Separate rooms, always.

http://justmewith.com/2012/01/11/an-argument-against-the-open-floor-plan/
http://www.slate.com/articles/life/culturebox/2013/08/against_open_concept_kitchens_don_t_listen_to_hgtv_and_keep_your_walls_and.html

Not that I agree 100% with these articles, but interesting nonetheless.

We love our open floor plan, at parties the guests can converse with us as we prepare food. The large kitchen island becomes a gathering place to serve food and drinks.

The open floor plan also is great with kids for playing and being a eye distance away.

We do have a dining room separate from the kitchen on the other side of the house and it serves as a way to have a more formal diner if needed.

Anonymous wrote:If you actually cook though, it's gross to have your kitchen open into a family room or whatever. If you're a microwave/delivery family, probably doesn't matter.

Why is it gross? If the house and kitchen are large enough you won't see much. They also have this invention called a range hood.

If you actually cook though, it's gross to have your kitchen open into a family room or whatever. If you're a microwave/delivery family, probably doesn't matter.

Op here- thanks for feedback. We have 3 kids -8, 11,16. In my online search I've seen mostly new homes. They look attractive but I'm not sure what it would be like living in one ( we have an older traditional home today)

We had a very open plan when are kids were younger. When we moved to this area our new house has a more traditional floor plan. I've enjoyed the calm/silence. Bedrooms are quiet - not a big open space bouncing sounds upstairs. I wish we had a larger eat-in kitchen is my only gripe with current floor plan.

It's a matter of preference, OP. For many years we lived in a traditional home with many separate rooms, save for the kitchen that we opened up to the adjoining family room. I thought that was just about perfect. We recently moved to a much smaller townhome with a semi-open floorplan except the kitchen in the front is separate. I fantasize a lot about opening up the kitchen so that our whole first floor is open. I think what bothers me is being in the kitchen and feeling cut off from the rest of the downstairs activity. YMMV of course. Also, my kids are much older and leaving home for college soon, so open floorplan probably makes a lot of sense for us soon to be empty nesters.

Anonymous wrote:I want a separate front room, with fireplace, semi-separate or separate dining room, kitchen that opens into a living room with a lot of light/French doors onto a deck/sun room. There would hopefully be an island/counter for kids to sit at while i work in the kitchen between living room and kitchen.

This is what I want. I want it ver badly. So.... So... Much. The renovation is coming!

Yes. This is exactly what I wanted when we moved. I love it--and it's great for young children because you can see them easily throughout the open space.

I want a separate front room, with fireplace, semi-separate or separate dining room, kitchen that opens into a living room with a lot of light/French doors onto a deck/sun room. There would hopefully be an island/counter for kids to sit at while i work in the kitchen between living room and kitchen.

This is what I want. I want it ver badly. So.... So... Much. The renovation is coming!

That picture with its stupid caption wasn't funny enough to post ONCE, much less twice. Find a new meme, eh? And then acquire an actual sense of humor.

Each is appropriate for a different lifestyle. If you are single, or a couple, and have matchy furniture and decor that you want to show to best effect, the open plan works well. If you have kids, you would probably be happier with separate rooms. I love being able to close the pocket doors to the living room-- they're glass, so I can keep an eye on the kids, and have a conversation in the dining room without interruption. I also like the extra wallspace of separate rooms, for shelves and art. Fewer walls = less vertical space. And I use my vertical space to the max!

We are moving to the DC area from PA and looking for a new home. I've noticed that some of the newer homes have open floor plans throughout the downstairs. I live in a house that has walls between the rooms (separate living room, dining room and then a kitchen that opens to the family room). I feel like the open floor plan would look messy- based on the way we live. Also, some of the newer home plans have balconies from the upstairs looking down at 2 story family rooms. Does anyone live in a house like this and do you like it? Is it noisy? Thanks.