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Post by chaosisapony on Nov 4, 2017 22:12:18 GMT
I went and viewed a condo I really liked and will probably be putting in an offer on Monday. One thing I'm struggling with though is the open floor plan of the front of the house.
The entire kitchen/dining room/living room space is one large rectangle. There's a breakfast bar that runs about halfway through the space that divides off the kitchen. The flooring is tile throughout the space. There are no good walls to put a couch on where you could still watch the tv where it has to go. So the couch and coffee table will have to float in the room somehow. Also, once the couch is in there will be no room for a dining room table. I suppose one doesn't HAVE to have a dining room table but I feel like a home should have one.
I'm stuck. What do you think of open floor plans? How do you arrange your furniture in them? Do you try to create "rooms" with tables and accessories or do you embrace the large open space and keep your stuff on walls?
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Post by lisacharlotte on Nov 4, 2017 22:38:27 GMT
Not a fan of open floor plans. Especially with a DH that bitches if you make noise when he's watching TV. I now live in an old house and I appreciate my clearly defined spaces with walls to push the couch against and hang pictures on. Plus it's easier to heat/cool smaller spaces.
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Post by heather on Nov 4, 2017 22:41:07 GMT
Walls. I like walls.
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hannahruth
Pearl Clutcher
Posts: 2,616 
Location: Adelaide, Australia
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Post by hannahruth on Nov 4, 2017 22:49:44 GMT
Personally I am not really a fan of them.
I know that they are touted as the best thing - that 'altogether thing', being able to watch what is going on, being involved with the family etc etc.
Having lived in houses that have an open space that was kitchen, dining, family together I found it a real pain.
If I was in the kitchen cooking whatever the noise annoyed those watching tv or listening to music. Even the sound of the kettle boiling is enough to distract.
The kitchen was always on display and so had to be kept spotless so it did not look like a tip. Anything on the benches or sink made it look untidy imho.
Not having a dining table is not an option for us. We have family (including three grandchildren aged 10, 8 and 3) for meals regularly as well as friends. I can't imagine eating with plates on our knees!
Furniture placement was floating and not much room for change.
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Post by kernriver on Nov 4, 2017 22:52:53 GMT
I am sick to death of them. Noise from the kitchen disturbs the tv people, mess in the kitchen pisses off mom. Its like living in a giant one-room apartment. Absolutely everything you have is in that one space.
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Post by littlemama on Nov 4, 2017 22:55:06 GMT
Don't like them, never have.
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Post by epeanymous on Nov 4, 2017 22:57:06 GMT
I am not a fan for myself. I think it is personal preference.
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Post by Woobster on Nov 4, 2017 23:07:48 GMT
We just moved into an open floor plan in June, and I love it! It's just the two of us though, so noise isn't really an issue. I love that I can work in the kitchen and still watch whatever DH is watching.
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Deleted
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May 18, 2024 3:08:22 GMT
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Post by Deleted on Nov 4, 2017 23:08:01 GMT
I haven't liked them since they came out in the 1970s! My aunt/uncle joined that trend way back then. The noise from the kitchen interrupts the conversation in the "living room" area. I like to be able to visit in the living room (or watch tv) without the visuals of dishing waiting to be washed or listening to the dishwasher run. I don't like the lack of wall space to hang pieces of art.
As for how to arrange furniture, think of how furniture is "arranged" in furniture stores buy using area rugs to define a space and furniture placement around it or the use of various types of room dividers such as dual sided display shelving.
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Post by iteach3rdgrade on Nov 4, 2017 23:08:17 GMT
Love them, but sometimes I miss having a place to decorate. My negatives are mostly not enough square footage and our kitchen is seen when you walk in the front door.
There are only 3 of us so extra noise isn’t an issue.
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Post by maryland on Nov 4, 2017 23:09:54 GMT
Don't like them. Our last house was over 5000 sq. ft. with a 2 story foyer and family room. If you sat in the family room, you could see what was going on in the living room, dining room, kitchen, (study was the only room with privacy). You could also see into all the bedrooms upstairs. If the tv was on in the family room, you could hear it clearly in ever room of the house and upstairs. Big, beautiful house, but I didn't like it. Much happier in my smaller house with only open area the kitchen and family room.
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Deleted
Posts: 0
May 18, 2024 3:08:22 GMT
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Post by Deleted on Nov 4, 2017 23:10:53 GMT
I went and viewed a condo I really liked and will probably be putting in an offer on Monday. One thing I'm struggling with though is the open floor plan of the front of the house. The entire kitchen/dining room/living room space is one large rectangle. There's a breakfast bar that runs about halfway through the space that divides off the kitchen. The flooring is tile throughout the space. There are no good walls to put a couch on where you could still watch the tv where it has to go. So the couch and coffee table will have to float in the room somehow. Also, once the couch is in there will be no room for a dining room table. I suppose one doesn't HAVE to have a dining room table but I feel like a home should have one. I'm stuck. What do you think of open floor plans? How do you arrange your furniture in them? Do you try to create "rooms" with tables and accessories or do you embrace the large open space and keep your stuff on walls? I suspect what you consider a breakfast bar is meant to serve as the dining room table as well. More like an apartment with an eat in kitchen than an actual dining room area. |
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Post by calgaryscrapper on Nov 4, 2017 23:16:05 GMT
You might also want to purchase a real quiet dishwasher.
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Post by gar on Nov 4, 2017 23:27:32 GMT
I like the look but I don't want to live in a home like that. I would definitely want to create 'rooms' with furniture to separate area from each other even though that probably defeats the object of it 😉
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Post by craftedbys on Nov 4, 2017 23:30:11 GMT
Give me walls. Not a fan of an open floorplan.
