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Subjective observation:
Large family preferred privacy, places to "get away" from each other - no Great Room
Small family or couple wanted intimacy and visual contact - Great Room
Noisy, conflicting activities - no Great Room
Quiet, polite assembly - Great Room
"Modern" quirks (not necessarily essential for the long term)
[] Home theater w/5.1 audio / entertainment area - no Great Room (acoustic isolation!)
[] Computer / Video game room (ditto)
[] Dining while watching TV, socializing w/ cook - Great Room
[] Video projector* home theater - if central focus of the home: Great Room; otherwise isolated
*(Having lived with a video projector -1080p- and its 7 ft wide screen, I now find it indispensable. Between watching movies, TV, and doing computer work, my "bad" eyes are quite happy. Would consider a larger wall area for an even bigger image. However, if personal eye monitors become the "new thing", home theaters may become obsolete, too.)
the open concept here in brooklyn NY's newer condos is because instead of making 3 seperate rooms for 1- living room, 2 - bedroom and 3 - kitahen.
they now make 2 rooms, 1- bedroom and 2 -living/dining/kitchen combo.
thus not having to worry about a kitchen window, (because of codes and the like). So they make one room with cabinets on wall wall and call it open..
I call it cheap, and ugly.
No, I dont want my kitchen to be a wall in the living room.
Open concept to me should be a huge space, not a regular 15 x 18 room with called kitchen living dining combo.
We just did a major remodel of our 1980's colonial home and wrestled with whether we should take down the wall between the family room and the kitchen. Our family room is a decent size (13 by 20) and had a door on it so we could close the room off for privacy. Often when we had guests, the kids would be in the family room watching TV with the door closed and the adults would be in the kitchen talking. We also have a large screen TV in that room so when a friend commented that the room felt like a home theater it made our decision to keep the wall and the door the way it was. We did end up adding a second door into the back of the family room from the kitchen for circulation during larger gatherings which has been very nice. So to answer the OP, I do not like open floor plans either and I am glad we did not go with it in our home. Jay
I've lived in both and prefer the open plan, especially given our lifestyle and the top-of-the-world views our current small (by modern standards) house has.
I'm somewhat the opposite of the OP - small closed rooms give me claustrophobia, I like my high ceilings and open rooms with light coming in from three sides. We do both have separate small offices with doors that close, although either of us are just as likely to be sitting in the open areas by a window with a laptop as tucked into our offices.
Open-floor-plans, are for hot-weather-states, like Florida, and Southern California. In cooler states, it will eat up your energy budget....They seem to be pretty......but that's about it.
There is nothing like a house with a sense of privacy!!!!!!
Open-floor-plans, are for hot-weather-states, like Florida, and Southern California. In cooler states, it will eat up your energy budget....They seem to be pretty......but that's about it.
There is nothing like a house with a sense of privacy!!!!!!
Wait... what? why would less walls have an impact on heating a house in the winter? Isn't the main driver cubic feet (and insulation, of course)? I could see your point, if every room had an individual thermostat or radiator.
I agree! I am not a fan of the open floorplan concept. I really despise it since I was born in Boston, MA and I am not use to that type of floorplan. I first encountered open-concept when we moved to Florida. I hate it!
I dislike having a kitchen in the living room. The noise is horrible. Glad its not like that where I live though it seems common in newer homes.
I think what the problem re: heating and cooling is that those open plans usually come with those waste of space too high ceilings. All that space to heat or cool.
I believe the ideal is to have a home large enough for both open rooms for gathering in (either with guests or with the family) as well as withdrawing rooms for alone time. Homes were originally very open with just a 'hall' or giant room, then private rooms were added and the hall became the 'great hall', then more rooms were added and the hall just became the 'front hall'. Its kind of returned as the 'great room' a giant area where you eat, relax, entertain in. I believe its a great feature as long as there is a den/library/family room or large enough bedrooms for being alone in. If I was to build a house from scratch it would have a great hall, complete with dais and screens passage.
Also I don't believe extra costs for heating and cooling is a waste any more than extra costs for having high end fixtures, or marble vs vinyl, or whatever else is a waste. Your paying for the environment and high ceilings has a dramatic effect on that environment.
I dislike having a kitchen in the living room. The noise is horrible. Glad its not like that where I live though it seems common in newer homes.
I think what the problem re: heating and cooling is that those open plans usually come with those waste of space too high ceilings. All that space to heat or cool.
The high ceilings make sense, but that's not due to the open concept, that's due to high ceilings.
Also, I think that cost can be minimized by using ceiling fans, an energy efficient HVAC, and effective insulation.
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