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There is some furniture that is fine sitting out in the middle of the room, but there is some furniture that needs a wall to go against. China hutches and book cases don't normally sit out in the middle of the room. Display cases and side tables look more at home against a wall.
Looking at the open floor plans, it is obvious that there is none of that sort of furniture. For those who don't need china hutches, dressers for their clothing, or a TV, there is no need for walls. If a family doesn't own any art work, maybe they don't need walls.
One thing that surprised me about my new house, and I didn't think to look for it before buying, is that there are almost no usable corners. My son owns a smallish corner display unit. He moved furniture into the house and then came out of his room and told me that there was no place to put the cabinet because there are no corners.
No way. The rooms are rectangular, so there are corners... but there are no corners for the display cabinet. Corners are made unsuitable for furniture by windows, or closets, or a wall length stone fireplace. This is throughout the entire house.
At least I have some walls to put my desk against, the head of the bed against, and a wall to hang the TV on.
Chickens coming home to roast (cook) as opposed to coming home to roost.
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Thank you for this topic, OP. Like you, I HATE open-concept homes or apartments! The kitchen inevitably gets relegated to a small "station" in the corner, often with too little counter space to do any real cooking prep. Plus, you're on view to the guests, and accessible to them for chatting, which I think is one of the ideas behind it, so you have all that distraction to deal with, as you juggle pots and pans of food on the stove, risking burning something while distracted by guests. And what if you want to hire a caterer for a big group? Who wants to watch the caterer doing her work, and why would s/he want to be on display?
This idea, I think, began in Europe, where the apartments are so small, the corner kitchen-station and living/dining combo room was devised as a space-saving adaptation. American developers adopted it, even in spacious homes, because that design is much cheaper to build, so I suppose it makes homes more affordable in high COL areas, but ultimately, what it does is enable a greater profit margin for the architects or developers.
IMO it's cheap cr@p, pardon my French, but it's a rip-off. It's a con game that the public seems to have gone in for enthusiastically, though I'm not seeing that too much. What I see, is people putting up with it, because there are few alternatives on the market, since even the homes with nice, separate dining rooms and kitchen areas with a breakfast area, have been converted to the barn-style design. It's great if you don't mind living in a barn.
From this perspective, the real luxury is having a dedicated, separate dining room, and a separate kitchen with breakfast table, for informal meals, or for the kids to snack at and entertain friends, etc. People who can afford it, will buy homes that offer those amenities.
In Asia, open concept homes have always been common because there were no concept of a specific dining, cooking, living quarters. So you go to some Asian countries, the home is this huge long corridor and everyone is sitting in the front watching TV and you could see the end of the home upon entry. There are partitions they put or furniture used to block things but that's how many homes in Japan and China have been. Only bedrooms are located elsewhere usually upstairs or on the side rooms.
Thank you for this topic, OP. Like you, I HATE open-concept homes or apartments! The kitchen inevitably gets relegated to a small "station" in the corner, often with too little counter space to do any real cooking prep. Plus, you're on view to the guests, and accessible to them for chatting, which I think is one of the ideas behind it, so you have all that distraction to deal with, as you juggle pots and pans of food on the stove, risking burning something while distracted by guests. And what if you want to hire a caterer for a big group? Who wants to watch the caterer doing her work, and why would s/he want to be on display?
This idea, I think, began in Europe, where the apartments are so small, the corner kitchen-station and living/dining combo room was devised as a space-saving adaptation. American developers adopted it, even in spacious homes, because that design is much cheaper to build, so I suppose it makes homes more affordable in high COL areas, but ultimately, what it does is enable a greater profit margin for the architects or developers.
IMO it's cheap cr@p, pardon my French, but it's a rip-off. It's a con game that the public seems to have gone in for enthusiastically, though I'm not seeing that too much. What I see, is people putting up with it, because there are few alternatives on the market, since even the homes with nice, separate dining rooms and kitchen areas with a breakfast area, have been converted to the barn-style design. It's great if you don't mind living in a barn.
From this perspective, the real luxury is having a dedicated, separate dining room, and a separate kitchen with breakfast table, for informal meals, or for the kids to snack at and entertain friends, etc. People who can afford it, will buy homes that offer those amenities.
/rant.
so many biased assumptions and anecdotes in one post. amazing.
so many biased assumptions and anecdotes in one post. amazing.
You betcha!
You sound like you've never heard or read a rant before.
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