How do you feel about the ongoing "open concept" trend for houses?

[Skel1ingt0n]

No doubt, I recognize the allure of a high-end, open concept, hyper-modern lux apartment or condo. In some ways, it feels like a spin on "studio apartment... but with money!" I think a lot of the allure comes from it being different than how most middle class grew up, and we get swayed by fancy "minimalist living" blogs and Youtube videos.

But more and more, I'm seeing these beautiful old homes - in the suburbs - clearly designed for couples at minimum, families more likely - that are being torn down to the studs and built back up with no walls and just giant swaths of space with rooms colliding.

Let me be super frank - I do believe that modern times call for more modern layouts - and I like "more open than it used to be" (with bias, my house would fall into this category) - but I still do like some walls. This giant "rectangle" with different spaces in dif't corners just doesn't do it for me.

They seem like they'd be a disaster to keep clean with kids. And even without kids, I don't want to have dishes piling up and it make the family room look messy. It's awful for noise separation - though I suppose that could be seen as a perk if you're a big entertainer. It's also a bit more difficult to decorate - demanding coordination across all your furniture, accessories, and paints. Sometimes I want each room to have its own "feel."

But clearly that's a minority opinion (or at least feels like it), because these types of homes continue to get renovated as such, and continue to sell for more and more exorbitant amounts.

What say you? I'll post a poll to read a general feel - but obviously there are lots of layouts and lots of shades of gray here, so interested in hearing general thoughts on modern home design.

 

[ebugg]

love open layouts. i live in a smallish apartment now, and its not "open" but it is like one long space. i am tidy and love pacing around the house, so it works for me

 

[nsilvias]

It sucks. I need a wall to get away from the noise

 

[Aurica]

It sucks. I need a wall to get away from the noise

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This is how I feel. I want walls to block sound from another TV or to block sound from my music so I don't bother people. Live alone? Then sure. With a family? No thanks.

 

[PlanetSmasher]

I think I would lose my mind if my whole house was wide open like that. I need some privacy to stay sane.

 

[MrHealthy]

I prefer the kitchen / dining to be together but separate from the living space. The kitchen is often the heart of a house and giving it its own space helps define a home in my opinion.

 

[Faenix1]

I like a combined kitchen/dining room, but that's about it.

I'd rather take an old house over one of these new open concept ones.

 

[Pau]

Maybe it's just from growing up in Miami, but most houses or apartments I would visit had open kitchens and living rooms. And that was across size and price. I've never actually lived in an apartment or house where the kitchen was in a separate room from the living room. The house I grew up in had a wall separating the kitchen from the dining area, but there was no door, and the wall didn't go all the way to the ceiling.

Also, I'm here in the thread for the pictures.

 

[fontguy]

Why do I want to hear what's going on in the dining room when I chose to sit in the living room?

Leave me the fuck alone, people and/or world.

 

[kubev]

I prefer open layouts. While I don't necessarily NEED an open layout, however, I do think hallways are a huge waste of space, so I at least prefer a layout that minimizes the existence of hallways.

 

[Sandcrawler]

It forces design uniformity across the whole space which I really dislike. Also it's loud, not very private, and not cozy. Walls are also useful to put desks, sofas, TV's etc against. Maybe the popularity of open concepts drives the prices of more closed houses down, which sounds good for me. Won't be in the market for a while though.

 

[Dakkon]

Great if you're single.

Terrible past that.

 

[Garp TXB]

Hearing everyone poo is awesome

 

[turbobrick]

The pictures in the OP look like standard houses to me. Combining the dining room, kitchen, and living room into one open area is an idea I can get behind, and how I see a lot of houses these days anyway. My house has the kitchen and dining area as one space, with only a half wall separating from the living room next to it.

 

[Kurita]

 

[UnderNewOwnership]

Definitely and entirely not a fan.

In my case, it's mainly because I like more... traditional cuisine. And, regardless of how powerful the electric hood is, without a proper kitchen door, the house will get stunk up by garlicky mutton or fish chorba.

 

[GamerJM]

I don't actually think it makes that big of a difference, these houses still have bedrooms and that's where I'd spend most of my "privacy" time. I do kinda prefer the segmentation of non-open houses though.

 

[turbobrick]

Is having a door separating the kitchen a common thing? I'm assuming its probably a regional thing, or possibly related to when a house was built.

