torture.

Noroof · 23/10/2019 19:11

I could have had a massive open plan area if I had swallowed our current living room with my son's bedroom and then opened it up but I didn't fancy it at all. We have another separate living room but I wanted 2 living rooms and a kitchen diner. No doubt it was the right decision but it would have been ok

milliefiori · 23/10/2019 19:12

I love our kitchen diner but I'd hatefor the family room/living space to flow into it. Like you, I prefer separate areas. No food smells in living area, and DC can do band practise in one room while I work in another. I'd hate to be prepping food and having to listen to the same songs pover an dover again in the same room.

milliefiori · 23/10/2019 19:12

over and over not pover an dover Grin

Yoohoo16 · 23/10/2019 19:12

We’re moving and hope to change the house to kitchen/diner and keep the living room separate. Totally open doesn’t feel cosy enough to me.

HalfManHalfLabrador · 23/10/2019 19:13

I hate open plan it puts me off even viewing in most cases tbh

EggysMom · 23/10/2019 19:16

I hate kitchen-diners. I don't want to see all the messy cooking equipment while I'm eating dinner. And the kitchen needs to be able to be shut off for safety.

We have a small kitchen, and a lounge-diner. It means our son can use the dining table for other activities but still be in the same room as us. It suits our needs.

applesandpears33 · 23/10/2019 19:17

I love having a separate livingroom. It is bliss to be able to close the door on the TV while the DCs are watching it. I can cope with cooking smells but I would find open plan far too noisy for me.

MeganChips · 23/10/2019 19:20

I agree. We are looking to move and I recently viewed a house which was all open plan. The rooms are massive so it must take a lot of heating and I want to be able to relax away from the kitchen sounds, smells etc.

If I buy it I’m putting the partition wall straight back up!

FaFoutis · 23/10/2019 19:20

I hate open plan, particularly when it involves ruining an old house.

SquishySquirmy · 23/10/2019 19:20

Depends on the size of the house/flat and on the use of space.
If there's a separate sitting room, then open plan kitchen/diner is great.
If sitting room is open plan with dining room (as in my house) then I'd rather the kitchen is separate, as I don't like food smells in the living room. In small apartments etc everything is best open plan (despite food smells), as otherwise the kitchen would be tiny. Living/dining/kitchen sharing space as on big room as opposed to 3 tiny ones.
Open plan kitchen diner also works best when there is a separate utility room imo, so that the laundry mess is hidden away.

In general, although I like open plan it can be terrible if done badly. I'd rather a well designed separate kitchen and living/dining space than a poorly designed open plan space.

NorksAreMessy · 23/10/2019 19:21

Victorian house here and VERY happy to have separate rooms to be separate in. You can heat one room at a time and listen / watch what you want to separately or together.
The NOISE in open plan houses really grates on me

MrsPear · 23/10/2019 19:23

We moved into our first open plan home this year and it’s awful. As a guide you come in to the side into a porch area which has a internal door too. Open this and you are in the living area with open kitchen behind and open stairs / dining area to the left - an L shape. No hallway but thankfully a cupboard. Heat just travels - naturally - so cold downstairs and a sauna upstairs. Smells travels too - made pickles the other day and the complaints! Ds1 was is deaf and has real trouble watching tv whilst I cook or the washing machine is running. Never again

NorksAreMessy · 23/10/2019 19:23

But I am also old fashioned in that I don’t like bi-fold doors either.
Or grey paint
Or those white rugs with geometric patterns

I am old fashioned

ToEarlyForDecorations · 23/10/2019 19:25

I can't bear those kitchens in the living room or is it living room in the kitchen oh and better lob a dining area into the hotchpotch too.

Just what has possessed people to do this nonsense ?

Kitchen diner I don't mind. Lounge diner I don't mind. But lounge/kitchen/diner. Nope.

How can the lounge/living room feel cosy and warm when the kitchen and dining room are empty.

I just don't get it.

Oh, and I'm far from being an OAP.

FaFoutis · 23/10/2019 19:25

I'm with you on the bi-fold doors. Revolting things.

30somethingandtired · 23/10/2019 19:29

Nope, I don't like open plan either. Who wants to look at the dirty dishes while you're eating your dinner? Separates all the way for me.

Lunaballoon · 23/10/2019 19:31

We knocked through our kitchen and dining room but installed doors to the living room so it wouldn’t be completely open plan.

Agree with above about not wanting cooking smells, kitchen noise etc wafting into the lounge. I also think the open plan look already looks very dated.

CalamityJune · 23/10/2019 19:32

Nice to have a table in the kitchen if you have space but definitely prefer a separate living room. We've got an L shaped kitchen, diner, sitting area that we use during the day and it has all DS toys in it. I love being able to sit in the living room in the evening. DS is hardly ever in here so it's just an adult space.

weegiemum · 23/10/2019 19:32

We have a lounge (with tv) and separate kitchen/diner (no tv - hate tv in the kitchen). We used to have a small galley kitchen but last year extended into the integral garage to give a large area. Our dining room is open to the lounge and now used as a craft/homework area.

GameSetMatch · 23/10/2019 19:33

I dislike open plan, I have a separate lounge separate kitchen and separate dining room I wouldn’t of even contemplated a house with open plan living, I hate looking at mess and cooking smells at least with separate rooms I can avoid this.

DeRigueurMortis · 23/10/2019 19:33

Me.

I have a dining kitchen with a table in and have zero intention of knocking through to the dining room or lounge.

We normally eat in the kitchen, but when we have guests I like having the kitchen separate from the dining room, especially when I'm in the crucial stages of producing food and don't want to be interrupted.

I also don't like the idea of the noise of tidying up and having the dishwasher running etc whilst guests are trying to converse and relax.

Equally on a day to day basis, cooking whilst someone's trying to watch TV, read quietly or listen to music etc. I think it's just inflexible in the sense everyone has to share each other's activities all the time. There's simply no space to escape to.

I also think they can be quite cold in the fact the décor is often kitchen led and the space can be hard to heat effectively.

You lose the option to have a lovely cozy sitting room and an atmospheric/dramatic dining room because the kitchen element makes it a bit sterile/practical because it's all in daily use.

Tbh I think a large kitchen/diner with an informal lounge area can be lovely but only if it's as well as a separate lounge/dining room and not instead of.

JustaScratch · 23/10/2019 19:38

I like a large kitchen with enough room to eat in, but I like the living room area to be separate. I think I was put off when I was first flat hunting in London 20 years ago and kept being told that the apartment had a 'modern open plan living area' whereas really the landlord and stuck a worktop in the corner of the living room so they could squeeze in an extra bedroom somewhere. I snapped up the first flat I found that had separate rooms!