I think bulls what you will love! We have open concept main floor of kitchen, dining and living. I do think cooking is social and I love it being with the rest of the main floor and accessible.

I will say our home is large with lots of spaces to go. So we can go down to the rec room to watch tv and not be in living room, can go to office, bedrooms and covered porch. So it never feels too loud or too much as space to spread out.

My kitchen is closed on 3 sides, open over the peninsula to the dining room

I love this - separate from the living room, no need for a "rec room", and provides more wall space for kitchen cabinets, drawers and counter space. And the living room has more space to hang welcoming art.

Given a dichotomy choice between open and closed, I'd err towards closed every time. But what I have here is the opportunity to talk to guests who are dining, while perhaps at the sink... which I've placed on that peninsula. (The main prep station gets to look out the window. )

With three kids there is no way o would give up the rec room ever!

I think you should build what works for you and don’t worry about the trends! With the caveat that if you plan to sell any time soon, it may be trickier with a less popular style of floor plan. But for a house that’s only for you? Build it the way you want.

We like something in-between open and closed. I enjoy having the kitchen open to eating and living spaces, but not a great room. We’re using cased openings to separate spaces visually. But it’s also important to me to have little nooks where kids (and adults!) can hide with a book, so we’ve incorporated lots of those too. And husband and I insisted on an office and a sewing room with doors to keep kids out.

As a person who has four cats, rooms that close are essential for me. At night they are shut into the den (there's a pet door to the laundry room where litter boxes and food/drink are). This keeps them contained so they can't jump on me (I have fibromyalgia and couldn't bear the pain) OR get into the kitchen. (I don't want them on kitchen counters/table.) During the day the hall and kitchen doors are open so they can roam if they want. Sometimes I think it would be nice to have the kitchen open into the den, but overall it works better having walls!

We all live differently and our houses should reflect that, not the latest trend, whether it is open or closed.

This said, I want to know why these threads give the idea that an open plan house has no wall. My house has an open kitchen/living room, but we also have a guest room/office where we can isolate if we want to work, chill out, and a large rec room. So it is not one or the other.

This said, no way I would cook in a closed 72 sqft kitchen (very practical to get something in a cabinet without moving, but I would feel claustrophobic), so it is open to the dining room and partially open to the living room.

To each his/her own.

I designed a semi-open plan for our new build to define area but leave the ability to interact between rooms. We love it. It's open, yet separated, not one huge room with everything in it. The kitchen and dining are open concept, being one room. (The dining room is an enlarged nook.) We have a pocket door from the entry to kitchen, a large pass-through kitchen to living, and wide walkway into the kitchen and dining. I really love the "dry bar" that the extra wall and pass through created.

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C W, I've heard somewhere that with COVID and more people working from home... closed plans are getting a boost.

Everyone should live in the kind of home that works for them and not bow to trends. That said, I could not WAIT to bust out the walls of our kitchen and open it up to the LR and DR when we did our remodel. I couldn’t stand being cooped up in there. But, it was a small kitchen and original to the house (1970-ish). It’s open now and I love, love, love it. Not so much because cooking is a social activity (for me that depends on who wants to join in...) but because I don’t feel so claustrophobic and completely closed off in that room anymore. To each their own :)

We do have closed rooms - including an office where I am currently working. I would go nuts if I had to work at the kitchen island all day every day and DW and I would probably have divorced by now!

We are completely renovating a house and my new kitchen has 4 walls as well. I’m tired of open concept.

I don't think many people consider open floor plans to mean completely open. There's usually always a den/office or some other room to go to. It's just the main rooms that are typically connected and open. We live in a totally open floorplan now (with a separate office) and I'm ready to be done. We even have a finished basement with a TV room, but I don't really like going down there for alone time. It's more of a movie room/watch TV after the kid goes to bed room. But of course, it's to each his/her own! To the OP's initial question, no you are not alone. Semi-closed/closed floorplans may not be the most popular thing these days but there will always be those who prefer them.

Thanks for the comments everyone! They made for an interesting read.

I will always want a separate kitchen that is open to nothing but the window over the garden.

Does the term "away room" mean anything to anyone?

Agree that open and closed is a bit binary.

Curious to see age and preference. Obviously, older houses were generally closed and so people grew up with that and it may be their preference because that is what they are used to.

We bought a 1982 house that was a 2.5 on a 1-10 scale with 1 being kitchen with 4 walls. We bought it because of location and price. It was meant to be temporary while building and then turned into a rental. Had some advantages and some disadvantages - like everything else.

