I can't decide whether to knock through our kitchen wall... what do you think is best? Open plan L shaped kitchen / diner / living area OR separate kitchen and diner / living space?

[ilikeyoursleeves]

We are planning an extension and originally I wanted to knock through the external wall of our kitchen in order to make a big L shaped kitchen / diner / living space. However the location of our fuse box has thrown a spanner in the works and the architect pointed out that it wouldn't have to be moved if we kept a bit of the wall that I originally wanted to be knocked down. So the plans now are for the kitchen wall still to be knocked down but to leave about a metre of the wall so we don't need to touch the fusebox.

However I am now thinking that maybe we shouldn't bother knocking down any of the wall? There is a door already on that wall to the current utility room (this room is going to be demolished to make way for the extension IYSWIM) so given that we need to keep a meter of the wall, we will only have about 2m of open space into the diner / living room bit.

Given the expense, time and mess of removing the wall I'm not sure what to do now.

So what would you do? What's best- knocking through or not knocking through? What's more 'desirable' these days? If we don't knock through we will have a kitchen as it is just now (about 3m x 5m) and then a dining / living area about 3m x 6m). And if we do knock through we will have all the above but in a big L shape.

Thanks for any advice!

If you knock through will you still have another closed off living room or would the kitchen / dining / living space be the only one?

I think the important thing is whether you like open-plan living. How do you live at the moment? Do you close off your kitchen door to keep the cooking smells in and make the dishes invisible? Or leave it open and not worry?

Does it niggle you when the door is open? Or does it niggle when it's closed?

We have a very open-plan layout - but before that we nearly always had all the doors permanently open anyway, so it was the way we liked things.

We have totally open kitchen to dining room, and about 2 metres open dining room to living room.

I personally like an open plan kitchen/dining room. I like cooking dinner and talking to DD while she's at the table. However we do have a seperate living room and I would want one room that is shut off from the hustle and bustle of the kitchen.

We already have a separate living room so the new kitchen diner living space would be an addition. We always have the doors of all rooms open, unless DH is blaring his music in the kitchen! So I like the idea of open plan living. I've seen what my neighbours have done as they have the same house but already have the extension (we will be having the exact same type of extension, although their kitchen / diner isn't L shaped as we are building out the back too whereas they didn't) and the knocked down wall does make a huge difference.

We are also planning on putting in a wood burning stove in the new diner / living area so I think if we left it open plan it might be better to get the full effect from the stove? (I'm thinking it will be pretty hot!).

The only thing making me reconsider knocking down the wall is the fact that we would avoid paying ££££££ for the knock through, the RSJ, the finishes to the wall etc. Plus we wouldn't have hellish mess to contend with either! But on the other hand, I do like the idea of standing in the kitchen being able to talk to the DC's and keep an eye on them too!

Dunno dunno dunno......help!

An estate agent told me that an open plan kitchen/dining room adds value to the house. It sounds like you want to do it!

Thanks for the replies, any other opinions from anyone?

My single storey house in Australia is fully open plan apart from the bedrooms and bathroom. It annoys me tbh - it means there is such a large space to heat (or cool for that matter) and I can't keep DS (age 2) out of the kitchen because there are no doors to shut. The original doorway is still there and the wall between it and the living room has been taken down, so I'd need two sets of doors to close the damn thing off. In fact, every one of the would-have-been-4-originally rooms has more than one opening.
I also find the lack of wall space a bit of PITA in terms of where to put bookcases/shelves/cupboards etc.

But that's just me. It looks good and we have polished wood floors throughout - but practically its a bit irritating. And don't get me started on the fire risks!