Re: Is a backlash developing against open kitchens... - Page 6

!FitChick! · ‎01-22-2011

I have always lived in houses and apartments with small kitchens. My house has a galley kitchen which I would re-design in a heartbeat.

mousiegirl · ‎03-09-2010

Have always had a closed kitchen, and even then, people come into the kitchen when I am cooking and distract me. I have a lock on the main door, which comes in handy at times. One wall is all glass, slider and long windows, so I feel as if I am outside as I work, completely away from the rest of the house. I like to feel that each room is a little world unto it's own, no mistaking what room I am in.

membersinceCVN · ‎04-05-2010

I guess it depends on what kind of personality you have. I love my open kitchen. I feel like I can be part of the conversation with friends and family while preparing a meal or washing dishes. Previously, I lived all my life in homes with closed kitchens and hated being isolated while doing the cooking/cleaning. And it's funny that almost everyone gathers around me on counter stools while I'm cooking, yet they can still watch TV and talk with others sitting on the sofa. I'm not young, I'm 61. The last 12 years have been great as I knew when I bought a new home, an open concept would be important to me.

redtabby · ‎03-10-2010

When we bought this house I thought I wanted an open floor plan, the downstairs is open from the kitchen to dining room to family room (no formal living room). After 10 years I can say I hate it. Like others have said, if you have company you need to stay on top of every dirty pan as you are cooking, otherwise the kitchen is a distraction while everyone is eating. Kitchen noises disturb someone in the family room watching tv or a movie. If I want to run the disposer I have to wait for a commercial or the dialogue is drowned out. Can't run the dishwasher until we go upstairs, it is older and noisy. We thought about getting a new quiet one, but after reading complaints about the short life span of new appliances we decided to keep it.

Our last home was a rental, it had a large closed kitchen with a breakfast nook. There was plenty of room for people to join me if they cared to. The only change I would have made to that kitchen was a place for a small tv so I could watch shows or the news as I was cooking or cleaning up.

Oh, more wall space would be nice for hanging some of our photos and art. Now we have to rotate. LOL

PamB226 · ‎10-01-2010

Actually I love the open kitchen. When we entertain, everyone gathers in the kitchen. We eat, drink and laugh all the while I am preparing food. I can't think of anything worse than having people over and not being able to interact just because I'm in the kitchen! As far as dirty pans, etc., we have a large sink in the attached garage where we put them to get them out of the way. I can't believe people are so paranoid about a dirty pan! And as far as disturbing someone with kitchen noises and having to tiptoe around them.......tell them to deal with it or they can clean up!

gardenman · ‎03-09-2010

A good designer can make a kitchen that's both open and closed depending on what you want it to be at that moment. Pocket doors and movable walls exist these days to allow you to have whatever you want. I've always like the idea of a pair of three foot wide pocket doors connecting the kitchen and dining room. When they're open you've got a six foot wide opening for easy movement and connection to the rest of the house. Close them up and the kitchen is in a world by itself. You can extend the pocket door concept into a movable wall that slides back into a pocket if you wish it to disappear. The lower cabinets there would then become an island when the wall is open. Upper cabinets (if desired) can be hung from the ceiling rather than hung on a wall. A decorative panel attached to the back of those cabinets for when the wall is open can make the look very fashionable.

For a good designer it doesn't have to be an either/or proposition. You can make a kitchen that's both open and closed depending on the mood of the person in the kitchen at the time. To transition from one to the other can take just a minute or two. It's not a big deal and not a huge expense. A movable pocket type wall is a tick pricey, but not terrible if that's what you want.

Fly!!! Eagles!!! Fly!!!

~moxie~ · ‎08-13-2013

I wasn't crazy about my open kitchen but it has opened my living space to light and everyone loves how large my great room is. Sure I have to be diligent about keeping it clean, but that is okay.

151949 · ‎03-09-2010

Personally, i would not design or buy a home specifically because it is good for entertaining. i don't entertain often enough for that to be an important issue for me. I buy what I want to live with day to day. I have a large kitchen with an attached breakfast room (basically an eat in kitchen) that has 2 half walls that make it open to the LR and the hall way from the back door. this allows a lot of light in to the kitchen and to the hallway area. I have more cabinets than I had in my previous kitchen that was enclosed. I have a casual lifestyle and this home perfectly suits it.

Kimi Eliz · ‎03-09-2010

I LOVE my open kitchen. It is just me and my husband in a 2800sq ft home and we love to be together. I really like that I can cook or work on the laptop in the kitchen nook and have a conversation with him while he is in the living room. I also love that I can watch TV, unload the dishwasher, cook a meal etc. I hated my closed kitchen when I had it. We also do a lot of entertaining and the large bar between the living room and kitchen is perfect!!! I would not have it any other way.

vermint · ‎04-05-2010

When we built our house in 1986, the kitchen was closed. In May of 2012 we took down the wall between the kitchen and dining room, and put in an island and new cabinets with granite countertops. I love it! I no longer feel like I'm entering a cave. We live on a lake and I can now see the beautiful view from my kitchen thru the family room windows.

1. You can't see my kitchen from the front door, and the family room is 2 steps down from the dining room with a half wall between, so you can't see the kitchen from the FR either.

2. Even with the "closed" kitchen, there was no door to close so smells wafted thru the house anyway.

3. When we entertain (rarely), it's buffet style, so we just use the kitchen counters as well as the new island which stands where the wall was. Empty pots/pans, whatever, go in the sink or dishwasher (I have very deep sinks).

4. I really like my granite, and don't care whether it's "in" or "out". It's beautiful and easy to maintain. I kept my white appliances, and will replace them with white when needed.

5. I didn't lose one inch of cabinet space, I actually gained some. The microwave was in a small cabinet on the wall we removed, but we included a place for it on the kitchen side of the island, with a large drawer underneath. The island also has a cabinet with a pull-up shelf for my stand mixer on one end, with a storage cabinet on the other end and on the dining room side.

5. The noise doesn't seem to be a factor. My dishwasher and garbage disposal are fairly quiet, and I can even hear the TV over them.

It's all a matter of your own personal taste. No one thing works for everyone.