Will open-plan fall out of fashion?

[dollyolly]

Just moved into a 1930s 3-bed (ok, 2.5 bed) – it's one of very few in the area that hasn't been structurally changed in any way. No extensions, no walls knocked through. Small-ish kitchen with two downstairs reception rooms.

Everyone assumes we'll knock walls through to create an open-plan space, but it suits my husband and I as it is, as it's just us here.

I know open-plan has pros – for example, I guess it's very useful to be able to keep small kids in view, and a lot of people hate small kitchens. Plus, spaces can be more multi-functional.

But I wonder if there'll be a move back to privacy, separateness, each room having a very defined purpose. Open-plan is relatively recent, and there were good reasons for designing these homes as they originally were.

Interested to hear thoughts on this. Why do you love open-plan (or not)? Has anyone regretted knocking walls through? Do you agree it could fall out of fashion and folks will start putting walls back in?

I agree with Kirsty about washing machines although I think "disgusting" is a bit far fetched.
I believe that bifold doors are already old hat, ditto crittal. I read the Home Decoration and Property sections of MN!

People have washing machines in kitchens in the UK because of our absurdly uptight laws about appliances in bathrooms. The rest of the world - including places with better health and safety records than us - manage to have washing machines in their bathrooms (with appropriate safety measures) without mass electrocution.

I guess that those single function rooms in mansions were to do with following the light round the house especially in the days of oil lamps. Even if you were wealthy these would have been a not insignificant expense.

You would also need to vacate rooms to allow servants to clear the room after breakfast, lunch & dinner.

I would expect the separate function rooms for servants had a practical purpose - keeping smelly and poisonous activities away from food prep. Laundries were typically away from the main house as they were smelly and also prone to catching fire.

I don't really get the mansion discussion, you mean it's more noble to have separate rooms? But I don't have a crew of servants cooking and serving and cleaning up after us, we all live here?

@dollyolly , thanks for replying.
@KirstieAllsopp, I'm disgusting. Would you like to suggest where to put it? The bathroom's too small and I don't want it in the bedroom or living room.

My point about mansions is that if people have lots of money they don't have open plan spaces, they have rooms with single functions. Multifunctional spaces are an attempt to get bigger spaces in smaller houses but it reduces functionality and so if you have enough money to have a large house you don't aspire to a single enormous room you want multiple single function rooms. That means while there might be a fashion for large spaces at the moment that might change over time as people experience the disadvantages and decide the disadvantages of small individual rooms are less bad.

Odd that all the large houses I've seen recently have open space living areas then. We may be rich but as PP said, we don't really have the 20 servants who need to clear the breakfast room, so we need to get out of their way into the drawing room.

@JaninaDuszejko , but Grand Designs-type houses aways have a huge open plan area. New builds tend to have open plan to squeeze as many functions into a small area.

I prefer a large kitchen with a separate utility room and 2 receptions. if only I could afford it

You can do that in the UK with appropriate safety measures

but Grand Designs-type houses always have a huge open plan area.
I'm not sure that I've seen a GD house recently that I would want to live in. I liked early shows but then all the houses seemed to became identikit soulless white boxes with far too much glass and wasted space.
Has it changed recently? - it doesn't sound like it. I haven't watched in ages.

We bought a couple of years ago and there was very very little on the market that wasn't open plan. Almost all properties in our range had enormous rear extension with bifold doors, giant kitchen island, lots of glass and space. Anything else was a probate/owner gone into care, house hadn't had anything done to it for decades type!

We definitely didn't want the open plan as too impractical for noise, smells, lifestyle. Even basic practicalities like a door into a garden that wasn't bifolds in some of them!

Eventually bought a house like yours OP, 1940s semi. It had been extended but not into a cavernous open plan space. Kitchen extended out to the side. It has a kitchen diner space and additional rooms added on, which have been perfect for WFH. Several spaces we can close off doors, heat separately if we want to and noise doesn't travel.

Even basic practicalities like a door into a garden that wasn't bifolds in some of them!

I’m not generally a bifolds fan, but we have them as they were put in by the previous owner. Ours are, I have to admit, very well designed, and you can use one side like a normal door. I don’t know why they aren’t all made like that - it must be a massive PITA to have to fold them open each time you want to let the cat out.

I'm not sure that I've seen a GD house recently that I would want to live in. I liked early shows but then all the houses seemed to became identikit soulless white boxes with far too much glass and wasted space.
Has it changed recently? - it doesn't sound like it. I haven't watched in ages.
I've not seen the most recent ones because I stopped watching when it was yet another couple leaving London to spend a huge amount of money making a white box with lots of glass somewhere else in the country.

There were a few interesting ones. A family built an eco home in their back garden, one man had a dwelling that was tied to his job on the land and needed to be demolished when he stopped working, and a couple did an interesting house with hay walls and a huge vegetable garden. I've not seen anything like those in a long time though.

I definitely think open-space plans are going to fade away. Having briefly lived in an apartment with an open plan living room/kitchen, I'm grateful to have a door that I can close to keep the noise down from the washing machine, dishwasher and whatever else while trying to watch a film or just sit and read in peace and quiet. Unless you have a utility room or aren't much of a cook, open-plan isn't practical, and it certainly isn't quiet.

