Do you think lockdown will make open plan less fashionable?

[PawPatrolOnARoll]

Just curious, personally I'm not really keen on the all open plan thing anyway. I wonder if being locked down in our houses for a year will make people move away from it. I personally have been very thankful for separate spaces in the house so I can get away from others

If plenty of other rooms, I can't see that it would. We've recently extended and created an open plan kitchen/living/dining space but we also have a separate living room so have the best of both worlds.

The open plan is where we spend most of our time, it's bright and social and we can be together as a family or be close whilst doing separate things (cooking etc.). When we are able to have people over its a lovely space to entertain as well.

Ours is a 1930's semi but if it was a smaller house I could see the benefit of having separate rooms to work from.

Know what you mean. We wanted a big open plan kitchen diner but thinking to go for a loft conversion instead now.

Open plan is great with younger DC and if you are tidy and you don’t mind the cooking smells or the sound of the dishwasher/washing machine. Open plan with teenagers is a nightmare. You need a snug to escape them.

I think it's a trend that been on the wain for a while now but yes, I think lockdown has exposed its limitations.

Having said that as a pp pointed out there's a big difference between a house that's fully open plan (kitchen/dining/living) and one that has open plan kitchen/dining with a separate lounge.

Even better where people have a big open plan "family room" (k/d/l) but also have space for a separate lounge, study etc.

In that sense I think it's fully open plan with no separate rooms that we will see less of and people putting back walls to at least have a separate lounge.

I'm in a very typical Victorian terrace with two front reception rooms that I've been planning to knock through but have definitely relished the separate space in lockdown - so maybe! Think I'll probably still do it eventually with double doors in between.

We have an open plan kitchen and diner, leading onto the garden, and love it. Lockdown certainly hasn't changed that, but we do also still have other separate rooms such as a separate living room and bedrooms.

I still enjoy being able to chat with friends if they come over for a meal, whilst they sit at the dining table having a drink.

I do need to try and keep things a bit tidier if we have guests though as no one wants to sit and eat with piles of dirty pans and dishes everywhere.

@HotChoc10

I'm in a very typical Victorian terrace with two front reception rooms that I've been planning to knock through but have definitely relished the separate space in lockdown - so maybe! Think I'll probably still do it eventually with double doors in between.

I had this in a previous Victorian house and it worked really well.

Kitchen was in an extension at the back off the dining room and when we had parties etc it was great to open the whole floor up but still have the separate spaces on a day to day basis.

@PanamaPattie

Open plan is great with younger DC and if you are tidy and you don’t mind the cooking smells or the sound of the dishwasher/washing machine. Open plan with teenagers is a nightmare. You need a snug to escape them.

I'd say it's the other way around. Open plan would be a nightmare with younger children, running about, pressing buttons, climbing all over the place etc. My teenagers bugger off to their bedrooms and I rarely see them.

Personally, I dislike open plan. I don't want my sofa smelling of grease/curry/whatever stinky food my husband has cooked, and I don't fancy watching TV to the sound of the washing machine. We're currently trying to agree on a new layout for our house and our architect wants to open everything up whereas I keep putting extra walls in. I don't think he's impressed with me!

I've never liked the thought of open plan living and I have been so grateful during lockdown to have several ground floor rooms where we can all get away from each other when we need to.

I think the opposite actually. I think lockdown for most people has cemented the need to be thankful for family, and the importance of friends / socialising / entertaining - and having a large open plan space to do that is wonderful.

Yes, I think you still need an element of separation if you're working from home (separate lounge / study ideally) but no, I don't think open plan is going away soon. It just suits family life for most people.

We are planning an extension to the back of our house. It will have an open plan kitchen/diner/ small living space but we will also have a separate lounge. At the moment DD 5 sits watching TV in the living room after school while I do dinner... it's annoying we can't interact.
I wouldn't want a 100% open plan lower floor though.....

Totally disagree with that Africa.

All families I know appreciate the need for separate spaces for siblings and parents to be doing different things.

Totally agree with pp who say sometimes when people talk about 'open plan' they mean 'having one space that is big' but then go on to mention other separate rooms from living rooms to utilities , play rooms to a study, which, in my view is not 'open plan' at all, if you have separate rooms..

@Hallyup5 I know what you mean, we're pondering an extension ourselves at the moment and opening everything up seems to be the general trend but we want to avoid it. We're trying to work out the best way to keep a separate snug.

I agree with other posters I'm not keen on hearing noisy kitchen stuff / smells spreading to everywhere else.

I think it depends on how you cook? I have a separate utility room so no washing machine noise. But you can’t hear the TV with the cooker hood on, unless it’s very loud. I can’t hear the music from my kitchen sonos! I have a bar table as part of the kitchen workspace so people can sit around me cooking, but I wouldn’t want a living room space in the kitchen. DC uses the bar to do homework often.

Also have a small child and can't think of anything worse than him having access to buttons etc in the kitchen

@BackforGood I think you have nailed it! I wouldn’t mind having a snug in the kitchen if there’s another living room.

Are you kidding? I'd give anything for a big open plan space instead of the pokey separate living room and kitchen we have. Especially during lockdown where I feel like we're all on top of one another. If people want to spend time alone they can do so in bedrooms.

My friend in Germany has an amazing open plan living room/dining area/kitchen. Kitchen has sliding doors on it to close it off if need be. Also there are large patio doors in the lounge area and underfloor heating... Perfect!

Just to add... open plan to me = more sociable and comfortable compared to cramming people in a boxed-in space. I wish it were more common here. Well, actually, I wish that British houses were larger and more practical but that's a whole other topic...

I do. DS is house hunting at the moment discarding the houses with open plan downstairs, or looking to see whether the room would divide again. Lockdown in a shared house with 3 trying to work in an open plan living area with combined kitchen, dining and living room was dreadful. Anyone doing a zoom meeting ended up in a bathroom or their bedroom.
I can see the benefit if youhave young children, but otherwise it's a minus point for me.

We are just in the process of knocking through our kitchen dinner as our kitchen was tiny and just didn't work. We do have a separate living room and have blocked it of from the kitchen dinner. I wouldn't want it all in one though.

We have an open plan kitchen, dining and family room which is fab especially for parties/Christmas it's a very social space. We are fortunate to have a separate large sitting room and a decent sized office. I would never consider a fully open plan house with no separate sitting room to escape to. Also a utility is a must, I wouldn't like sitting in the family room listening to loud washing machine or dryer.

There is another disadvantage to open plan. You tend to place things against walls so if there are no walls then there is nowhere to put furniture.
Pictures of open-plan kitchen diners often seem to feature acres of wasted space. Even more so if bifolds are involved.

Yes. Open plan has been a fucking nightmare for us - toddler constantly running into the kitchen and trying to push the bin over, trying to open cupboards, hanging off my legs as I’m pouring the kettle etc. (We have open plan kitchen/lounge/diner).

No space upstairs for a proper desk, I work at the dining room table which is of course in the same space as the Tv and kitchen 🙄

Open plan living is an all round shit idea. Can’t wait to move.

I don’t know if people are thinking of small or large spaces when they are talking about this, but open plan is ubiquitous in small urban spaces because it gives the air of spaciousness.
When in fact it deflects all the responsibilities to have very little stuff back on the people who live there, while taking away walls which leave less opportunities for them to build storage space against etc. On the other hand open plan can help with maximising natural light which can be in short supply.

I love open plan but yes, glad we have a separate office space. That's all you need though. The rest of the house works well as open plan if you all respect each other.