Open plan living/kitchen

mushtafa

mushtafa

mushtafa

Soldato
Joined
17 May 2013
Posts
3,033
Location
West Sussex, UK
I'm looking at a new build property which has an open plan design for the kitchen/dining/living.

Are there any drawbacks with this? Apart from noise from the washing machine/dish washer when trying to watch TV.

Has anyone here moved to place like this and dislike it?
 
We Have had open plan in the last couple of houses we built... we think they are great and we just put the dishwasher on when we go to bed...
 
I was contemplating it; but in my small galley kitchen, the fridge noise is enough to send me up the wall alone.
 
The smell of cooking can be a factor to think about. The livingroom fabrics could start to smell like Kiev.

Having doors so you can keep the scrounging mutt out of the kitchen while you are having dinner too (our dining table is in the kitchen).

I like the idea of open plan but doubt I'd go for it.
 
Cooking smells (i find this irregular if you use the fan well and windows)

Noise from dishwasher/fridge/washing machine

Can't "hide" dishes etc that need doing so maybe better to have a tidy kitchen

Ive got a bit open plan living /kitchen but I'm fortunate enough to have a seperate utility and another seperate living room . To be honest spend most the time in bigger open plan one and a big fan of it
 
We're open plan kitchen, dining and living room. I love it. When you're cooking you aren't separated from the rest of the family, it's just a really nice living space imo, I wouldn't change it.

Some days I'm in the kitchen cooking, I've got one kid making something on the dining table and the wife and daughter are watching a film or something together, it'd be crap if we were all separated out imo.

Smell isn't really an issue for me, sure sometimes a good curry lingers, but it goes pretty quick and there are worse smells available!

As ours is all in one line (it's a very old house, the rooms were fairly small before we knocked a wall down), we installed a curtain to separate out the kitchen and make the living room area feel a bit more cosy of an evening.
 
Last edited:
Thanks everyone, think I'll go for it and see how I get on.
Attempting to buy a new build on shared ownership - they seem to be getting reserved/sold so quick I need to make a decision!
 
Really pleased with ours, but have got a separate utility which is a perfect setup IMO. We also have a front room which now hardly gets used but is a nice escape from the chaos occasionally. Dishwasher goes on overnight and the fridge isn’t noisy compared to the rest of the chaos!
 
Yeah we've got an open kitchen/dining/living space but we've also got a separate living room and i have quite mixed feelings on it really.

I do find we always gravitate over to the lounge in the evenings rather than stay in the open plan given the choice BUT that's probably quite a bit as our telly is in the lounge and we've not got one in the open plan. But the open space is very useful with kids as they can be colouring on the dining table when you're getting dinner or watching a tablet by the fire. Make sure its got a good extractor over the cooker so you don't have cooking smells, noise can be an issue if you've got a food mixer or whatever but it depends how you think you'll use the space really.
 
Similar to above, open plan kitchen / sitting area with a seperate utility for the washing machine, and a seperate formal front room. works well with no issues of smell, and as others have said, means you arent isolated fromt he rest of the family whilst cookinig. Dishwasher and washing machine go on over night as we are on economy 7 still so its 1/4 of the price.
 
Open plan living looks good but is, in every practical way, inferior to separate rooms. Noise travels between rooms, you can't easily separate the people who live there's activities, smells, etc. from cooking spreads through the whole house, it's more expensive to heat, and so on.
 
I have always lived in open plan houses since i moved out of my parents. Whenever im in a closed floorplan house it feels like being in a submarine.

washer and dryer are best in a dedicated laundry room with proper ventilation in any case. A good quality dishwasher is almost silent. There are no cooking smells woth proper extraction fans etc.

we don't put the tv in the living room, because the living room is for actual living where we can read, play board games, chat. TV has always been in a separate media room for TV/gaming/music without headphones etc.
 
defo going to be doing an open plan layout when funds allow.

we will however retain our living room as a standalone room so the best of both worlds.
we also have a utility to remove the washer/dryer noise.
 
We're mostly open plan downstairs. Living room with TV can be shut off as has double doors (glass) into dining area but generally open. We have a snug part off our kitchen too. When the kids were smaller there was a tv and some toys there. Great to keep an eye on them while cooking, etc.. Now they have their own room and I have a football table there...
 
mushtafa said:
Attempting to buy a new build
Click to expand...

Nope.

on shared ownership - they seem to be getting reserved/sold so quick I need to make a decision!
Click to expand...

Nope nope nope nope.

Do you really need to make a decision that quick? You don't want to be driven by some FOMO.

If it's a new build then an open plan layout will be the norm, but as it's probably quite a small room, you will have issues with smell and appliance noises that could annoy you throughout the house in other living areas.
 
Last edited:
For me it all depends on the size of the rooms. When we had smaller homes the separate room approach seemed cramped and open plan made for a better living experience despite the downsides.

However now we're in a larger house I like the separation and wouldn't go open plan again. Sadly homes in the UK are getting smaller (and worldwide are some of the smallest) and this was a factor in our last purchase so we compromised on a house that needed a lot of renovation but overall the floor area was significantly larger. Our current freezer in the utility room and fridge/freezer plus extractor fan in the kitchen are noisier than I could stand on fully open plan.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top Bottom