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The Case for Rooms
81–90 of 165 posts
Re: The Case for Rooms
#82It'll be fun to watch this one and see all the discussion about open plan offices from people who didn't read the article.
Yea I was disappointed when I saw it was talking about houses. I've seen a lot of cookie-cutter houses have very open plans just to give the illusion of having more space. I actually like them (if they're setup like a tri-level). Open plan offices are garbage. You have totally different goals/requirements for each.
As stated in other comments, the part of an open-plan house that has rooms has the rooms where privacy and quiet are valuable. The part that is not divided is the social space. When engineers say they like open offices, I assume they prefer to be able to socialize (consult) with their nearby peers more than they prefer to have quiet. Those who prefer private offices prefer quiet and no interruptions. So all of this is consistent between homes and offices.
Re: The Case for Rooms
#83The open (Kitchen) floor plan to me represents the idea that cooking isn’t a chore separate from eating and socializing. I want to cook for an hour without being alone. Privacy in the kitchen would never be desireable. “Entertaining” doesn’t require guests. There is also a matter of space. A shared living/dining/cooking space can use a lot less space than three separate rooms. I couldn’t afford the separate solution…
A disadvantage of open kitchens is that while they look cool, the smells can invade your house. Have you tried grilling something on the stove? Unless you have a powerful smoke extractor (sorry, don't know what they are called in English) you'll smoke up your living room, which is always nasty. Closing the door (plus an average smoke extractor) will help a lot.
I've lived in a fairly wide range of housing (although all in the US) over the years, with a wide range of kitchen layouts. I've never lived in (nor come to think of it can I recall ever encountering) a kitchen with a door.
Re: The Case for Rooms
#84The open (Kitchen) floor plan to me represents the idea that cooking isn’t a chore separate from eating and socializing. I want to cook for an hour without being alone. Privacy in the kitchen would never be desireable. “Entertaining” doesn’t require guests. There is also a matter of space. A shared living/dining/cooking space can use a lot less space than three separate rooms. I couldn’t afford the separate solution…
A disadvantage of open kitchens is that while they look cool, the smells can invade your house. Have you tried grilling something on the stove? Unless you have a powerful smoke extractor (sorry, don't know what they are called in English) you'll smoke up your living room, which is always nasty. Closing the door (plus an average smoke extractor) will help a lot.
it's not just the smell. smoke from cooking is a leading cause of lung irritants in the home. always try to exhaust it if possible (filtering is a distant second in effectiveness, apparently).
Re: The Case for Rooms
#85The historical context portion of the article is interesting and well written, but the critique of the open-concept layout at the end seemed rushed and unconvincing. Anyone here who lives in a modern open-concept house care to comment? I currently live with my wife, 3 children and 2 dogs in a 1200 square foot split level and we all dream of a big open-concept house some day... but apparently some people are getting t…
> 2 adults, 3 children and 2 dogs in a 1200 square foot
gah! I now feel very spoiled / wasteful american stero type. I'm single (1 dog) and would really not enjoy having less than 2000sqft, currently in 2900+. I have hobbies that need space and I enjoy having dedicated rooms (office, painting, tv/reading/palor, sleeping)
Re: The Case for Rooms
#86Earlier quoted context omitted.
> I want to cook for an hour without being alone. Privacy in the kitchen would never be desireable. When you have small kids: - You want them away from boiling water, dropped knives, and dangerously hot ovens. - You want them to keep sleeping even though you're vacuuming - You might want to let them watch Baby Shark for the 1000th blasted time while leaving you out of it - You might want to read a novel while they ho…
Ymmv. mine are 5 & 7 and in the last 5 years I have had zero of those problems.
Yep. Different kids are different.
As are parents. Some of this might be introversion versus extraversion.
Re: The Case for Rooms
#87I find it interesting that the open kitchen and living area has become so popular during the past few decades. Back in the says, rich families had servants cooking for them, so those kitchens would be very detached from the living area. After the Second World War, when many families couldn't afford servants anymore, the invention of the Frankfurt kitchen brought formed our modern understanding of kitchens and cooking:
"We’re used to thinking of kitchens as a universal kind of room that almost everyone has—as essential as a place to sleep, or a bathroom. Our great-great-grandparents were not."
https://www.citylab.com/design/2019/05/modern-kitchen-histor...
Re: The Case for Rooms
#88The open (Kitchen) floor plan to me represents the idea that cooking isn’t a chore separate from eating and socializing. I want to cook for an hour without being alone. Privacy in the kitchen would never be desireable. “Entertaining” doesn’t require guests. There is also a matter of space. A shared living/dining/cooking space can use a lot less space than three separate rooms. I couldn’t afford the separate solution…
>I want to cook for an hour without being alone. I'm the opposite. Nothing drives me up the wall more than people trying to talk to me when I'm trying to work, whether on a computer coding or in the kitchen cooking/baking. I can't concentrate at all when someone tries to talk to me. I can communicate, or I can cook/code, but I can't do both at the same time.
I really liked the older home and apt I lived in as a kid that had a distinct kitchen. It could get messy and then cleaned all in one go when convenient. With a kitchen in view of an entire floor you want to keep it tidy at all times. It made much more sense to eat right after cooking and then clean at 8PM while watching something on TV. I also helped my mom aunt and grandma cook, certainly three-four people fit.
Re: The Case for Rooms
#89Earlier quoted context omitted.
Cooking has always been a social thing to me - chopping vegetables for 20 minutes is a lot nicer when you have someone to talk to.
Chopping vegetables, yes. But when the fire is on, or there's a frying pan, I wish everyone would leave the kitchen. I don't want to be responsible for any burns or accidents. Now that I think about it, when I'm holding a sharp knife I also want everyone away. My fear is that a chatty guest who's not paying attention will walk into the point of my knife (and yes, because of that fear I'm constantly worrying about whe…
Huh. I used to be 12 years old kid who was cooking his lunch and dinner while a 3 years old brother and 5 years old sister were in the room, with zero problems. Do you have a really tiny kitchen or what's the problem?
Re: The Case for Rooms
#90Earlier quoted context omitted.
Ymmv. mine are 5 & 7 and in the last 5 years I have had zero of those problems.
Yep. Different kids are different. As are parents. Some of this might be introversion versus extraversion.
You might want to remember that next time you come in to a thread guns blazing in the 2nd person with the "wait til you have kids ;)" angle.