Rebelling Against and Open Kitchen

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I have a 1965 house with a 1995 kitchen and I love the layout. Its somewhere in between open and closed with the wall in the middle and the kitchen, dining sitting area and living room looped around. I need to redo the kitchen at some point, but I likely won't change the floor plan!

This was the sweet spot. I miss my mid 90s kitchen. There was a half wall to the family room, so you could see what was going on there, and a whole wall / entrance into the dining room to provide some privacy. Large island in the middle, lots of counterspace. Space for a small table. It was wonderful.

Now we have a crappy galley kitchen in our renovated 70s dd metro sfh that is open on either end, and is the worst of most possible worlds.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Our current house is a bit of a hybrid and I like it a lot. The kitchen is semi-open to the family room, but it is closed off from the dining and the living room.

Same. The 1990s was great for this. Ours is open to the family room (with a pony wall) but distinctly separate. And there is a breakfast area between the kitchen and family room that makes it far away. It's not like new houses where the kitchen is just part of the same room as the LR - it astonishes me that people build 6000 sq ft homes like this!!

[Anonymous]

I love having an open kitchen connected to the family room. I cook a lot and hate the thought of being stuck by myself in an isolated kitchen.
Even when I’m by myself and baking something, I love the spacious feeling.
When guests come over, most of my prep and cooking is done ahead of time. I think closed kitchens were popular when people had cooks and household help. They don’t make as much sense here where most people do all the cooking and cleaning themselves

[Anonymous]

I spent the past decade in a home with individual rooms and a separate kitchen. I loved it and it worked for me. I recall it was the ONLY home I toured back then that didn't have an open concept kitchen; they ALL did.

I'm now trying to sell this house and everyone STILL wants an open concept kitchen. The trend is not gone. Just something to consider if you ever think you may sell the house.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I spent the past decade in a home with individual rooms and a separate kitchen. I loved it and it worked for me. I recall it was the ONLY home I toured back then that didn't have an open concept kitchen; they ALL did.

I'm now trying to sell this house and everyone STILL wants an open concept kitchen. The trend is not gone. Just something to consider if you ever think you may sell the house.

It is not a trend. It is simply a preference many people have. For me a closed off kitchen is a dealbreaker. But as you can see in this thread there seem to be many who like it and you should be able to find your buyer.

[Anonymous]

When we remodeled we did an open kitchen, but with a slight bump out. I didn't want my kitchen sink to be easily visible from the family room/entertaining area. The sink and drying rack area always looks so cluttered, and with some open kitchen layouts it's really in the center of the room.

[Anonymous]

I lived with an open kitchen for five years and grew to hate the setup with a passion. It was simply impossible as everyone was in everyone's way. It was noisy and uncomfortable - how are you supposed to have a conversation or watch TV with a water tap running or things sizzling on the stove or hood going full blast? No peace. No order.

I felt terribly wasteful remodeling a basically new house but five years later we spent $$ to change the layout. I now have a large kitchen with island and seating with walls on all sides. It has a set of wide French doors to the dining room, and that's the only room to which it connects. Family/living room is beyond that. I absolutely love this setup. It is easy to get meals on the table as kitchen and dining flow into each other but when the table is set, the doors to the kitchen close and it's civilized again. If people want to hang out with me as I cook, there is room to do that but it will happen behind closed doors.

[Anonymous]

We have an older house and when we renovated we didn't make the kitchen too big - it's perfect for me - and I don't like a lot of people in my kitchen when I'm cooking. I love having doors that can close if needed. I think the more important thing to factor is designing the layout of the kitchen for the type of cook you are and how many people cook at once. In my house it tends to be one at a time so there doesn't need to be too many separate stations. But having a good spice cabinet is something I love. And having everything where I want it.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I spent the past decade in a home with individual rooms and a separate kitchen. I loved it and it worked for me. I recall it was the ONLY home I toured back then that didn't have an open concept kitchen; they ALL did.

I'm now trying to sell this house and everyone STILL wants an open concept kitchen. The trend is not gone. Just something to consider if you ever think you may sell the house.

It is not a trend. It is simply a preference many people have. For me a closed off kitchen is a dealbreaker. But as you can see in this thread there seem to be many who like it and you should be able to find your buyer.

How is it not a trend when 90% new houses have it?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I spent the past decade in a home with individual rooms and a separate kitchen. I loved it and it worked for me. I recall it was the ONLY home I toured back then that didn't have an open concept kitchen; they ALL did.

I'm now trying to sell this house and everyone STILL wants an open concept kitchen. The trend is not gone. Just something to consider if you ever think you may sell the house.

It is not a trend. It is simply a preference many people have. For me a closed off kitchen is a dealbreaker. But as you can see in this thread there seem to be many who like it and you should be able to find your buyer.

How is it not a trend when 90% new houses have it?

The way I interpreted it in this context is as something everyone does now but it will quickly go out of style because of inherent flaws. Open concept, however, is not going anywhere.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote: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.

How often are you serving your guests meals that are this formal where people aren’t supposed to be aware of the kitchen or any cooking and how old are you?

Apparently, more often than you do.

[Anonymous]

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

I have been hearing that open-floor concepts are going out of style.

I think having an open concept living room/kitchen is only good if you have small children who need to be supervised for safety.

Or if you enjoy hosting dinner parties or family gatherings.

Or if you are a neatnik + keep your kitchen in pristine condition 24/7.

Other than that > I would like my kitchen to be its own, unique space.
Some days I may be too tired to wash the dishes or unload the groceries.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I spent the past decade in a home with individual rooms and a separate kitchen. I loved it and it worked for me. I recall it was the ONLY home I toured back then that didn't have an open concept kitchen; they ALL did.

I'm now trying to sell this house and everyone STILL wants an open concept kitchen. The trend is not gone. Just something to consider if you ever think you may sell the house.

It is not a trend. It is simply a preference many people have. For me a closed off kitchen is a dealbreaker. But as you can see in this thread there seem to be many who like it and you should be able to find your buyer.

How is it not a trend when 90% new houses have it?

Just because 90% of houses have open kitchens does not mean that you should have one too…..just to be like everyone else.

High school for some of us was many, many yrs. ago.