[Closed] Open plan kitchen/living area, anyone regretted it ?

I rented a house with open plan kitchen living area.

Vowed I'd never do that again.

Make of that what you will.

I've seen it executed perfectly ....and still hate it.

I get it if you have a large enough house you can have a kitchen diner with a small living space tagged on. But yet have a seperate sitting room .

But it drove me bonkers as the only living space

Pop the washing machine in the utility room & get a decent extractor = sorted!

We have an open plan kitchen / diner but the lounge is separate. I like the fact that sometimes, we can hide away in the lounge from all the dirty dishes until morning.

we did something like this at the end of last year. our living room and dining room were joined with an arch and the dining room had a door to the kitchen. we filled in the arch to separate the living room but knocked through the dining room and kitchen to make one big space and it's made a huge difference, in a good way.

just done this last year. sounds very similar to your layout. the result is a great space that opens everything up and a lot more usuable. the dining room was very cramped for anything over 4 people. kitchen was ok but small no seating. so now we have space for family gatherings big table etc.
the downside is that you do get more noise when watching tv etc. smells nare not a problem. and really its only washing machine or dishwasher thatmake noise so just dont put them on when relaxing? i dont regreat it as really has transformed our living space for the better.

The kitchen diner would make a big difference, but as above I’d keep the lounge separate. A wall in the lounge may well make the layout easier to manage in terms of seating, or maybe sliding doors?

I did it but only because there was another room downstairs as a separate lounge. And the washing machine is out in the porch. The kitchen and dining area are now in what was the lounge and the what was the kitchen is the sitting area. It's open plan but each area is distinct and the sitting area now opens straight onto the raised deck I built.

It works really well but there is another room to hide away in.

What about kitchen / diner with separate lounge with a serving hatch?

#retro

Haha my in-laws have that qwerty.

We have infact got plans drawn up for putting a dining room on the back of the house which will be open plan with a seperate utility room....building work should be starting next Monday. Main contractors on lock down in France , the sparkles on essential work only.

Safe to say we have postponed it for now.

we have the open plan kitchen diner thing but with space for a small sofa pointing towards a TV too.

its good for when whoever is cooking, they can still keep an eye on what the others are watching and join in with quiz answers or whatever, rather than be banished to isolate in the kitchen. We go round my MIL's and they are still very compartmentalised. all the fellas in the lounge, all the women in the kitchen! we literally dont see them, it feels prehistoric to me, but they dont mind..

We knocked our existing kitchen/breakfast room into the snug last year.
At the same time we took two sides out of the breakfast room and put bifolds in.
We now have an excellent view due south, more light and can open up the whole area into the garden.
Frankly we should have done it years ago but we possibly wouldn't have done such a good job as we have this time.
(If anyone says that bifolds are useless in the UK are talking crap).

Ours has cost quite a lot with more custom kitchen units, new floors, underfloor heating, etc but it's changed the house massively. We've more than added the cost of the works to the value of the house for when we eventually move.

That said we do have a separate living room and utility for washing machine, etc.

It's certainly what people seem to be looking for in a house now.
Separate dining rooms can be just a waste of space and I think it makes sense to integrate it into the kitchen (and make the latter bigger) for everyday use but obvs it may not be to everyone's taste/requirements.

Done similar. Turned the dividing wall 90deg to separate the lounge from the kitchen /dining area. I did have to put a steel beam up to support upstairs. Regrets are the side wall had a lot of cupboards on it that are now missing . Fitted a wide breakfast bar to deal with the missing base units.
About to extend out 3.5m and take the back wall out to get more kitchen area.

We have one. Noisy as hell, particularly with hard floors running throughout. Looked great in the show home and does make it nice and light, but would avoid in the next house

We have, it’s 4*4 kitchen facing into a 6*4 dining area with French doors out back. Then it attaches to a double height space that’s about 6*5 with the stairs in it.
That said we also have the upstairs lounge as well. It tends to be used for parties and play.

You'd have to limit your intake of smoked haddock.