@MissLucyEyelesbarrow , I'm not a fan of bifold doors either but yours sound good.

If you have correct extraction you don't get smells.

We've been in a maisonette with open (or perhaps more accurately "broken") plan eat-in-kitchen and living room adjoining one another on the upper floor, for 8 years. In that time we've had two children and filled the space right up so are moving, also to a 1930s house in its original layout. The open layout of our current place has been fantastic with the kids as I can see them while getting on with other things, plus it lets a lot of light in, and I have gone through waves of panic that the separate rooms will do away with that ease. But as we get closer to moving I'm increasingly excited by the idea of separate rooms and like others here feel that as the kids get older (our son is still only 2 which could present a challenge for a while longer), they will want their own spaces and so will we. And there is just something I find quite nostalgically appealing about an original layout; it's that house as it was intended. The agent assumed that, like most other people who viewed it, we would also knock through walls and extend to make one big open living space on the ground floor but as we can't afford to do that straight up anyway I am looking forward to living in it as it is and seeing if in a few years we even want to do that. I find it hard to imagine we will, at least in the totally open style that has been popular for the past decade or two.

We knocked through 10 years ago when the children were babies / toddlers. The builder said 'see you in 10 years time' and damn it he was right, as we are putting walls back up due to those children now being teens & all of us needing our own space. I would always want some separation now - our house looks impressive as one big space & has been great for large family gatherings but the reality with a grown family is waaaaay too much noise, not enough privacy, and to be frank I couldn't care less about what it looks like to others now or the rare occasions we have lots of people over, as it's us who have to live with it day to day. Can't wait to have some separate space downstairs, and some cosiness!

Did you have any other living space or was it all just one open area?

I don't like completely open plan.

I have a separate living room at the front if the house, and a kitchen diner at the back. The living room with its own door and walls will remain as is, as long as I live in the house.

The kitchen diner is just the two old rooms opened up into one (created before my time), so when I do my extension I'll keep that open plan, but effectively have 4 "zones", kitchen, dining, snug and utility, and though there won't be doors, I plan to find a way to make the separate spaces.

I think the days of aspuring to have a dingy dark kitchens, seperate dining room, normal living room, and a Fancy Front Room are over. Its just not how people live anymore.
Some houses suit a kitchen for cooking, and a combined dining/living room. Some bigger houses are better with a kitchen big enough to eat in, ideally with extra space for children to maul about, with separate living room.

Proper full open plan - one room for kitchen, eating, relaxing etc wouldnt suit me as I am grumpy, messy, and have pre-teens. Also they tend to have hard surfaces that make noise echo about, and sinks full of dishes. IMO everyone who wants to have no escape from family and visiting in-laws is profoundly weird.

IMO everyone who wants to have no escape from family and visiting in-laws is profoundly weird. Or maybe people don’t live life the way you do.
We went open plan 11 years ago - we have a separate living room, utility and study. My kids have never been very noisy. Their friends have always been welcome and frequently joined us for dinner.During their teen years they retreated to their bedrooms - the living room was used occasionally- I was glad we had it as an option but.now the kids have moved on from moody teens, it only gets used by me to wfh. We like to sit in the same room, we like their friends, we don’t have relatives around very often. It is still everyone’s favourite room to sit in, it’s so light and airy.
Put those walls up if you need them - it’s daft to chose to live somewhere that is at odds with how you want to live your life - but kids change their needs and behaviour / it’s part of growing up. if you’re happy with your house maybe best to not knock down or build walls because they are going through a stage.

No other living space, knocked through 2 reception rooms and kitchen (long Victorian house). Did have a utility room/loo but that was the only separate space downstairs. Intended to add glass doors to kitchen but never got round to it. Has been a pain re: furniture placement what with all the windows, rads, fireplaces and lack of walls...

Now going to have a separate front room, and back reception room still linked to kitchen / diner. Plus lots of doors!

As @Stingingmetals says, we all live differently and have changing needs, its tricky to strike the balance but I think this will suit us well. We love having teens friends over but they aren't always in their bedrooms so will be great that they can have a space downstairs if they want it, while we can do our own thing, if we want to. We are a ND household and too much sensory input is hell. Once the kids leave (if they leave) we will sell and downsize to a 2 bed flat.

I hate open plan, instantly discount open plan houses.

I saw an explanation the other day that old houses where built with small rooms on purpose so they where easy to heat with coal fires + the homes for heros building rules after WW1 stated all house should have 3 separated downstairs rooms (2 reception and 1 kitchen).

I frankly think open plan is a nightmare to heat (and with the costs constantly going up), uncosy, noisy (everyone doing different things in 1 room), smelly/steamy with cooking and for us there would be no way to keep the cats off the benches etc...

I can't see it being popular for long to be honest. I think we will start seeing partitions going back in to section rooms even if thats things like internal bifold doors etc... to offer the option of both soon.

I don't like open plan but OK with a kitchen/diner. Mine was done by previous owners and a decent size but no door so all cooking smells go upstairs.