Now that I think about it, in my whole life I think I've only been in one house that had the kitchen as its own room, and when I was there, the door had been removed long ago.

 

[Prax]

I like some walls, though I am fine with combined kitchen/dining and maybe even family livingroom if there is a separate study/formal living room elsewhere.

I wanna watch tv/watch videogames being played while I cook or eat with family lol. But I definitely would want a separate quiet study space to lounge in away from high activity areas.

Also, when you have kids, you want them to be in a space you can keep an eye on them while you're trying to meal prep, so some kind of open concept or breakfast bar window to living area is the only way?

 

[J_ToSaveTheDay]

My mom just bought a house that finished construction in June 2019 that's like this.

It's super weird, but at least it has a basement that's segmented, and her master bedroom on the main floor kinda tucks away a good deal.

I guess I like combining open spacing of living room, dining room, and kitchen — those three combine together quite well IMO.

My mom's house at least has a nice little partition/hallway that leads back into her kinda secluded and private bedroom, and the basement segments off into three little bedroom spaces too. Huge house with plenty of space to pull that off, not sure if other houses that are around right now are kinda just completely wide open.

 

[Deleted member 48991]

Maybe I'm too used to tiny Japanese apartments, but I imagine even if you would put walls between the different areas in the picture it seems very spacy. Especially the second picture.

 

[Jarmel]

Some of that is fine but stuff like in the first picture would suck. I feel that the kitchen needs to be cut off to some degree as smoke and smells and all that everywhere would suck.

 

[kirby_fox]

First picture looks like it's trying to give the illusion of there being more space than there is. Second picture looks more common, but I'd have to see the rest of the house to know if I like it or not.

 

[sfedai0]

Asthetically its appealing but I really dislike the kitchen and living room single space design that all these new houses are featuring. WHy would I want that smell and grime from the kichten on my couch and other furniture? Might as well just bring a toilet in there as well.

 

[ArkkAngel007]

I enjoy the open layouts, to a point. However, there are some drawbacks. First, it's a nightmare to clean if it's a tall or multistory structure. Second, not much privacy as sound travels unless you set up sound proofing or decor that assists in such throughout. The amount needed to do so is not cheap or in some cases not feasible depending on the overall structure and layout. And yes, kitchen smells get everywhere, for better or worse.

Dining and kitchen area being open but separate from the rest of the house, open floors that don't blend together aside from the connecting stairway (such as the second picture or many furnished basements), and some loft concepts that have semi-deep hallways work well enough, but anything else in my experience isn't that great long term.

 

[BlackGoku03]

I don't need to see what everyone is doing. I don't want to see my kitchen from my living room.

It's frustrating because we're out looking to purchase a home and most of it is open. Some just a giant square on the first floor. Why should I pay for less effort.

 

[Ferrio]

I like it. I want to interact with people while I cook or host a party etc. Rest of the living space needs to be separate, preferably on another floor.

 

[Ultima_5]

They're for folks living in apartments or buying mansions. For reg sizes homes they don't work at all

 

[Carvel]

You will need to keep your home clean and tidy at all times, or it will haunt you where ever you go. There's no escape from the dishes...
I feel like a lot of these shots forget that people got stuff lying around, especially families (kids don't care about open designs and tidyness).

 

[Skel1ingt0n]

You will need to keep your home clean and tidy at all times, or it will haunt you where ever you go. There's no escape from the dishes...
I feel like a lot of these shots forget that people got stuff lying around, especially families (kids don't care about open designs and tidyness).

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This is exactly how I feel - like, yeah, sure, if you keep it like a museum it looks nice enough. But some dirty shoes here, pile of laundry there, a bunch of dirty dishes on the table and in the sink, some spilled coffee beans over there, and some kids toys littered throughout and it becomes quite a nuisance.

 

[Lord Azrael]

It can look nice but it reduces privacy and worsens acoustics

 

[Mammoth Jones]

Living alone I could see the appeal.

But with a family, walls are nice.

 

[Deleted member 3082]

From the author of McMansion Hell (who also has a Masters of Arts in Audio Science, specializing in architectural acoustics); https://www.bloomberg.com/news/feat...-the-open-floor-plan-long-live-separate-rooms

A few choice quotes;

We are going to need to consume a lot less energy if we want to stem the tide of global climate change. The good news is, humans survived for thousands of years without air conditioning and cars, and thus can learn some lessons from the past. The closed floor plan, especially the closed kitchen, can help save energy by the simple principle of not heating and cooling rooms that are not currently in use, as well as by isolating rooms we want to keep warm or cool.