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Post by jumperhop on Nov 4, 2017 23:40:09 GMT
I miss my open floor plan that I had in my last house. I feel like I never see my kids any more since I am always in the kitchen and they don't have any place to hang out in here.
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Post by Basket1lady on Nov 4, 2017 23:41:43 GMT
I sort of like them. Our last two houses have had open floor plans with the family room and kitchen. That's ok. I can be in the kitchen and still be with the family in the family room.
However, I do think they are noisy and I can't imagine it with young kids. I know it would have been really noisy with my kids when they were younger. The kitchen/family room are in the back of our house here (about 4,500 sq ft) and DH has to close the bedroom door when he goes to bed or the TV is too loud. There are definite plusses and minuses.
I will say, I'm loving the trend away from a formal dining room. In the early days of being married, I thought it was the greatest, but once I had one I quickly realized that for us, they are a complete waste of space. I've set up my studio in the formal dining room in the last 2 houses and I really like it.
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Post by christine58 on Nov 4, 2017 23:42:58 GMT
LOVE my great room/open floor plan in my modified A Frame. It's just me here so the noise isn't an issue. Plus the back of my house (18 foot ceilings) is all windows and I have the best view of 40 acres.
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Post by kckckc on Nov 4, 2017 23:47:51 GMT
Not a fan of the open floor plan.
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Post by 950nancy on Nov 4, 2017 23:53:05 GMT
I'd need to have a two story (open floor plan) home. I like having the guys downstairs with their noise and the sound of sports (especially football) just gets on my nerves. I don't like that when we have get togethers, I am stuck in the kitchen and everyone else is somewhere else.
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Deleted
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May 18, 2024 3:08:22 GMT
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Post by Deleted on Nov 4, 2017 23:56:49 GMT
So we have one big space.
We have two pendant lights over the kitchen counter. The end of the counter is a tower that holds the microwave. That defines the kitchen.
We have a huge hanging light over the table.
The couch divides the space along with the ceiling fan.
At some point I will get off my lazy ass and get the space between out bedrooms cleaned up and we move the tv veiwing there.
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Post by SweetieBugs on Nov 5, 2017 0:03:05 GMT
I've lived in open concept houses ever since moving to California about 30 years ago and I hate them!!! I want walls and doors and quiet and privacy.
I even have a master bathroom that other than the toilet in a small room is completely open to the bedroom!! If you walk in the master bedroom and tilt your eyes to the right just ever so slightly you will see me in my bathtub (a good reason I stopped taking baths). There is no privacy at the sinks and counter and the shower is clear glass on 3 sides!!!! HATE IT.
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Post by mom2rjcr on Nov 5, 2017 0:04:18 GMT
My kitchen is just a five feet from the back of my couch. I hate it! All the kitchen noises make it hard to have conversations or watch TV. We are building a new house, and I want walls!
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Post by KikiPea on Nov 5, 2017 0:05:12 GMT
We have one, and I love it.
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Deleted
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May 18, 2024 3:08:22 GMT
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Post by Deleted on Nov 5, 2017 0:06:20 GMT
I don't care for them. I like walls and cozy spaces.
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Post by **GypsyGirl** on Nov 5, 2017 0:06:42 GMT
Absolutely LOVE my open floor plan. We have a 1950's ranch house that was very boxy and closed off. Took out the wall between the living room & den, as well as the wall between the den and kitchen. Now we have a much more livable home and enjoy it so much more. I do think that what has made it a successful transition is hiring a talented designer to make the areas flow. The house is now much more conducive to entertaining as well. We did go with a very quiet dishwasher and garbage disposal. It also helps that with the layout the designer came up, you do not see our refrigerator or oven from the other parts of the open area. How do you arrange your furniture in them? Do you try to create "rooms" with tables and accessories or do you embrace the large open space and keep your stuff on walls? We have built ins on the wall in the "living area" and the tv is there. That area has a sectional, 3 chairs and a couple of tables. Until this summer we used the old couch but switched to the sectional and find it works better with the room. The old den area has built-in shelves and banquette. It was designed to be multi-functional. Until November it was where my huge desk lived. Now we have the dining table/chairs there and moved my desk into the old dining room. It helped the open area function better. |
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Post by refugeepea on Nov 5, 2017 0:06:57 GMT
Liked it when my kids were younger. HATE them now. I cannot stand to hear the LOUD volume of our family room TV. The only way to sort of escape the noise is be on the top level hiding in a bedroom (not practical).
My next home, I want a ranch with a DOOR to the basement. No open railing going downstairs. I'm no longer a fan of tri-level homes.
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Post by gale w on Nov 5, 2017 0:08:42 GMT
We love ours but it does have drawbacks. Our dishwasher is not quiet so I don't run it at night after we eat. If I do it's hard to hear the tv. I set the timer on it to run in the morning and empty it when I get up. Otherwise we're happy with it.
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rickmer
Pearl Clutcher
Posts: 4,123
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Post by rickmer on Nov 5, 2017 0:22:10 GMT
there is a lot of design inspiration for open floor plans.
noise is the big draw back.
my home is not open plan, built in 1907 and some has been opened up but not all. my sad, tiny, dark kitchen at the back of house BEGS for open floor plan...
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Post by ~summer~ on Nov 5, 2017 0:23:53 GMT
I’m not a big fan, particularly how you described. Ideally I’d really like a separate dining room. I also don’t like super high ceilings- I prefer cozier spaces
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