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I am an older guy (in his 60s), so take this rant accordingly...
What is it with "open" floor plans? I can't stand them.
I like walls.
Walls can hold pictures.
They can hold TVs and bookshelves.
Sofas and recliners can sit next to them.
Lamps for those chairs and sofas can magically be plugged in there without installing floor outlets.
I guess "designers" have decided we are ridiculous for asking for such a room plan.
I would love to meet the genius who "invented" TV-over-fireplace.
The proper position of a TV is with the center of the TV screen positioned at approximately (or just slightly above) eye level. Oh well. At least TV-over-fireplace works for people 12 ft tall or taller, or people who watch the TV 30' feet away out in the kitchen.
Finally, what is with the 12', 18' and even 20'+ ceilings?
Do you really think this old man wants to bring inside an extension ladder into the living room just to dust ceiling cobwebs or to change a light bulb? And that is even before considering the heating and cooling energy waste associated with such a drafty space.
And for what? So it looks more "open"?
No, thanks.
I’ll give you two out of three. I absolutely HATE the open floor plan too, with visitors looking at the pots, pans, and dirty dishes staring them in the face. Connect the living and dining areas, sure. But keep the kitchen separate and unseen from the main living area.
I don’t have a fireplace in my apartment, but I’ve been in living rooms that do, and it’s a pain in the butt to always look up over a burning fire or gaping black hole in the floor to watch something. A burning fire underneath a ball game is either cognitive dissonance—or a bad metaphor for your team!
But I do love high ceilings. The give apartments a wonderful sense of space, even grandeur. You see these here in lofts and many older buildings. Newer buildings, not so much. I like a ten or twelve foot ceiling. Higher than that not so much.
Last edited by citylove101; 09-24-2021 at 08:07 PM..
I’m torn on this…but leaning towards walls because while I like to be clean, I also like some rooms being more relaxed — like the kitchen. I also like that you can sorta get away into another room and have some privacy.
My parent’s house has two ~3 foot openings between the kitchen/dining and living room on maybe a 30 foot long wall between them. I think that is plenty of openness. I like that if they have company and I want to get out of the conversation for a while I can go sit at the dining table and eat something.
I agree that most open plans are awful, but I've seen some that are set up to be more practical than others. One thing is the fireplace....if you have limited walls then maybe loose the fireplace unless you use it for heating they are mostly decorative and impractical. Maybe a high window + a door instead of a wall of windows/sliders. Half walls can work wonders as well. You can do open without having everything open in one giant space, but builders don't design for practicality, they design for profit and stick every trendy thing they can wherever they can to make it seem 'upscale'. It's usually cheap looking as a result IMO. Sometimes when it's real open the kitchen defines the entire house because it's exposed on multiple sides and surrounded by the counter/stools and whatever space is left over isn't furniture friendly.
I've lived in 50's, 60's, and 70's houses only and they managed to have walls and a good flow at the same time. Not everyone who designes houses should.
Floor plans have been evolving towards open plan, for decades. Just as you can have crummy open floor plans, you can have crummy closed off floor plans.
An open plan does allow more daylight to penetrate throughout the house, and I like that. But noise penetrates as well. I prefer a partially open plan. I gather that most newer homes are more open. If you want a traditional floor plan, I think you might have to look at older homes to find what you want. But even older homes will likely have some open elements, such as a combined living dining area.
I like a house to be revealed as you move through it. I would even take that idea into the front approach to the house with a gated courtyard or garden, a covered porch, and an entry foyer. Open plans are cost containment plans and these days it is difficult to afford buying a house so they are popular in new builds. I think a good one will allow for some flexibility. I have seen some awful ones.
I think open floor plan is nice if it is a smaller home, great in those 700 sqft type apartments, makes it seem bigger.
I live in a Tuscan/Mediterranean (what ever it is called) style house, so it has high ceilings, inside entry by the front door I think is around 15 ft high or so, you would probably freak out if I told you how high the outside entry ceiling is, lol. I love it, has the nice overhead light accents when needed, but usually use floor lamps because they give off enough light as it is, living and bedroom that is.
It is not an open floor plan, the only thing open is the kitchen and dining room is just technically one large room. I like it that way, but my home is large, so I would not gain what I think is the benefit of an open floor plan for myself.
As for needing a ladder; have not changed a light bulb in years, and for cleaning, those little dusting things are on an extension stick. If I did need to change a light bulb, those little foldable step things would do fine most of the time, my ceilings around most of the home are 10-12 feet.
There is a ratio with where to place the TV, it has to do with TV size, and it is placed a certain distance from the person, and there is a height variable in this. At that, over the fireplace is too high, according to the ratio that is. I find it highly uncomfortable. I do not have a fireplace though.
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