Rebelling Against and Open Kitchen

[Anonymous]

My DH and I are in the planning stages of a kitchen renovation, and we're having trouble agreeing whether to do an open concept kitchen and living space vs traditional closed kitchen, dinning room, etc... I for one am so sick of every modern house having the open kitchen and the kitchen being the focal point of the downstairs. I like being able to go into the kitchen to cook, and to have privacy to focus on the cooking and not having the whole party gathered around me. I also like the idea of having different rooms so the downstairs of the house isn't noisy due to walls between various living areas.

My DH is very much that we should do the open concept because it's the trendy thing right now, and doesn't seem to think any of my concerns are valid. I'm not trying to be a pain, but I do think I have some valid points. Curious what others think?

[Anonymous]

It's your house.

[Anonymous]

i've had both- currently in an historic home where i can close the doors and we have a formal dining room. If i was desiginng i'd do a closed kitchen and have a butlers pantry! but i'd also have a bar sort of set up in teh living room so i dont have tro dissapear into the kitchen just to get apps or drinks. So a mid century style set up?

[Anonymous]

Open is on the way out. Totally impractical. Google open concept trends to show him

[Anonymous]

Trends come and trends go. Get the kitchen that appeals to you instead of following the herd.

[Anonymous]

I would only ever have an open concept kitchen / living space but nothing to do with trends. Just what I like.

[Anonymous]

+1 to doing what you like. It’s your house.

[Anonymous]

I love my open kitchen and love having company in the kitchen while I’m cooking, but it’s your house, so do what you like. Whatever you do will probably look/feel a bit dated by the time that you end up selling, so might as well get what you want and will enjoy.

[Anonymous]

When the kids were little I loved the open concept because I could see them playing in the family room while I was cooking in the kitchen. Same for watching the Superbowl, I could be preparing whatever and still see the game and the family. Now that the kids are out of the house, I still like the open/airy feel of my house, and enjoy being able to still interact with guests will finishing something up in the kitchen.

Team open concept fir me/my family, and/but, you and your spouse should do what you like, because you have to live with it.

[Anonymous]

Open floor plan isn’t the trend right now. High end designers are pushing walls. Middle class families will be putting walls back up in about 10 years or however long it takes to trickle down.

[Anonymous]

If you keep it closed off, you won't be escaping the party to go to the kitchen, the party will still follow you there. You will just all be crammed into the small walled-in kitchen.

[Anonymous]

I can’t stand when a hostess uses “cooking” as entertainment. Finish cooking before your party starts and then entertain your guests properly. It’s one thing to disappear into the kitchen to get drinks or pick up appetizers to pass out, quite another to be actively cooking where guests don’t want to exclude you, so they follow you into the kitchen to include you in the conversation.

[Anonymous]

I split the house into 2 conceptual sections: formal vs informal.

Formal is mostly at the front of the house and includes the entry hall, living room, dining room, study, and butler’s pantry. There I want walls and doors. If we are entertaining, then I want to be able to cook in private, and then I will serve meals to guests via the butler’s pantry. I do not want guests in the entry hall to see or hear things in the back of the house, so doors are helpful.

Informal is at the rear of the house and includes the kitchen with a breakfast table and the den. There I want things to be more open. I want to be able to watch children in the den from the kitchen, for example to limit screen time, and so on.

We have both a front formal staircase up and also a rear informal staircase to the children’s play room over the garage. Both basement stairs are behind doors which can be locked.

In the end, do whatever makes you happy.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Trends come and trends go. Get the kitchen that appeals to you instead of following the herd.

This is correct. “Designers” invented “trends” so they will have more opportunities to work - they sell something different from whatever one has so the designer will have work to do. Classic home designs are never trendy, but are always functional

[Anonymous]

Also, builders are trying to sell open floor plan because it reduces their costs (fewer walls, fewer interior doors), not because it is functional or desirable.