ᐅ Open Plan Kitchen: Regretted Choice or the Ultimate Solution?

Nordlys schrieb:

We have already visited several famous castles and apartments, Schönbrunn, Sanssouci, the Hofburg, Sigmund Freud’s apartment on Berggasse in Vienna, and many others… nowhere did we see an open kitchen. But every caravan has one….

Accordingly, closed kitchens would only be for people who don’t want to see their kitchen staff (or, following the traditional roles from 50+ years ago, their wife). 😉

I’m very glad that I can work in the kitchen however I want without disturbing anyone. And I’m happy that I can enjoy my meal afterwards without having to look at the mess (which unfortunately does happen :oops 🙂 in the kitchen.

Myrna_Loy schrieb:

I really dislike open-plan kitchens. Truly. I want to be able to work in a kitchen, but please, not have to look at fruit bowls, kettles, toasters, and so on from the sofa. The trend of hiding all these items—often at a high cost—until the kitchen matches the beige-gray-black painted TV wall and sofa combo bores me to death.

We have a 22 sqm (237 sq ft) kitchen-living area and a separate room next to it used as the living room. That way, you don’t have to wipe kitchen odors off the piano. Plus, the dog’s water bowl is far enough away and doesn’t need to fit into any design concept.

Have you ever had experience with an open-plan kitchen that made you dislike it?

Traumfaenger schrieb:

I completely agree—having a dishwasher with a quick wash or party mode (20-30 minutes per cycle) along with two large sinks should solve this. We don’t regret it, and cooking steam and odors also disappear quickly thanks to a 5-meter (16 feet) wide patio door.

Can you explain why two large sinks? Or where are they located? I’ve been wondering on Pinterest and similar sites why two sinks are now often installed.

BauFamily schrieb:

Have you ever had experience with an open kitchen that made you hate it?

Yes, I have. In the last two apartments and the last two houses of my parents. The worst was the layout of the second-to-last apartment, where the open kitchen started immediately behind a short hallway, so the kitchen was the first thing you saw when entering. At that time, our first child was still a baby, and everything was cluttered with all the baby stuff. You could constantly hear the dishwasher or the fridge. The dining table was right next to it, with the couch area directly behind. It was noisy and always looked chaotic.
The kitchen-living situation after that was an L-shape, which was somewhat better, but the kitchen was really small with a strange counter, which was only ever used as a storage surface. With two small kids at that time, it was always noisy and chaotic. We constantly had to look for the magnetic opener for the child safety locks on the cabinet doors.
My parents’ current house (in Sweden) has a huge open-plan kitchen and living area with a kitchen island you can walk around. That’s fine, especially when the whole family is there and about 20 people gather around. But with just the two elderly people and the dog, it feels a bit too spacious.

Because I sometimes wash dishes alongside cooking. Then one sink is used for washing dishes, and the other for tasks like cleaning vegetables or draining pasta water. Pure luxury.
Back then, we simply tried to eliminate everything we disliked about our old kitchen.

I don’t find the open kitchen noisy.
The refrigerator is not audible at all, the dishwasher is surprisingly quiet and usually runs at night.

Think about what bothers you about your kitchen. What would you want to change? You, not someone here in the forum or on Instagram.
What are your daily habits? Do the men often sit in front of the TV watching football while the women chat in the kitchen?
Do you read a book in the living room while someone else cooks?
Have you never missed a second sink, or do you simply not need one?
Doesn’t your closed kitchen bother you, or do you actually like it that way? If so, leave it as is and plan another closed kitchen.