Our tenants (first showing) were from England and they preferred closed houses (and older houses) which is unusual in our area.

If you do it, I think you should have a lot of windows in the kitchen because often times, kitchens were work dungeons. That rarely makes sense in a modern lifestyle. I think in general, a lot of windows would help a closed plan not feel claustrophobic. I think people over time have craved open spaces/areas. Look how big modern cars are. Windows can give the feel in a smaller space. But then any perceived energy savings by smaller rooms goes out the proverbial window....

I’m planning on building a closed floor plan. I live in a century old house at the moment that someone “brilliantly” decided to “open up” the wall between the living room and the kitchen and I can not stand it. Not only do I have to stare at my mess in the kitchen when I’m sitting on my couch, but it just feels like this house was not intended to “flow” this way. Part of the reason I want to build custom is because we want newer construction and they’re all pretty much “open concept”. I’m ready to be treated like I’m crazy by the builders. Don’t care!

Do you have any screenshots of your floor plan or drafts? I'm looking for the same thing - even tougher, I want all the bedrooms on the first floor!

HH Richardson and other Shingle Style architects were the most notable early users of open plans and that style lends itself to modern open plans, Frank Lloyd Wright is probably the most famous early user of open plans but his kitchens were enclosed. Diner/tavern style kitchens separated from the other spaces by bar stools is more

recent and has become a builder/developer/internet plan cliche.

I like to create interesting sight lines between major spaces but the nearest I've come to an entirely open plan is separating a living room from a kitchen with a stairway and a kitchen from a family room with a low wall of shelving.

I take care to not create a sight line from a seated person to someone on a barstool.

We just moved from an open concept home with a big open to above ceiling in the living room, to a traditional colonial home and I LOVE it. We now have a den at the front of the house, a dining room with French doors that we can close, a family room that has about a 3 foot opening to the kitchen, and an office, mudroom and laundry room all behind the kitchen. With 3 kids learning from home, a dog, a husband working from home and me teaching from home, we now all have space to spread out!

One more add...we had plans to take down the wall between the kitchen and family room and decided to hold off to see how we liked it being separate and I’m so glad we did. Someone can go curl up with a book by the fireplace and not be bothered by the busyness of the kitchen.

In our new build we will have two formal more closed in spaces off the front foyer, but the family room, every day dining and kitchen will all be open to each other.

We had a completely closed in kitchen when we first moved in to our current house, but I didn't like not being able to talk to people in other rooms while in the kitchen, so we opened it up with a peninsula to the dining room and the space is much nicer, but t's a bit noisier if people are in the kitchen working and you're trying to watch a program.

The first way I was taught to deign a house (many years ago) is to arrange the desired spaces so they function well together and are sized properly, then determine the degree of separation is needed between the spaces. Those degrees of separation could range from a full soundproof wall to a wall with a door to a wall with two doors to a wall with a small opening to a wall with a large opening to a half wall to a step to beads to totally open to an unlimited number of variations. I still look at house design the same way but with many more factors all at the same time.

Bottom line is to design the house the way you wish to live over time.

(I threw 'beads' in there just to date the experience)

Now I'm really curious as to how beads are represented on architectural diagrams.

They are noted on the furniture plan under "Groovy".

We are custom building a closed plan, and our strong desire to be 'closed' really pushed us towards building from scratch and engaging architects that have a background in historical restoration/additions instead of buying something already built or being tempted into using pre-fab plans. But to be honest, a lot of our preferences are counter to trends. We wanted small rooms, small total square footage, and other details which were more popular a hundred years ago. The closest we get to 'openness' is a breakfast nook that is open to the kitchen.

@E. T. could you share the plan? I’d love to see it. sounds like what we’re looking for and why we are going full custom now

If you are "going full custom" why do you want to look at other people's plans? Do the same process E. T. did, not what they came up with. Create something that is yours.

@Mark Bischak, Architect nothing wrong with looking at plans. We have a "full custom" home but still looked at tons of plans before we started as we wanted to think about what we wanted and why. We also toured many homes in our area to get a sense for what was being done around us. Sometimes seeing stuff on paper helps you better understand wants/needs. In the end our plan is unlike any one we went and saw/view on paper. But because of the legwork we did before hand we were able to say what we clearly didn't want and a few things we absolutely did want more clearly.