We've a kitchen/diner with a separate living room. Love it. Not sure I'd want living room and kitchen to not have some separation.

Had it in my first batchelor pad in the 90s.

No bloody way would I do it again.

Cooking smells, washing machine/dishwasher noise, was annoying when I lived on my own, would be a nightmare with other family members stuck with it as well.

Hi OP

We did this a few years ago, similar layout to you, open plan lounge/diner, kitchen beside dining room. We also had a crappy old conservatory that was falling to bits.

We replaced the conservatory with a proper brick built ground floor extension and took out the upper half of the previous back wall to the house so that the space was open but had clear barriers where one place started and another finished.

When we did this....
(1) we kept the wall between dining room and kitchen but redesigned the kitchen to get better worktop space but have no intervening door
(2) we blocked up the space between the lounge and dining room so the lounge was a separate room. I would say that this is essential if opening the rest up so you have one area that you can isolate from the kitchen.

There's a difference of opinion between me and Mrs GD as to whether we would have been better making the kitchen and dining room into one space with a central table and work surfaces/cupboards round 3 walls. I think that might have worked. Mrs GD would rather conceal the cooking chaos behind a partial wall (and I kind of get that so that's how it'll stay!).

We don't have a problem with food smells (good extraction and we don't cook smelly game, smoked kippers etc on a regular basis although smoked mackerel is a regular) and we're fortunate that the washing machine is in a utility area. Modern dishwasher is quiet enough it makes no odds.

Obviously we have that extra room to the rear and if you don't and you're thinking about knocking kitchen through into dining room I'd still put the extra wall between lounge and dining room. That wall is also useful for putting sofas/furniture against in a small/mid sized place.

I've had a kitchen/diner before (in my first house) and never really found it a problem, again the lounge was separated by a solid wall.

We knocked our separate kitchen & dining room in to one room, it’s loads better. It’s more sociable and more practical and just nicer having a larger open room.

One end has a glass door and large fixed glass window through to the lounge. It’s nice to be able to see all the way through the house without the problem of noise / smells etc.

Previous flat had the kitchen off the lounge, not fully open plan but no door and I wouldn't want that again, the noise of someone washing up, boiling the kettle, cooking with the fan on etc gets annoying very quickly.

No regrets at all. We did it last year & it has created a fantastic space for us, however we do have a utility room for the washing machine & tumble drier & also the sitting room is a separate room, but it doesn't get used very much. We spend most of the time in the open plan room. The dishwasher is there & that really isn't an issue, we sit a meter away from it & it is not very noisy at all. No real problems with cooking smells. We have wood floors but don't find at all noisy. Would do it again without any doubt.

We knocked through to have an open plan kitchen diner lounge in our last place. Solid floor throughout but a separate utility room for the washer and fridge (don’t ask).
It worked well, when the kids were small but we did have a separate play room and another which we used as an office/snug.
Current place has them all separate and works well too. Depends on house layout and your current needs.

Aye, dining kitchen is great, spend more time in there than anywhere else, particularly cos there's a treadmill in there at the moment!.

Spent a few months in harbour apartment a few years ago, was open plan, I loved it up until the day I did a goan fish curry. No extractor in the world would've dealt with that! 🤣

No. We got an extension a few years ago...the back of our house had a small kitchen, small dining room, which we hardly ever used as a dining room, and a small utility room. Knocked through and built a 4m extension and it has transformed the way we live in the house. The washing machine and tumble drier were re-located from the utility room to the cupboard under the stairs which is accessed through the kitchen. The noisiest appliance is the tumble dryer so just put that on at times where the noise doesn't bother us. The extractor fan is useless was most extractor fans are so hardly use that. The dishwasher doesn't make much noise either. So no, doesn't bother us at all.

