Open plan do you regret it.

[Lonecatwithkitten]

We have bought a house in a lovely location with planning permission for extension. The layout of the extension despite only being drawn up last year is quite dated- lots of poky rooms. It has been suggested we go for one big open plan room, it would be huge (approx 75sq m).

For those of you with totally open plan spaces are there things you wish were different? We do plan lots of storage.
One of the reasons is that the room would then be East:West and for the SE we have amazing views and skies. The one below was 2 nights ago and this what we would like to capitalise on.
I am home alone a lot with my dogs as DH travels very regularly so I really do only live in one room. DC is 18 and off to Uni. We do host my family a fair amount so regularly have 7-9 people around the table.

I think it really depends on the house, the type and size of family and your routine.
My house has a very large open space and two separate rooms downstairs. One of them is the designated TV room, the other one is my office. We have one young son, we both work full time from home and we love entertaining.
We absolute love the open space!
As we just upgraded from a much smaller house, where the kitchen was separated from the sitting room and from the play room, this works so much better for us.
In particular:

• we can cook and keep an eye on the little one at the same time


• my son is way more relaxed and spend now more than 30 seconds playing by himself as he can see we are in the same room (vs not being able to do anything as he kept dragging me back to his playroom)


• when we have guests we don't have to disappear in another room to get food and wine, we just keep the conversation going


• there is much more space, no bumping into furniture


• I can hear the music or the TV when I cook or sit on the sofa or play with my son, as it all happens in the same room


• we don't mind the cooking smells as we keep the windows open a lot and it never really sticks

I love open plan but as my DS got older having a separate room would have been better. It is very noisy to have open plan.

The zoned living areas people describe where it’s just one room with a seating area, a dining area and a kitchen with no separation just reminds me of a furniture showroom.
my absolute non negotiable when buying recently was a separate lounge that wasn’t a corridor to another room. I need to be able to shut a door and have a separate living space away from the noise and smells of the kitchen.

I’ve got the same downstairs space as you but it’s divided into a huge kitchen diner, hall, small utility and loo then sitting room.

I like the separate sitting room at the front and wouldn’t want the entire space open plan as it’s a big footprint. But you do mention a hallway and snug.

Heating will be an issue in winter. You’ll still have to zone the areas to create the different space that you want, I would want the walls creating the sitting room as still have huge family area within the kitchen dining area for sofa, chair and 12 seater table.

100%

Love open space but also have a snug too. We lived here ages so moved all our rooms so living, cooking and eating spaces all facing the sunshine, loads of doors to garden etc and sleeping and bathroom spaces in darker and cooler side - works great for us - good luck!

We built an extension to have a large kitchèn/living room/diner and I love it. However, we retained our original living room as well. I wouldn't want totally open plan downstairs. My sister has that and it drives her nuts.

My mum had her lounge & dining room knocked through years ago & she now wishes she hadn't as it is a large room to heat & keep warm. I don't like open plan especially if it includes the kitchen as cooking smells travel, you can't shut the door when things like the washing machine, dishwasher etc are on & unless you keep your kitchen immaculate there is always something out of place.

I'd much rather one large open plan room than a series of poky ones .

The only thing I did read somewhere was that people may now favour smaller rooms because of the cost of heating . I guess if it came to it you could always partition the room later if needs be

If you plan on selling, open plan will limit your market.

I hate it with several small children there is no escape!

I don't like open plan at all. When we were looking to move last time, we viewed several Victorian properties that had been made open plan. I thought they would have all been too noisy, difficult to heat and ,if I had wanted any privacy, the only place left would have been the bedroom . And m the ones we viewed seemed to lack storage. If any had been divided by folding or sliding doors, I might have felt differently, but one giant space did not appeal. I was told by a builder that some people are now getting some sort of room divider back into open-plan rooms. I suspect that it's one of those things where an individual loves or loathes it , but for me, it's a 'no'.

YES! We have a beautiful open plan kitchen / living / dining area - only beautiful when it’s tidy - which is precisely up to a maximum of 2 hours after our cleaner has left. After that it descends into carnage. It’s such a big area that it’s IMPOSSIBLE to keep tidy as the mess just spreads and it takes so long to clean that I never get around the whole thing in one go - so it’s rarely tidy. Self contained kitchen diner would be my preference if we were doing it again so food and kitchen mess stays in one place

I think open plan can look good but large spaces are harder and more expensive to heat. If there's just one person at home a lot of the time, you will have to heat a large space. With the cost of fuel, I am thinking more about just heating my small sitting room in the daytime this winter- and switching off in the dining room and kitchen /bedrooms, hall etc until evening when everyone is home.

Also, I like separation from the kitchen as I don't like eating (family or guests) where I can see the mess from cooking/ serving etc. And cooking/ food smells obviously permeate all your living space.
I think you have to be careful with your decor/ furniture choices.It's good to zone your space but if the different areas look TOO distinct, the overall look can be busy and chaotic.

Our last house was open plan and I hated it! The main thing I looked for when we were house hunting was separate rooms.

it’s the noise and the mess and the lack of privacy that got me down. I’m very introverted and need quiet time away from people, particularly my own family. I appreciate it might suit more sociable people.

I have a kitchen/diner and a living room/diner that cover a similar floor space. It works well for us, we eat breakfast/lunch/snacks at the kitchen table, and evening meals/entertain in the living room/diner, it's L shaped so the living room still feels separate from the dining area.

DP occasionally mentions knocking through, but it would be bloody freezing and around 90sqm, I think its too much. I like the separate areas.

I couldn't do completely open plan. We have a fairly big kitchen/dining/sitting area but also have a smaller separate lounge. When the teens start stripping I think you need a room with a door where you can escape. They also need some space to be with their friends away from you.

We got it along with our house when we bought it, and fell in love with the 'look'. The reality is:

• Cold/ difficult to feel Cosy in Winter
• No privacy/ peace unless you're in your bedroom (prob easier for you, we have 3 teens)
• Difficult layouts for furniture
• LOUD. Noise travels everywhere. Do not get a tiled floor whatever you do. (The space is too large for us to get rid of that without spending a lot).

In think its nice to have separate sitting room so you can relax in the evening without
Listening to the dishwasher and washing machine going

We have open plan. It's great in that we feel more connected to one another. Downside is that having teens it's bloody noisy and cold in winter.

One of the best things we did. But our house sounds a lot smaller. It's 44m2.

Whilst I love a kitchen /dining / living area. I do like a separate sitting room. Doesn’t have to be large but a nice chill out quiet room. I love the cold winters sitting in my sitting room. Much more cosy and away from the hustle and bustle

We had open plan when we moved in but ended up putting double glass doors to the lounge area.

Wanted to be able to contain the cats in kitchen/dining area when we were away and neighbour feeding them.
Also fed up with noise from washing machine and dishwasher when watching TV in evening

We are in the modst of building a big open plan space, but, we have a seperate formal lounge and a seperate playroom / cinema room, seperate utility and bootroom. I wouldnt do it all in together though.

We’ve lived with completely open plan living for the last 15 years and I’m sick of it - we are
always on top of each other and the only place to escape is into a bedroom.

I would do part open plan again (so a big dining/
kitchen etc) but I’d always want a separate living space/ office as well. We’re moving and I’ve already planning to add doors back to the living/
dining room that has been opened up to give the option of one big space or two smaller ones.