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I like it, especially during the daytime. It gets cloudy in my part of the country, and the light is maximized. We have a separate office/den so more private there. Lots of light in the kitchen, too!
I know the trend in home for the past 20-ish years has been toward "open floor plans" and greatrooms.
People evidently want to be in the kitchen but be able to see the family room and dining room, and vice-versa. They don't want walls or doorways between rooms. Some even see archways and large openings between rooms as too confining.
I personally can't stand the open-plan concept, but I feel like I'm all alone.
I like separate rooms, with doorways or even doors in between. If I have people over to eat, I'd rather have them not see in the kitchen. If I'm in one room, and the boyfriend is in the other, I don't want to hear what he's watching on TV. We don't have kids, but I hear from people with kids that they want to be able to see into the other rooms to see what everyone is doing. I think if I had kids, if they were super-young, they wouldn't be off in another room without me anyway. And if they were bigger kids, I'd be glad to NOT see them once in a while. I grew up in a family of 4 in a small house, but with all separate rooms. I think the separation was the only thing that kept us sane and not wanting to kill each other
I watch HGTV house-hunter type shows all the time, and I'm surprised at how everyone is demanding an open floor plan. I can't see wanting one big huge greatroom with no division in between. I would think that even couples in the throes of love wouldn't always want to be looking at each other, and might need time apart in different rooms.
Then on top of the "open plan" they usually have these soaring ceilings. So now you are heating or cooling a big huge room with a high ceiling. Seems inefficient. My central air cools all my rooms just fine, and if it's a guest room that I don't need so cool, I can shut the vent and the door. Ditto for heating. My bills are nice & manageable. Plus, I'm not heating or cooling empty spaces 10+ feet over my head.
Then I have a dog who I'd sometimes like to keep out of certain rooms, or away from a project I might be working on, so I put up very nice wooden gates in the doorways. What do people with no doorways do?
Does anyone else out there actually agree with me? Do you like separate rooms?
I do. I like separate rooms. I don't like the open concept thing at all.
Why does anyone want to look at their kitchen all the time from their great room or family room? Most kitchens are rarely all neat and immaculate like in a magazine. And why do the people who are watching TV or spending time in the great room have to suffer through all the noise and smells of cooking? And if I'm cooking, I don't want people watching me, and sitting around chatting with me. I just want to cook, not socialize. I don't even like eat in kitchens. I like a kitchen for cooking, and a separate dining room for eating.
I do like my open floor plan home, I can see TV & the fire place from the kitchen , but the kitchen part has a high enough bar like counter with stools so you can't see much of the kitchen mess from the other areas although when I get a phone call my friends say the place sounds empty , I think it's the high ceiling that makes it Sound that way, a couple of pocket doors can be closed off , but I never use them.
I do. I like separate rooms. I don't like the open concept thing at all.
Why does anyone want to look at their kitchen all the time from their great room or family room? Most kitchens are rarely all neat and immaculate like in a magazine. And why do the people who are watching TV or spending time in the great room have to suffer through all the noise and smells of cooking? And if I'm cooking, I don't want people watching me, and sitting around chatting with me. I just want to cook, not socialize. I don't even like eat in kitchens. I like a kitchen for cooking, and a separate dining room for eating.
Well, comme ce, comme ca.
As I try to change my life for the better, I try to remember to have music playing when I cook, to be talking to the cat. All the CD and record players are out in the living room, not in the kitchen. Now, I suppose I could have a player in the kitchen, I did have such in my 20's.........and I consider myself quite fortunate to make it out of my 20's & early 30's without electrocuting myself!
SIGH!.......so from the aspect of being able to hear music, being able to talk to the pets,.................and the prospect that I'm going to often be the only human in this decent sized ranch home out in the country...............having open spaces to be able to hear what is going on in the other part of the house seems like a good security idea.
BUT ON THE OTHER HAND, the ability to closed off sections of the house, such as sealing off the sight of the kitchen when one wants to be romantic, sounds decently nice as well.
Or the aspect of testing out an acting character/part and hence, being able to modify certain rooms to a scene.
So I suppose that some kind of folding doors between spaces would be a decent compromise.
Quote:
Originally Posted by dorado0359
............Not to mention the fact that builders are saving and making millions more building open floor plan homes.
That, too, is something to keep in mind.......one way or another.
Quote:
Originally Posted by AtkinsonDan
Builders are profiting twice with open floor plans..............People do not seem to realize that with open floor plans they are paying more money for less product, less house. I'll take a sturdy, beefy house with walls any day over an open floor plan.
I think I may have posted in here already. Consider this an update.
We opened up our split level. Its three 22x22 levels. The two non-BR levels are what we opened up. the are separated only by a few steps and the opening between them is 6 feet wide.
Kit/LR/Dr level has just one small wall segment. Downstairs living area is completely open except for a corner bathroom.
We've had time to entertain in the house.. which is why we went OFP.
It really works for us. We've had 40-50 people in the 1600 sq ft house very comfortably. (that's way at the max # of people).
Why it works for us: Its my wife and I, and our 21 yr old daughter. We've reached that "lets entertain family and friends before we get too old" mode. ha But with just 2.5 of us (daughter is at school and away alot), we really don't have a need for several private nooks and crannies. Den, basement family room etc.
Why it possibly doesn't work for "younger" families: Our prior house was standard cape cod, many small rooms and a finished basement. When we had 3 young kids in the house, I think it worked better for us, as everyone needed more options for private space than just bedrooms. Separate rooms for TV/Video games. Studying.
Our one downside with the place, which has minimal impact from our conversion is we now only have 3 BRs, one of which is an office... so tough to have houseguests stay over
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