Far more efficient use of space, no more negotiating countless doors as we moved through the compartmentalised layout of before and the whole place just feels alot larger and airier. Sure there are some things I would have done slightly differently having lived in it for a few years, but it is hard to visualise how you're going to use the space when you're designing it and they're all fairly minor things.

we want to put a extension on the back which would potentially be a Kitchen diner or possibly just a massive kitchen. we would have a separate lounge. only thing struggling with is what to do with the current kitchen. it would effectively become a walk through space with limited light as north facing and now in the middle of the house. thinking about sticking a formql dining table in here making a big L shape. I've seen lots of people have some sort of snug, but I'm sure it works better to walk past a tidy dining table than a sofa, chairs tv etc...

anyone else have a captive room? what did you do with it

You need to decide if you want a separate formal dining room...how often do you actually use it? We have a less formal extendable dining table in our extension which is used as a desk most of the time when the kids are doing homework or messing on the laptop and when we are eating together as a family...however under normal circumstances we're a bit more casual and I prefer to sit at the breakfast bar to eat and when working from home...was an absolute masterstroke that breakfast bar. The only time we do formal dining is Christmas and Sunday dinner. The rest of the time we'll either all be spread around the area.

What we miss in our house is a kind of reception room. As you walk into the house you're greeted wit a narrow hall way so difficult to find space to hang coats and leave shoes. I'd like to knock through to what was the lounge before the extension and widen the hall to create a reception room and snug (handy for the kids to go to to watch their telly - no TV's in their bedrooms) so we can have coat hangers, shoe rack a big table/desk thing for keeping mail and stuff and a small snug area.

You really need to think about how you want to use the space...ultimately its functional and the traditional way of laying out a house no longer reflects most peoples lifestyles.

We're planning on selling and moving this year, looking at lots of options. I think it really depends on how many people are living in the house - for a couple, yes with older children then maybe not. Most likely option is self-build with monospace kitchen, diner and lounge area with a separate utility room for laundry, freezer etc. We've looked at lots of houses and nothing's worse than a modern home with a pokey kitchen, diner and lounge.

we want to put a extension on the back which would potentially be a Kitchen diner or possibly just a massive kitchen. we would have a separate lounge. only thing struggling with is what to do with the current kitchen. it would effectively become a walk through space with limited light as north facing and now in the middle of the house. thinking about sticking a formql dining table in here making a big L shape. I’ve seen lots of people have some sort of snug, but I’m sure it works better to walk past a tidy dining table than a sofa, chairs tv etc…

anyone else have a captive room? what did you do with it

We did a similar extension. Firstly we kept it running as a kitchen throughout the build. That meant that disruption was pretty minimal. Always had a cooker/sink/dishwasher etc. Ne need to live on takeaways. Once the new kitchen was done I reconfigured it as a utility and loo. It is quite big for a utility but I find that useful. Sometimes it has bikes in it. Its a handy place to pile up the camping gear before and after a trip away. Its currently a quarantine area for deliveries and shopping. I put glass doors on both ends, one has a transom window, so it isn't particularly dark.

To the OP, I'd seriously consider an extension like this over knocking through. It can be done without any structural work so needn't cost that much more than knocking through and you get a lot more space.

It can be done without any structural work

That's not really correct though as it all depends on the construction of the house.

If you go with an extension you'll lose space outside, potentially have planning to deal with and have the extra build costs for the structure itself which you wouldn't have if staying internal. Plus - unless you intend to access your new extension through an existing [small] door - the you'll be removing part of the existing outside wall which is obviously 'structural'.

Removing an internal wall (even if structural) is not really a big deal.

nickjb, thanks. we had thought about a utility but the hall is off that room, and I don't fancy walking through a utility every time to get to the kitchen. we could partion the room into a long thin corridor which would have no light at all though.

challenges of modernising a long thin house!

That’s not really correct though as it all depends on the construction of the house.

If you go with an extension you’ll lose space outside, potentially have planning to deal with and have the extra build costs for the structure itself which you wouldn’t have if staying internal. Plus – unless you intend to access your new extension through an existing [small] door – the you’ll be removing part of the existing outside wall which is obviously ‘structural’.

