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I can see your side. At our current apartment its close space so you can see walls and walls but still see everything if you had to go to the bathroom because you walk right by every room. At our new house if the doorbell rang, i could close off every room and youd only see the living room.
I feel like Shrek in the movie. I need a wall around my land. ;D
I like the open concept because it includes the entire family (or guests) in while cooking. When I had a smaller, semi-open concept in our last home, everyone hung around the kitchen and it was quite cramped. With the open concept, people can hang out in the family room and still be part of the conversation that is happening in the kitchen.
The pros of a closed kitchen is that it can stay messy!
I watch HGTV constantly. The one thing that bothers me the most is that every show is the same. Every designer is the same. There is no variations. Love it or List it? I want open concept, stainless steel appliances, granite, wood floors..and most importantly double sinks in master bathroom.
Property Brothers? I can give you concept, stainless steel appliances, granite, wood floors..and most importantly double sinks in master bathroom in 5 weeks.
House Hunters? My "price point" is $150,000 but I want concept, stainless steel appliances, granite, wood floors..and most importantly double sinks in master bathroom. (Plus they don't want a house if they don't like the paint color).
I think this has a lot to do with what's "in" right now. I just wish they would stop listening to the producer and show us different designs every so often.
I watch HGTV constantly. The one thing that bothers me the most is that every show is the same. Every designer is the same. There is no variations. Love it or List it? I want open concept, stainless steel appliances, granite, wood floors..and most importantly double sinks in master bathroom.
Property Brothers? I can give you concept, stainless steel appliances, granite, wood floors..and most importantly double sinks in master bathroom in 5 weeks.
House Hunters? My "price point" is $150,000 but I want concept, stainless steel appliances, granite, wood floors..and most importantly double sinks in master bathroom. (Plus they don't want a house if they don't like the paint color).
I think this has a lot to do with what's "in" right now. I just wish they would stop listening to the producer and show us different designs every so often.
I think the materials, brands, & looks are trendy things, but the open concept is how more families function nowadays. It's no longer 1 person cooking and serving a course after course for 8-12 guests who are sitting down at a dinner table. That just isn't the reality of many homes where both spouses work, clean, cook, and take care of the kids.
It may be different in lower cost of living areas where there it's not the norm for both people to work.
I think the materials, brands, & looks are trendy things, but the open concept is how more families function nowadays. It's no longer 1 person cooking and serving a course after course for 8-12 guests who are sitting down at a dinner table. That just isn't the reality of many homes where both spouses work, clean, cook, and take care of the kids.
It may be different in lower cost of living areas where there it's not the norm for both people to work.
That's an argument for big eat-in kitchens. I dunno about upper-class homes, but in the lower-middle class homes I knew as a kid 50+ years ago, we all spent a great deal of time at the kitchen table.
The "kitchen table" was the primary center for family gathering, because most homes I knew of didn't have "family rooms" or "dens." The living rooms had plastic on the sofas and were reserved for guests, which left the kitchen table for most family activities.
In fact, I about 20 years ago I was in a conversation with an old life insurance agent who mentioned that getting the husband and wife out of the living room and to the "kitchen table"--meant they were really paying attention to his sales pitch because that signalled admittance into the family center.
I watch HGTV constantly. The one thing that bothers me the most is that every show is the same. Every designer is the same. There is no variations. Love it or List it? I want open concept, stainless steel appliances, granite, wood floors..and most importantly double sinks in master bathroom.
I'd love to be on one of those shows, LOL.
No, I don't want you to gut the pink or green or blue tiled bathroom.
No, I don't want you to knock out this wall to "open up the space".
Please refinish the wood floors, don't replace them.
Oh, and don't take a sledgehammer to those kitchen cabinets that we're replacing; take them down carefully so I can use them in the basement or garage or donate them to ReStore. Same with those sinks, faucets, etc.
Don't bother with stainless steel appliances; I don't like them.
Let's save tons of money by designing around the furniture and accessories I already own.
I believe that kitchen smells belong in the kitchen. I hate open concept. You fry fish-the entire house smells like fish. Ugh. My kitchen isn't closed, but it has a giant archway with no door. Every time we cook, we can smell the food all over the house. If I could afford to, I would close that archway and put in a door.
Anyway, I think most of the people on those shows are just going with whatever is "in these days". Once the open-concept gets old, everyone will want a closed in kitchen. LOL
No, I don't want you to gut the pink or green or blue tiled bathroom.
No, I don't want you to knock out this wall to "open up the space".
Please refinish the wood floors, don't replace them.
Oh, and don't take a sledgehammer to those kitchen cabinets that we're replacing; take them down carefully so I can use them in the basement or garage or donate them to ReStore. Same with those sinks, faucets, etc.
Don't bother with stainless steel appliances; I don't like them.
Let's save tons of money by designing around the furniture and accessories I already own.
I agree with this. Although I admit I like stainless. We just finished a major remodel and our contractor couldn't believe we wanted to keep and refinish our oak floors and that we wanted to just put a clear coat on them and not stain them dark. He was pushing us hard to go with prefab exotic hardwood that click in, I said no way we love oak. We also donated our old cabinets and appliances. Finally we put up a wall (!) between our kitchen and family room, it's open on either side so not a solid wall but the open concept felt like a bowling alley to me. I liked it when I had toddlers to keep an eye on them but those days are gone.
I believe that kitchen smells belong in the kitchen. I hate open concept. You fry fish-the entire house smells like fish. Ugh. My kitchen isn't closed, but it has a giant archway with no door. Every time we cook, we can smell the food all over the house. If I could afford to, I would close that archway and put in a door.
Anyway, I think most of the people on those shows are just going with whatever is "in these days". Once the open-concept gets old, everyone will want a closed in kitchen. LOL
But the smell of bacon is what wakes me up on Saturday mornings. My early-riser husband makes it every Saturday.
I don't see "open concept" ever going away, although I did recently see one homeowner on House Hunters say she hated open concept - something you don't see someone say on HGTV very often.
Going back to the OP, our issue is not that we entertain a LOT, but when we do, we have a lot of people over at that time. We're not one for having 4-5 people over every weekend. We're hosting 1-2 big events a year for which we have 30-50 people converge on our house. And we do ALL the food for the events.
Only a COMMUNIST would not buy everything new and shiny to keep the HGTV sponsors in business.
People who reuse are the nightmare of Home Depot.
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My early-riser husband makes it every Saturday.
It is people like you
