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Yeah open layouts look cool but aren't the best if you like privacy and quietness. It can suck sitting in the living room and hearing the washer/dryer or dishwasher running. Or the banging of the dishes in the kitchen and you have to turn up the tv to hear the tv better.
Open for us.....all the way. And being a remodel contractor, every single house I do has to have the open great room concept. Even if the 'great room' is only 200 SF :-)
I feel like we ended up somewhere in-between an open concept floor plan, and the closed in one. We have a large living area, that leads into an open dining room, but there is one wall that separates the kitchen from the living room so you do have your sink area and stove private when you have guests over they can't see into the kitchen. Our bedrooms and bathrooms are down a hallway off of the living room so there again is privacy. But we have nice vaulted ceilings so you don't feel claustrophobic. Our area has a lot of older homes with no open concept and hubby said that when he was looking the closed off rooms and segregation made the houses seem smaller even when they were fairly large. I feel like our house is the best of both worlds.
It all depends on how your household runs and the personalities living there.
We love open floor plans. We usually watch some TV while I'm cooking, and while DH cleans up, etc.
There is a house we want where the kitchen, dining, living, office and small sitting room all morph together. It's perfect for us and our day to day routines. If we want privacy we can go to one of the bedrooms.
We find if they are too many separate rooms we are constantly yelling to each other or having to walk over there to talk...
Our current house is small (not by HI standards) and I think the living/dining/kitchen is about 1000sq, and the dishwasher is no problem, it's pretty quiet.
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Who ever dreamed up that phrase ! "open concept". Especially in remodeling very old homes; they'd better put a new roof on as well.
I cringe every time I hear it especially on HGTV on every danged show.
Every once in a while I want to leave things on my counters, and dishes in the sink ! and maybe leave a bed or two unmade.
Other than lofts, open concept homes almost always have individual bedrooms and bathrooms so you can leave all the unmade beds you want. And I got a very large, very deep sink so I can clear the table into it and not see anything until I'm ready to deal with the dishes.
It has been 2 years since the original post. Not sure if OP is getting his wish in his area, but I can tell open kitchen is not going away in my area at all.
It has been 2 years since the original post. Not sure if OP is getting his wish in his area, but I can tell open kitchen is not going away in my area at all.
I have barely left my house for the last 13 months. I am working full time from home, and even more glad that I have my open plan great room to be in. I do have a small extra bedroom/office that my son took over as his eschool classroom but even if he hadn't, I never ever would have chosen to work there for this past year+.
I've rearranged my furniture to create an area that is a more dedicated/functional work area, but beyond that, I haven't changed anything nor would I want to.
Now granted, I'm single, and there isn't a second adult here also trying to work. I can understand why separate spaces would be necessary in that case. But in my case, my open concept home remains the perfect floor plan for me.
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Open 'concept'
