Open plan kitchen: pros and cons

Open plan kitchen is a very popular trend in the interior design world, but it’s not always the best solution to adopt. Let’s check out some tips.

Interior design trends evolve as fast as the fashion ones, but there is a tendency that, after its first appearance about ten years ago, is still one of the most popular: the open plan kitchen. This trend changes the traditional disposition of the space, making the kitchen an integral part of the living room, creating a hybrid living area. This new way of thinking about kitchen design is not a mere home décor trend: it hides a major change in people’s lifestyle.

Look at more kitchen designs by Miton here.

The open plan philosophy

It might surprise you to find out that this new way of conceiving space was not born as a home decoration trend. The open plan philosophy was first adopted in offices, with the goal to create an environment that could be more stimulating for the workers: an open space is supposed to favor creativity, productive interaction with the colleagues and, in general, enhance the well-being of the person. Not everyone agreed on the benefits of this philosophy, but the ones who strongly supported the advantages of this new way of organizing space speeded the open plan viewpoint until it became a home décor trend too. When applied to the domestic space, the open plan affects both the kitchen and living area: they are supposed to interact in innovative ways, thanks to the way the furniture is arranged. When this happens, design has to meet functionality, taking account of the way, this hybrid environment is going to be used. 

Check out more furniture by Miras here.

Open plan means open life

As we anticipated at the beginning of this article, the fact that this new way of conceiving face became a huge trend in the contemporary interior design world, is a symptom of a change in the way we live our lives, the way families live in their homes. Once upon a time, there was the traditional kitchen, the true heart of the house, the focal point of the family, the reign of the housewife… But not anymore! The introduction of open plan settings in domestic homes is the result of a new lifestyle. Today we live in a society with frenetic and stressful rhythms. Most of us spend the day in constant interaction with strangers, co-workers, though the new media that makes our world a labyrinth of connections. In such a scenario, returning home means re-entering an intimate environment, where we interact only with our beloved ones. Now stay with me on this: the living room is the space where family and friends hang out together, but there is a little flaw. If there is a neat separation between the living area and the kitchen, it means that the activities we do in these two rooms are disconnected, there is no interaction. But that is not what a modern family wants: people want to share as much time as possible with their beloved ones: cook together, while having a glass of wine, share the meal, then end the evening chatting on the sofa. Only without a clear separation between the different environments it is possible to take full advantage of the limited time available. 

Find out more about Le Fablier here.

The pros of an open plan kitchen

Now, let’s take the measure of things here. What is best about an open plan kitchen, that interacts freely with the living room? In an open-plan living area, the kitchen is simply a portion of a big multifunctional space: it will be ideally divided from the rest of the environment with an island with a chimney maybe, or by a dining table, but it will not be the protagonist. The protagonist here is the interaction between people, the socialization: the connection between the two rooms, once separated, is a metaphor for the communication between people.  Putting the conceptual part aside, there are also practical advantages to an open plan kitchen. For small apartments, the combination of several rooms by eliminating walls and corridors allows you to make full use of the space available. It’s simple: an open kitchen/living room area occupies less square meters, compared to a closed room used dedicated to an exclusive function. Visually, moreover, the absence of walls gives the impression of wide and airy spaces. If the living room also includes an opening, such as a balcony or a terrace, you will have the impression that the living area continues outside. In this case, the environment will look even wider: the extra light and freshness typical of open spaces.

Take a look at more furniture by Nolte here.

The cons of an open plan kitchen

But nothing can be all hunky-dory, right? Here come the cons of having an open plan kitchen, all the arguments used by the detractors of open living areas. Some people believe that the traditional separation of the spaces is functional to keep the living room a relax area; walls and doors actually keep the noise of household appliances, like dishwashers, refrigerators, oven and such like from being the background music of every moment of relaxation. Another aspect not to be overlooked is the total absence of privacy. If living room, kitchen and dining area come together, the only rooms with doors will remain the bedroom and the bathroom. But the most common concern people seem to have about open kitchen is the impossibility of containing odors. A delicious scent of meat sauce is certainly more inviting than the smell of boiled cabbage, but in fact neither is pleasant when after dinner we sit down on the sofa to enjoy watching a movie or a chat together. This problem could be solved by using a chimney. As we mentioned earlier, this problem could be resolved by using a chimney. If you place an island in the middle of the space to separate the kitchen from the living area, it can be a good idea to place the chimney on top of that, instead of against the wall; this way, the island will separate the two environments, without being too visually invasive, and the chimney will keep the odors from spreading outside of the kitchen area.

Check out more kitchen designs by Siematic here.

Are you interested in knowing more about kitchen chimneys? Check out this article about the best models and design that meet your needs and tastes.

To open plan or not to open plan?

The answer to the question, ultimately, is that it depends. It is not a matter of making a definitive statement, because it is fundamental to evaluate the characteristics of every home, the needs of every family, in order to decide if an open plan kitchen is the best solution. We at Eurooo have a philosophy: a beautiful house must be designed to please the ones who live there. When choosing the way to organize your home and the home décor, the first thing to consider is your lifestyle. Design is certainly important: furniture has to match our tastes, the way we organize our home has to please the eyes too, but what is most important is the way we will use that furniture and those rooms. Only by taking in account your daily needs you can make a decision that will guarantee you a happy life in your home.

Find out more by Rifra Milano here.