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Designing homes around "entertaining" that happens only a handful of times a year is a wasteful yet mindbogglingly popular practice.

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The "labor-saving" elements of open floor plans are in some ways labor-creating. A large, single, continuous space is harder to get and keep clean. Messes and smells are no longer isolated, but can be easily tracked throughout the entire first floor of a large home. Less house in general means less house to clean.

Not separating cooking, living, and dining is also an acoustical nightmare, especially in today's style of interior design, which avoids carpet, curtains, and other soft goods that absorb sound. This is especially true of homes that do not have separate formal living and dining spaces but one single continuous space. Nothing is more maddening than trying to read or watch television in the tall-ceilinged living room with someone banging pots and pans or using the food processor 10 feet away in the open kitchen.

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TLDR: Open Concept is bad for the environment, bad for your budget, bad for cleaning, bad for acoustics.

 

[Marshall]

In 15 years, we'll see all the home improvement shows tackling these room-less projects. Adding in walls. Book it.

 

[Soj]

I hate it. I need a seperate kitchen.

 

[Gabriel]

I personally love it - my 2003 build house has an open floor plan on the first floor. I also live alone so I don't need to wall myself off from...myself? Homes of a similar square footage that have divided kitchen/great room or whatever seem very small and cramped.

 

[Legend of Aims]

Love it. I like seeing everything in my home. Also makes makes the area more spacious.

 

[FTF]

I like the look, but feel this only works if you live alone or only with a SO and no kids. Or else you have no escape/it's too noisy.

 

[ExoExplorer]

When I was young I visited a friend with a extremely open floor plan. You could see the door to the backyard from the entrance and the bedrooms on a balcony on the 2nd floor. I honestly can't think of a more terrible concept. No privacy, and sound from anything traveled throughout the house.

 

[Steven]

Great for apartments in most cases. For houses, it depends but it can be good or bad.

 

[GK86]

I kinda like it. At least if it looks like the second photo.

 

[Deleted member 2226]

As someone who cooks and doesn't make really odorous food, I'm fine to have an open kitchen where I can talk to other people when entertaining, as well as have easier flow if there's more people.

But for the rest of the living and sleeping spaces? Hell no.

I feel like all these pictures don't do justice to how damn loud and echoey these places must be. You don't see any heavy carpet, there's nothing to dampen sound on the walls, the ceilings are high, and you have a bunch of very noise-reflective metal surfaces. It's going to be loud and you're not going to be able to hear people if there's any number of people in that house. It's the same cancer that made eating out (well, before pandemic times) just loud and obnoxious.

 

[BossAttack]

Well, for one, it would be nice to own a house.

 

[Zojirushi]

I lived in a one bedroom during college days (so basically forced open concept in a way) and I NEVER want to go back to smelling what I cooked the other day for at least 24 hours in the entire place.

 

[nhlducks35]

Good if you're single or live in an apartment IMO

 

[Deleted member 12833]

I prefer the kitchen isn't viewable from the living room.

 

[turbobrick]

From the author of McMansion Hell (who also has a Masters of Arts in Audio Science, specializing in architectural acoustics); https://www.bloomberg.com/news/feat...-the-open-floor-plan-long-live-separate-rooms

A few choice quotes;

TLDR: Open Concept is bad for the environment, bad for your budget, bad for cleaning, bad for acoustics.

Click to shrink...

I'd say it depends on your house design and habits. The AC or heat is going to cool/warm rooms not in use anyway because every house in my area has central air. I'd also argue that cleaning is about the same as long as its similar sizes overall. Actual cooking rarely happens in my house, so smells and kitchen noise aren't an issue, and neither is noise from a TV that doesn't get used often and is separated from the bedrooms anyway. Of course for a large family I can see how things would be different, as there's only 2 people that live in my house.

 

[Piston]

I like open floor plans as long as the bedrooms and bathrooms are separate.

 

[PopQuiz]

I blame Chip and Joanna.

 

[Deleted member 1476]

Nope, not for me. I go to one and it's awful.