Open plan kitchen or not?

[Jank8]

We have a kitchen with dining room next to it (stud wall) facing towards the garden, which leads into the lounge. I can't decide whether to knock the wall down to open it all up into a square space. The light and access to garden would be lovely but I quite like the kitchen closed off and am not sure what to do with the dining room half of the room. We don't need a tv/play area in there as the lounge is open plan. Would love any thoughts ideas, positives/negatives please

I like a kitchen diner but also like to have a separate room too otherwise it can be difficult to be watching tv/doing a work call etc when someone's making a cup of tea or cooking.

Could you have a kitchen diner and put a stud wall up between the dining and living room?

agree, the ideal is two living spaces. one kitchen/diner and one living/snug/tv space.

A friend of mine made their downstairs all open plan, and have bitterly regretted doing it. Hard to heat well, noisy, and nowhere to go for a bit of quiet. Also, when I have visited in the evening, I find the smell of what they had for dinner very off putting, although I have’t said anything. I would always want a separate lounge.

We knocked through a wall to make a kitchen diner and until the energy price increase I would have said do it! But not now, it's a lot harder to heat and therefore doesn't help with the bills!

We have a kitchen/diner and separate living room (with glass doors through to the living room if we want it all open). I love it and wouldn’t go back to separate kitchen where I felt cinderella-ish. I agree you want a separate quiet space of some sort though.

I love my open plan, kitchen/dining/breakfast room, it was one of the things that attracted me to the property, I spend most of my day in there, but we do have a separate lounge too, that is usually only used in the evening.

If you don’t use the dining room as a dining room (I assume you mean you already have a kitchen table for meals) I’d make that into a snug/study. All open plan is nice with small children, but not do good with teens, and is not easy to heat or keep tidy.

I hated our open plan kitchen/living/dining room in a rented house.
Had 3 separate rooms in our first house we bought, but rarely used the dining room - it ended up being a dumping grounds and we squeezed round the breakfast bar most days.
Now got an open plan kitchen-diner, and separate lounge (and separate kids room) and love it.

I like a separate kitchen - who wants the smell of fried bacon or onions wafting round you , getting in the furniture.

I love an open plan kitchen diner, people can sit and talk to the person cooking, it's a great social space, I always find people gravitate towards a kitchen.

What I don't like is a kitchen that's open to the lounge, as when you do sit to watch tv, you get the kitchen smells and can't lock away the mess, even if it is only a few dirty mugs.

Our kitchen is huge so the dining table is in there. Our extension is used as a playroom/garden room. We made the doorway slightly larger and just plastered with no door, and had a window shape hole further along. So it's open plan but not. Still separate rooms but still sociable.

We have a family room, kitchen/ diner/ space for sofa. Good extraction, so no smells. We also have a separate living room, which we generally use in the evening.

I know a few people at the moment who are bitterly regretting open plan because of the heating costs.

DH suggested knocking through into dining room but I wasn't for it so we have kept as is. I prefer separate rooms. I like the option to go into the dining room away from people if needing privacy to work at the table. Living room completely separate too.

My kitchen s only accessible via door into the living room, even that drives me mad because if the washer / dishwasher are on I have to turn the TV up.

I have lived with a kitchen diner but I want to be able to close a door so I have separation from smells and sounds.

Also how sensitive is your smoke alarm? My landlord fitted new linked alarms so I need the kitchen door closed if I fry anything (no outside door from the kitchen and the extractor isn't great).

I do wonder if open plan is a good idea from a fire point of view, if a fire starts down stairs surely you want a closed door between you and the bedrooms.

I would say a big yes to open kitchen/diner/living area but only if:

there was a separate living area to escape to
the washing machine wasn’t in the same area
excellent extractor fan plus probably not having the hob on the island (personal preference of course)
a boiling water tap if you are partial to regular cups of tea/coffee as kettles can be very loud
soft furnishings to dampen the sound
excellent insulation and probably UFH

so a few must haves but I am sure others will disagree!

I do wonder if open plan is a good idea from a fire point of view, if a fire starts down stairs surely you want a closed door between you and the bedrooms.

The definition of open plan is contentious! IMO it’s anything from a couple of rooms, with distinct functions, that are made into a single room - usually kitchen diner - all the way to the downstairs being just one big room i.e. no hallway either.
The latter is a big no for me.