Kitchens are typically open, connected and viewable from another aspect of a house. I understand that that’s a pro for ventilation however, if a kitchen fire were to start, wouldn’t it be better to have it be in a closed off room that you can just easily shut a door too? For example, if a kitchen was placed in an area that could be used as a bedroom, wouldn’t that be good for stopping the spread of a fire if one were to occur?
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Possibly.
However, consider that the vast majority of people don’t burn their kitchens down. The benefits of having the kitchen separated are limited to most people, while the benefits of an open kitchen are not.
Its all about how styles of houses have changed. When my husband and I were looking for houses we saw all kinds. The older houses had more “rooms” and newer houses had an open floor plan which is more popular right now. Im sure its also much cheaper for a builder to build an open floor plan vs one thats more closed off.
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My wife and I entertain – pre-COVID. No matter how we place things, people congregate in the kitchen. We’ve had tiny kitchens, big kitchens, etc – that’s the hub.
As we’ve gotten older, I like watching TV or listening to music while I prep/cook/cleanup. Our kitchen is connected to the family room. We have moved walls to make that even better.
If I cook something that’s going to be ultra smoky, I use the grill or get the exhaust fan going early in the game.
I hate closed off kitchens. I want to be where people are.
Traveled abroad and I think open kitchen may be an American thing. Some kitchens in London, for example, are closed off, which is perfect because cooking smells don’t stink up the entire house.
They used to e more cut off from other rooms, but parents want to be able to see kids playing or doing homework while cooking, hosts don’t want to be away from party when entertaining, everybody ends up congregating in kitchen so often anyway that many people prefer the kitchen to be open to living areas.
Where cooking is done by a servant or employee, then the kitchen is in fact closed off.
When the cooking is done by a family member they want it to be part of the family and included in family discussion and connected during all the many hours of food preparation.
Most houses in the UK tend to have standalone kitchens. It’s usually remodeled or new build homes which have an open plan layout.
Personally I prefer maybe a kitchen/diner but would like them to be separate from the living space.
I hate the noise of the dishwasher or washing machine when I’m in the living room, so having a home with a standalone kitchen is ideal as many houses do not have a utility.
This house is a new build and the kitchen is separate, but two doors down its fully open plan and it’s pretty, but I’m so glad it’s not my space.
I also think it’s easier to keep tidy 🙂
A proper house always has a separate (closed off) room for kitchen. Accessible via a door from corridor or from the main hall / hallway. If you do not have this, you are living in a poor man’s house. Sorry, no offense intended.
The likelihood of a fire is low.
The chance you need to carry on a conversation with someone between a kitchen and dining area is higher.
The chance you will need to move several times from a dining area to a kitchen carrying utensils, plates, pots etc is very high, and might happen several times per sitting.
You’ll notice in those movies set in the 40’s and 50’s that some kitchens used to be separated from dining areas by a door. Back then it was common to have crockery and plates stored in cabinets in a dining room. I guess people figured out that it was better making a bigger combined kitchen and dining space.
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