Well, yes it depends on the existing house, but very few only have one small door. We had one smaller door and a wider window (pretty normal, I think). With both those opened up to the floor that was plenty of access without any structural work or removing walls. Planning is usually only required if the extension is huge or the house is special some way (eg listed) so not a big issue

Removing an internal wall (even if structural) is not really a big deal.

The actual work of taking the wall out, maybe not, but all the other jobs that go with it and the making good after soon add up. On top of that you lose the use of the kitchen for the period of the work.

An extension is not definitely "the answer" but it is something worth considering.

Planning is usually only required if the extension is huge or the house is special some way (eg listed) so not a big issue</blockquote
Well that is also not really true as it all depends on the size compared to the existing original house, the location of the extension within the plot, height, etc. so it's a pretty broad brush you're using to paint that statement.

The actual work of taking the wall out, maybe not, but all the other jobs that go with it and the making good after soon add up.

I'm sorry but a small mount of brickwork, a steel or two (worst case scenario) and some plastering simply does not compare to new footings, slab, walls, window/doors, associated joinery, roofing, insulation, electrics, heating and plastering.

On top of that you lose the use of the kitchen for the period of the work.

Our builders spent half a day building a temporary stud wall either side of the wall being removed so the kitchen carried on working pretty much as before.

One of the main advantages of open plan is that it creates a much more sociable area.
If you have a 'dated' house layout that doesn't really work any more, then adding an extension is not going to change anything - you'll still have a poor layout.

 

Over half of the total cost of our extension was the cost of fitting it out and finishing it. The actual work of building the extension and leaving us with an empty shell with plastered walls, heating etc ready to be furnished was not the bulk of the overall cost.

Though it wasn't a consideration for us as we wanted the space, something to bear in mind is resale value....if you're going to re-model the interior of your home you might want to consider if it is impacting the value of the home. Extensions generally always add value to the home and make it more saleable appealing to a broader market...however if you knock about the interior too much you are risking creating something that is perfect for you but has minimal appeal to anybody else and might devalue the home and reduce its appeal.

We have an open plan kitchen / family room. It’s a really social environment. We also have a lounge but that just gets used when I want to watch sport or the kids are watching something annoying.

We use it to bring the family together as much as possible, kids doing crafts at the table, homework etc.

We had to have a utility room though as we needed to have a separate area for the washing machine. Unfortunately one or two washes a day for our washing isn’t enough. Lots of sport, swimming, school kit and work clothes to be washed.

We took out the walls between kitchen, dining room and living room. We kept it that way for a few weeks while carrying out the work and then I re-installed a wall to make a separate living room (larger than before) but kept the kitchen diner. I can have Craig Charles on while making Saturday night dinner and Mrs BigJohn can watch a dancing programme. Also, guests etc. can have a bit of time to themselves.
We've resisted having a sofa in the kitchen diner or we'd never use another room.
Washing machine goes in the utility room though and the dishwasher doesn't get turned on until we're all done.
I'm going to upgrade the extractor fan though. I want one that's more effective at keeping fumes out but doesn't make a racket.

We opened our home so that the ground floor is basically one main space. Cooking smells can be an issue but getting proper extractor, rather than a recirculating thing, will help that. We also specified the quietest appliances that we could find. Certainly the dishwasher is very quiet as are the fridge, freezer and ovens. The extractor is however fairly noisy so that can be an issue if you want to watch TV whilst someone else is cooking. Using the timer function on the dishwasher certainly helps too as does the utility room for the washing machine.

As gonefishin.

We've had it in a smallish flat (one rectangular room with kitchen at one end, dining table in the middle, and living area at the other).

You want quiet appliances and a dishwasher with a delay function so you can set it off overnight. You really don't want to be in the same room as a washing machine - that would be the deal breaker for me. Cooker hood - you want a good one (there are some really effective recirculating ones but they're not cheap).

This is something I've thought about quite a lot over the years. I've lived in 3 properties with a totally open kitchen/diner/living room.

The biggest plus I found for this is that it is very social. It was fantastic for entertaining as it keeps whoever is in the kitchen involved in the entertaining. We threw some great parties in those days.