@Em I'm happy to share the pinterest board we used to inform our initial meeting with the architects, which has a some older closed plans I found, but since our plans are the intellectual property of our architects, I don't feel comfortable sharing them. For all I know, they may plan to sell them or a modified version of them down the road.

I live in an older homes, but I do prefer my closed floor plan. I like keeping smells and mess in the kitchen away from guests in the dining room during dinner parties. I like having upper cabinets instead of islands. I like being able to have a look for my kitchen without having to coordinate it with the design throughout the dining room and living room. Although I would prefer a larger kitchen, it does have a functional work triangle.

@Marci why can't you have upper cabinets on the perimeter? We have a true island that is surrounded by cabinets on all sides and 3 sides have upper cabinets. Could have had four sides, but we chose to have a peninsula between kitchen/dining space. I look at an island as a baking place. I've certainly done it without in our first couple of homes, but I wouldn't trade the island work space if I could help it, because it allows me to roll and cut out things as well as have baking ingredients/ pans etc. all out as needed.

@Kat It’s just how my kitchen layout is that it wouldn’t give me enough. I’d have to put the refrigerator and range on one wall with small cabinets above them, and there’s not too much more space than maybe one additional upper. There is a window on the other side, but I’ve been able to squeeze in two pantry cabinets on either side. Then the other two sides would be open, one to the hallway, the other to the dining area.

@julie_c do you have a sketch of your colonial plan? I love colonials and I'm wondering how the mudroom laundry and office fit near the kitchen. I like the idea a lot. I love to see the way colonials can be done.

Open floor plans are primitive. The first original open floor plans were caves. then came huts and teepees but for some reason the nobles and the kings started building walls. The reason is obvious and everyone wanted walls, walls everywhere. So why are we going back in time?

I don't think many of the rich and famous today have open floor plans, they have the room to separate the living spaces, OK I looked and most Don't have open floor plans, The sole purpose was to create an illusion of space to sell small houses and it worked like a charm. To each their own but I don't like them, I'd rather live like a king and not like a cave man.

Virgil - The room you are sitting in is "away" from the room I am sitting in.

ET I have a hard time tagging you in my responses but if you see this I would love if you could share a link to the Pinterest board.

@Emily L - no I don’t have a floor plan but I can take some pics and post them for you

I agree with C W. I think its best to just build a floor plan that works best for you and your family. It all has to do with personal taste. My personal preference is partially open floor plan and closed depending on the rooms, but I don't have a large family so a partial open floor plan works for us and allows us to interact more between areas of the house.

I think your closed floor plan sounds like a good plan that suits you!

@julie_c thanks!

Me! Finding the same issues it seems closed is not a thing. I was really surprised when my husband and I started working on our floor plan. I want to do a partial open plan and that is simply unheard of. I have pets and I don't want them in my kitchen or dining room so I want to close them off but I would like the kitchen and dining room to flow (if that makes sense) into each other.

Late to the party, but open concept has always irritated me. I can handle looking at a dining room table, but the kitchen must have at least 3 walls. I hope your project has gone smoothly. We are beginning ours! Would love to see pics of yours!

Am with you on that. Have never been a fan of several rooms jumbled into one. My own older home has a semi open dining-living room. That is as open as I am open to.

Yep, over it!! Virtual learning while working virtually wasn’t fun. We were on top of each other even with a spacious open floor plan. Someone was too loud while talking or making breakfast.
If I don’t want to wash dishes, let me have that space to close the door and come out and entertain or sit on my sofa without feeling guilty that I haven’t cleaned my kitchen.

I am currently with my second architect-doing just this! The trouble is that open concept is SO pervasive, that it is hard to find inspiration as well as talented professional help. Also, hallways add square footage!

@a Did you go through doing a closed kitchen?? We’re in the same boat wanting a closed kitchen contrary to everyone!

I would adore an old fashioned house with completely separate rooms!

@Lindsey_CA your house is so similar to the last house I lived in with my parents when I was young. Also a tract home purchased about 30 years ago. It never felt that closed off - but it was nice to be able to read a book in the living room even if someone was watching tv in the family room.

A kitchen open with dining room but closed from great room /living room is what I’m wanting.

Anyone have a one story floor plan using the closed floor plan concept that they could share or tell me where to search? I am having trouble finding one online and I want my kitchen separate from the living area, you can email me at kygram5x@gmail.com

Thanks

Contact a few local architects and talk to them. You do not have to find a plan, one can be created that meets our needs and fits your site.