ᐅ Living/Dining/Kitchen: How do you live or plan to live in these spaces?
Created on: 25 Aug 2014 15:01
W
WildThing
Hello Forum,
I’m interested in how you currently live or how you have planned it in your new house. Are you following the trend of combining all three areas into one large space? Have you kept the rooms separate? (For example, with a sliding door.) Or have you only separated the living room from the rest?
I’m looking forward to your responses!
I’m interested in how you currently live or how you have planned it in your new house. Are you following the trend of combining all three areas into one large space? Have you kept the rooms separate? (For example, with a sliding door.) Or have you only separated the living room from the rest?
I’m looking forward to your responses!
In our previous rental apartment, we had an open kitchen combined with the living and dining areas.
I definitely didn’t want that in our house because food smells spread everywhere, and you can’t just leave something in the kitchen without it immediately looking untidy.
In our house, the kitchen is now separate from the living and dining area, but you can access the dining area directly through a glass door.
The living and dining areas are combined, but to create a slight visual separation and gain some extra space for furniture, we built a low half wall between the living room and dining room (about as high as a sideboard). This makes the living room with the large sofa feel much cozier since it doesn’t get lost in a large open space.
We like it, but everyone has different tastes, and that’s perfectly fine!
I definitely didn’t want that in our house because food smells spread everywhere, and you can’t just leave something in the kitchen without it immediately looking untidy.
In our house, the kitchen is now separate from the living and dining area, but you can access the dining area directly through a glass door.
The living and dining areas are combined, but to create a slight visual separation and gain some extra space for furniture, we built a low half wall between the living room and dining room (about as high as a sideboard). This makes the living room with the large sofa feel much cozier since it doesn’t get lost in a large open space.
We like it, but everyone has different tastes, and that’s perfectly fine!
I voted for "all three together." My wife and I like open spaces and are planning this for our new house as well. We enjoy having guests, and for us, the kitchen is really the central gathering place.
I understand the concerns about odors and mess, but the advantage of being together while eating and cooking, plus the larger rooms, definitely outweighs those issues.
I understand the concerns about odors and mess, but the advantage of being together while eating and cooking, plus the larger rooms, definitely outweighs those issues.
Thanks for the active participation! Elina, your concept really seems very unique; I’ve never heard of anything like it before. But it’s very interesting, and if it works perfectly for you, then why not.
I’m not trying to find the “one and only” truth, which isn’t possible anyway since everyone lives differently. But it’s definitely very interesting to see how it is for you and to hear the various opinions on it.
I also really like open kitchens for their appearance, but I find them less practical for everyday life. We currently have one, and for example, when I make a cup of tea with the kettle in the evening, it immediately disturbs watching TV... Or when one of us unloads the dishwasher at night, the clattering also disturbs in the living room while reading or watching TV (or doing whatever).
When living in a household with several people, the clattering in the kitchen increases even more. Grabbing a drink here, eating cereal there, this and that.
@Bauherren2014 I ask because I’m currently reconsidering what suits me best. We are planning a separated kitchen with a large living and dining area. However, for everyday life, I might also like a kitchen combined with a dining room and a separate living room.
Although the distances are probably the same if you keep the rooms the same and just move the “divider walls.” So the path from the kitchen to the dining table would be just as long as it is when separated by a sliding door.
I’m not trying to find the “one and only” truth, which isn’t possible anyway since everyone lives differently. But it’s definitely very interesting to see how it is for you and to hear the various opinions on it.
I also really like open kitchens for their appearance, but I find them less practical for everyday life. We currently have one, and for example, when I make a cup of tea with the kettle in the evening, it immediately disturbs watching TV... Or when one of us unloads the dishwasher at night, the clattering also disturbs in the living room while reading or watching TV (or doing whatever).
When living in a household with several people, the clattering in the kitchen increases even more. Grabbing a drink here, eating cereal there, this and that.
@Bauherren2014 I ask because I’m currently reconsidering what suits me best. We are planning a separated kitchen with a large living and dining area. However, for everyday life, I might also like a kitchen combined with a dining room and a separate living room.
Although the distances are probably the same if you keep the rooms the same and just move the “divider walls.” So the path from the kitchen to the dining table would be just as long as it is when separated by a sliding door.
[QUOTE="WildThing, post: 67870, member: 20048"]...
I really like open kitchens for their look, but in everyday life, I find them rather impractical. We have one now, and for example, when I make tea with the kettle in the evening, the noise immediately disturbs watching TV... Or when one of us unloads the dishwasher in the evening, the clattering also bothers in the living room while reading or watching TV (or whatever)
In a household with several people, the clattering in the kitchen only increases. Grabbing a drink, eating cereal, this and that....
You should consider what will be the focus of activity for your household, especially when you have children.
For some, cooking and everything around it is the main focus and a hobby. They spend more money on expensive kitchen appliances than on the family sofa or technical TV equipment. Whether as a couple or a bigger family: shared meals are central, so a large dining table in the kitchen is justified.
For others, having an open plan is simply practical: children play on the carpeted area while one person takes care of meals. A partner or older kids sit at the table, do homework, or look up information on a laptop. This way, the family is kept together.
If people’s taste buds are not well developed (or have atrophied over time), eating becomes secondary, often accompanied by computer or TV background noise.