This carries through for daily like also. I liked the social nature of open living.

However, the downsides for me were greater.

Noise and smells from the kitchen impact those watching TV. And now that I have a young daughter I can see that it would be a nightmare to have an open plan ground floor.

So on summary, it's great for people who like to entertain.

At the moment we have an open plan kitchen diner which I think is the best solution.

The home I purchased had a lounge/dinner which was one but had a arch in the middle like something used to be there and then a small kitchen. Chatting to the neighbours they've all done as the OP thinks and knocked the kitchen and have it as one space.

I've ended up shutting the lounge off from the dining room and then removed the wall and have a kitchen diner, I like have two distinct spaces downstairs, if you're in the front room the kitchen noise or smell wont disrupt you and vice versa, working really well for me now with my WFH set up being on the diner table and the wife and newborn other side of the day in the lounge.

Works for us but the house had been extended and kept a small separate lounge at the front which is the only place we have a TV. If you like to have the TV on through the day (say to watch sports while doing other stuff) or older kids who'll be watching TV while you cook etc it may not be so good.

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We have dining table by the bifold doors at the back, and a kind of social space / kids play area forward of that (couple of sofas and storage for toys). Makes it easy to keep an eye on the kids when cooking, and if we have people over it all happens at the back of the house.

As the cooker is off on the far corner, noise from the extractor isn't really a problem. Washing machine and dryer live in the middle of that back space (just outside the original wall). They'd put some sort of thick concrete plinth there for the washing machine so it's not rattling about or shaking the floor.

Our neighbours have it all open (rather than that u-shape) with a great big kitchen island - great to cook in but loses a lot of that non-kitchen space.

Our lower floor is open all the way through but we have a couple of solid bi-folds (link below) separating the living and dining rooms. Works for us nicely.

https://www.doorsonlineuk.co.uk/internal-bi-fold-doors/single-bifolds/oak-suffolk-bi-fold/

We're in the process of looking for our next place and this is a point of semi-contention between my wife and me. She wants a very open layout as she's a very social person. I want the kitchen to be semi-obscured as she's also a very untidy person. I don't want to be able to see the dinner mess from everywhere else if we don't clean it up immediately.

Open layout is very good with guests - on more normal days ours isn't ideal as all the noise from kitchen is tranferred so loudly that watching tv is hard as you can't hear much audio (even with separate speakers). Slanted roof in our house makes the situation worse than most but maybe future renovations might allow change of materials to dampen the sound.

The ideal is to have a 'super room' (kitchen + diner + sofa space) AND a separate lounge/snug so you can be social and but when one person wants to watch TV and you want the radio on whilst cooking, no drama.

We had a beaut of an open plan kitchen / diner / living space in a flat for a few years. Was a large space and well laid out and great 95% of the time, but as we had no separate space it occasionally became a problem if we wanted to do different leisure activities. That was as a couple as well, would be harder with a larger family.

The ideal is to have a ‘super room’ (kitchen + diner + sofa space) AND a separate lounge/snug

Totally agree. For me the perfect layout is a good sized open plan space with kitchen/dining/seating for everyday use and socialising with guests. Nice outlook, doors onto the garden, etc. Then a separate utility space and a separate cosy lounge.

In This Larndern it seems to be a fad fuelled by a need to pretend that a tiny box is bigger than it is - you knock all the walls down and install a small kitchen in a corner. But what inevitbly happens is then that your entire living area gets filled with kitchen smells and (worse) your nice new sofa gets covered in chip fat.

One thing I've noticed is that a built-in fan oven (fairly normal these days) has a fan that stays on after the oven is switched off to remove/dissipate heat (I believe) not sure about a built-in gas oven? so you get some noise even after oven switched off, so I open the oven door to allow heat out and reduce fan time. I'm being fairly critical at this point as just noticed today and thought of OP, so just saying like, but we like our 'family room' I didn't know what to call it, old style is kitchen diner;)