Opinions on open plan living / dining / kitchen

[ThisBlueGoose]

We are considering putting in an offer on a house with a living dining kitchen area.

We have two young children. The area is a pretty good size, and has bifold doors opening up to a small garden. There would be a spare bedroom to use as a second reception room as a living room/play room.

I've never really spent anytime in a house with an open plan living dining kitchen. What are people's experiences? Pros and cons?

I have an open plan lounge/dining and large extension. Only the kitchen is separated by door. I thought would be fab... not so much

Theres no quiet area. I would love to put my doors back up.

May work for you but just factor in that even minor noise is constant

Is the spare bedroom upstairs? If so, for me that wouldn't work as a separate living area, it might for you.

I imagine that even if you took the same family as your example, there would be times in your life that it would work for well for you, (e.g you have young children) and later times when it may well not, sound travelling around, no quiet space. It could mean constant tidying to stop areas migrating.
So much depends on the rest of the house, can you have a separate lounge, or room for a snug?
We find that a kitchen- diner and a separate lounge works for us. It has enough space for a dining table and couple of comfy chairs, but not enough for a full suite, but we have been empty nesters for years and can still cater for the expanding family when we are all together.

Sorry Dotty - I left my reply while sorting something, and after posting read your post.🤦🏼‍♀️

I agree with you obviously, but I may have loved it when I had young children.

Noise, smells, mess. I think you always need a living space you can escape to and shut the door.

Our house is open, as are almost all modern houses in Aus. Typically, though, we have a small seperate lounge or a parents retreat or kids' area near the bedrooms.

Pros are a large space, airflow, no one is locked in the kitchen, cooking, away from others, we can talk to DC or guests while cooking etc. it's very social.

Cons: noise. If you're all in the same space doing different things - cooking, homework, tv, running the tap, etc. it can be annoying & disruptive.

As dc get older you need space to get away from each other ie dc1 has homework but dc2 is watching tv. A kitchen/diner and separate lounge is preferable imo.

We had a very large open plan kitchen / diner / lounge area in our last home
And I loved it. So much so that we are in the middle of renovation our new home to be similar.

BUT, we had a lovely ground floor snug, and will again. We need separate space for the kids, or us, somewhere cosy to watch movies. I need to be able to shut the door in mess or the washing machine. I also have a separate utility and would never have open plan if I'd have to have washing in sight of my relaxation space.

It wouldn't be right for me , I like my home to have cosy places . Also if you decided to have a baking day or even have a good mixer / processor going then anyone watching tv / reading / relaxing is disturbed .

It works well when you have small kids and want to be in the same room while doing other things. The key is good storage and a utility room so you minimise clutter and visual noise. My preference is an open kitchen diner and a separate yet close living room. We also use the big bedroom upstairs at the front as the kids room and its much lighter and brighter than downstairs, so an upstairs sittingroom can work. Think how the place will work over the next five years and then the five after that and how you want to live.

My parents' next door neighbours have done this so the whole entirety of their ground floor is open plan, even the hall. They have three kids. It's so noisy you can hear everything from my parents', so God knows what it's like actually inside.

Good points all, thank you!

The separate living space could be either up or down, haven't decided how we would arrange the bedrooms yet (it's a chalet bungalow, so bedrooms up and down). And we'd all have our own bedrooms too we could escape to if we need time away from everyone.

Noise and smells is a good point. It does have a separate utility room, which is a major plus for me with this house! So that noise wolf be gone. But other general kitchen noises and smells would be there.

Loving the ‘noise wolf’ OP - we all have one of those!🤣

😅yeah, I've got a couple of noise wolves! Can't get rid of them haha

Then you need noise absorbing furniture and decoration. We have fluted wood panels and big furniture and rugs and they really help dampen the general rattle of life down.

i forgot that our neighbours made their house into a drum when they made it totally open plan too! Guess im used to the noise now, and its why we padded our kitchen diner out so well!

I think it's great with a young family as it means everything can be happening in the room (although it does mean you can't ignore the squabbles while you're cooking!). I would only want it if there was a separate living area though, which you've said is available.

I like a kitchen and dining space combined...even with a living area. But I'd need a separate living room/lounge too

I often have lots of cooking, cleaning and general kitchen jobs to do and I like doing that in peace....

If you have another room on the ground floor you can use as a living room, go for it.
If the only TV and sofa are "in the kitchen" it is far from ideal - the washing machine may be in the utility, but what about the extraction for the hob? The dishwasher? Cooking isn't a quite activity, and that combined with TV, and someone doing homework didn't lead to a harmonious household - kids were 4 & 6 when we moved there. Never again!

When we stayed in a place like this I found it weirdly claustrophobic and depressing. I like having separate zones for different parts of the day. I think broken plan is the best of both worlds. Maybe possible to put folding/sliding doors in between areas?

I have an open plan kitching dining and living but a separate living room also, and that makes all the difference. Otherwise I would put a wall back up ha! With two young kids about I did feel need to have a separate space in evenings, or even just to bring adults into without the chaos of the kitchen area

If there is a downstairs room you would use as a living room then that's fine. Nothing that mandates a current bedroom to remain as a bedroom. I would think of it as a house with an open plan area, separate living room and one less bedroom than it is sold as.

We have an open kitchen, dining that has an armchair in too but have a separate living room for sofas and TV. Separation of space and nose is important! When it is all one room you could be trying to watch something on TV but your partner is cooking and the clanging means you can't hear them TV. Or you want to sit in peace for a moment but they want to stick music on while they wash up. Or your kids want to watch crap on TV and you really don't want to hear it.

I love having the open plan space too though so you can be at the table chatting while someone is cooking and so on.

Lived it..absolutely fine, with separate lounge. Lounge/diner..no ta.

I’d hate it. Need a separate living room.

I have one and I love it. Spend most of the day in it, but I have 2 other living rooms and usually go there on a night to watch tv. For families I think its great. It depends how you live I suppose.

I concur with what others have said here. Yes to open plan kitchen / diner. Not to open plan living room / kitchen / diner. I like somewhere snug for the winter months. I think having space for a sofa / comfy seating in the kitchen / diner is fine and quite good if you have guests for dinner but I'd still want a separate living room that was cosy.