Then there are personality traits to consider: do you have trouble keeping the kitchen tidy while cooking? If you entertain guests in the middle of a mess, that’s probably not very pleasant.
Maybe the set breakfast table stays there all day because there’s no time to clear it? You may not want that on display either.
Or what happens when the kids have moved out and visitors are only old aunties coming for tea?
In addition, as you already mentioned, open kitchens come with noise that can be annoying while watching TV.
That’s why the next construction trend—for you, at least—is obvious: a large kitchen/dining area and a closed living room.
This design has actually existed forever: all farms have a big kitchen with a dining table and a separate closed living room.
We are two people and have an open-plan layout. Because of an open staircase in the living room with a gallery, the ground floor and upper floor are connected openly. And we live accordingly. The dishwasher is whisper quiet, the kettle only comes on maybe twice for 3 minutes in the evening and then must be tolerated.
If there is clattering of dishes, the other person can help!
The only real annoyance is the extractor hood—but since I’m the one cooking and my husband is not exactly napping on the sofa at that time, it’s not a big deal.
Elina’s concept isn’t unfamiliar to me: I once knew people whose focus was more on PC games (2 PCs side by side in the living room for gaming, TV running in the background, eating happening alongside). That wasn’t really my thing.
I really like open kitchens for their look, but in everyday life, I find them rather impractical. We have one now, and for example, when I make tea with the kettle in the evening, the noise immediately disturbs watching TV... Or when one of us unloads the dishwasher in the evening, the clattering also bothers in the living room while reading or watching TV (or whatever)
In a household with several people, the clattering in the kitchen only increases. Grabbing a drink, eating cereal, this and that....
You should consider what will be the focus of activity for your household, especially when you have children.
For some, cooking and everything around it is the main focus and a hobby. They spend more money on expensive kitchen appliances than on the family sofa or technical TV equipment. Whether as a couple or a bigger family: shared meals are central, so a large dining table in the kitchen is justified.
For others, having an open plan is simply practical: children play on the carpeted area while one person takes care of meals. A partner or older kids sit at the table, do homework, or look up information on a laptop. This way, the family is kept together.
If people’s taste buds are not well developed (or have atrophied over time), eating becomes secondary, often accompanied by computer or TV background noise.
Then there are personality traits to consider: do you have trouble keeping the kitchen tidy while cooking? If you entertain guests in the middle of a mess, that’s probably not very pleasant.
Maybe the set breakfast table stays there all day because there’s no time to clear it? You may not want that on display either.
Or what happens when the kids have moved out and visitors are only old aunties coming for tea?
In addition, as you already mentioned, open kitchens come with noise that can be annoying while watching TV.
That’s why the next construction trend—for you, at least—is obvious: a large kitchen/dining area and a closed living room.
This design has actually existed forever: all farms have a big kitchen with a dining table and a separate closed living room.
We are two people and have an open-plan layout. Because of an open staircase in the living room with a gallery, the ground floor and upper floor are connected openly. And we live accordingly. The dishwasher is whisper quiet, the kettle only comes on maybe twice for 3 minutes in the evening and then must be tolerated.
If there is clattering of dishes, the other person can help!
The only real annoyance is the extractor hood—but since I’m the one cooking and my husband is not exactly napping on the sofa at that time, it’s not a big deal.
Elina’s concept isn’t unfamiliar to me: I once knew people whose focus was more on PC games (2 PCs side by side in the living room for gaming, TV running in the background, eating happening alongside). That wasn’t really my thing.
I believe that, in general, one should not follow every current trend when it comes to such a long-lasting item as a house. There is a big difference between "modern" and "timelessly beautiful." The former tends to look outdated after 5 years, while the latter remains timelessly attractive – though it is more challenging to achieve.
Just as dark wood-paneled basements for parties and light orange bathroom tiles were all the rage in the 1970s and 1980s, today it’s walk-in closets and open-plan kitchens with islands and breakfast bars including bar stools. All of this on wood-look tiles. In 5 to 10 years, people will no longer want to see any of that.
Just as dark wood-paneled basements for parties and light orange bathroom tiles were all the rage in the 1970s and 1980s, today it’s walk-in closets and open-plan kitchens with islands and breakfast bars including bar stools. All of this on wood-look tiles. In 5 to 10 years, people will no longer want to see any of that.
klblb schrieb:
I believe that when it comes to a long-lasting item like a house, you shouldn’t just follow every current trend. There is a big difference between “modern” and “timelessly beautiful.” The former feels outdated after 5 years, while the latter remains timeless—and is also harder to achieve.
Just as in the 70s and 80s, dark wood-paneled basements and bright orange bathroom tiles were all the rage, today it’s walk-in closets and open kitchens with islands and breakfast bars, including bar stools. All this on wood-look tiles. In 5 to 10 years, you probably won’t want to see any of that anymore.I can’t believe you will build “without trends.” Somehow, your tile selection also came about following a trend, whether in texture, surface, color, or size. All items are produced according to a trend guideline. You will also install things now that you might want to change in 20 years.
And what will you have on the walls? Was textured wallpaper a trend, or is it a trend to live without any wall covering?
A trend is not necessarily negative—you certainly don’t have to follow every one (which is not the point)—but just like
@WildThing does, critically examining the options is the right approach. Whether you end up choosing to live or build following the trends of the 80s or the 2010s will be what suits you.
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