Open or closed kitchen? Which concept do you prefer and why?

[bubble_tea]

Open kitchen = kitchen is integrated with the living room
st.houzz.com/.../contemporary-kitchen.jpg

Closed kitchen = kitchen is a separate room
st.houzz.com/.../contemporary-kitchen.jpg

Open kitchen

Closed kitchen

[TheINTJ]

I see you've already chosen an MH, but here's what I think regardless. :/

So architecturally, to call a space well designed, you need to achieve two things: efficiency and aesthetics. Aesthetics is fairly easy to attain through furniture and color scheme and basically its interior design, though it would largely depend on the user's taste. On the other hand, efficiency is determined by a lot of factors. And in a kitchen, like most other spaces, that's primarily good lighting and ventilation, which is best kept natural for sustainability of the structure.

One simple way of achieving this is through cross-ventilation within the space:
elizabethgatlin.com/.../...-Effeciency-Diagram.jpg
The green arrow is the air and the space that it flows through, and cross-ventilation here is the last two, where air is let in and then let out without stagnation which causes heat. As you can see, there's much more air going through in cross-ventilation, so we can assume that the space is much cooler.

Cross-ventilation works best in an open plan layout, where window placement is more controlled and where there's much less walls that can hinder the air from passing through:
https://s1.hubimg.com/u/6468710_f260.jpg

In this sample plan, cross-ventilation is well achieved:
www.yourhome.gov.au/.../...olingBreezes-01_fmt.png
So if you wanted a closed kitchen here, you'd have to build a wall separating the kitchen from the living room. And it will look something like this, where you can see that the trapped air has heated and can only be let out through a vent:
https://s2.hubimg.com/u/6468707_f260.jpg

So overall, I think it would depend on how big the space you have is. If you have a big space, then you can excercise cross-ventilation in a smaller scale, room by room. If you have a smaller space, then it's best you have an open plan layout for your house, and that includes an open kitchen:
cdn.archinect.net/.../qh7yiak7kjaqc2bb.jpg

[TheINTJ]

This is basically just what the other guys here have said, but I find that it's easy to simply say that there's much more room and light and better ventilation in an open space etc, so I thought I'd give a more detailed explanation as to why that is exactly. (And there's also much more into this, but these are the basics.) And another thing, when you have good ventilation, you don't have to worry about odors and moists and such. :D

Also, I read your comment. May I know the arguments they made against open kitchens? :)

[findingdreamland]

The schemes are great. Well explained :) But you have to consider different variables, such as cost.
Open kitchen is great when it is ventilated openly. But mostly it is connected with living space because one level, reserved for just for one space is costy.
Creative design with less financial responsibility, this is what professional level searching for. Hey we are architects, this is what we are training for, right? :)
Good luck with your studies. Hong Kong has good schools Xx

[TheINTJ]

@findingdreamland Thanks! But oh no, I just got that picture to show the air flow. It's the only perspective I could find that has a diagram of cross-ventilation. :D I agree about that though, everything's about the money these days. >.<

[bubble_tea]

oh haha, I didn't know we'd have more experts here xD
your explanation makes very much sense too, though I think when there isn't a strong wind, it's not going to help get rid of the smells very much.. also in countries with 4 seasons, you can't just keep the windows open until the smell is gone in winter, you'd freeze to death or the heatings costs will be off the roof xD

oh, the couple is rich, so small space or bad vent weren't the problems. still, they complained about the smell. they said the furnitures felt greasy after a few years, and grease attracted dust. but the most annoying thing was that they HAD TO always do the dishes right after eating or keep a clean kitchen. otherwise, it'd taintd the otherwise clean feeling of the whole living space area. not to mention the smell that keeps exuding from the pans. also, if one wants to watch a movie while the other person cooks, you can't concentrate on the movie that well unless you turn the volume up.

[TheINTJ]

Ahh, that's why you have to look at the climate, both macro and micro, so that you know where to place openings best. And there's passive solar heating for that too, but I didn't think you'd needed it. :))

Hmm.. That's strange about the furniture feeling greasy. I've lived in an apartment with an open kitchen for almost 8 years now, and there's nothing wrong with the furniture, and I don't even have a range hood there. :)) There is a problem on the wall behind the stove though, like it's getting burnt? But that could easily be fixed with choice of material like using a backsplash instead of just plain paint. My parents' house a closed kitchen though, and it's there that I get a little of that greasy feeling that you say. I can only guess that it's because of air circulation, since they always keep the windows there closed. :)) Anyway, it does sounds like a closed kitchen suits their lifestyle much better. :P

[bubble_tea]

we don't always keep the windows closed, but we're taught to only open all the windows at once for 5-10 minutes several times a day, because the cold would otherwise cool the walls/building. so this is probably why the grease and smells are still trapped in the room.

[TheINTJ]

Ahhh, I see!

[TheINTJ]

Thanks for MHO. X)

[skullly]

Any open floor plan is more aesthetically appealing in my opinion. Closed floor plans are not very modern today... that's the old style. If you're very wealthy and have cooks instead of you doing the cooking, you might have a closed kitchen specifically for the cooks and then have an open floor plan for the dining area where the food will be brought for you, just to have a clean look.. but otherwise on a normal sized home the open floor plan is best cause it gives off a bigger, less cluttered view.

[bubble_tea]

it is more aesthetically pleasing when the kitchen is clean. if it's not, it'll taint the look of the rest of the living room.

[misscoffeehead]

Omg! I think when I build my house I'm going to be the most pickiest when it comes to the kitchen.. I want my whole house open though but my main focus would be my kitchen.. I spend most my time in there.. Something that can entertain my guest etc
hgtvhome.sndimg.com/.../...d.hgtvcom.1280.960.jpeg
Like that pretty much but more earth full tones

[chocolateismylover]

I want something like this ^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^

[bubble_tea]

even the bedroom? xD
nice pic! I love the sliding top to bottom windows leading to the garden ^^

[misscoffeehead]

@chocolateismylover !! Babe you can't steal my idea 🙈 hehe

Asker- even the bedroom hell yeah, easy to go in and out of the bedroom.. Plus doors seems to get in the way when it's getting.. Um.. Hot and heated lol no if I had a partner I think he would want a bedroom with a door and a massive bolt lock, red light lasers and a finger scan with an eye colour confirmer gadget 🙈 (prevent unwanted guest coming in) Yes!! I love the idea of having sliding doors to open up to the outside.. to an outside entertainment area.. 😋

[chocolateismylover]

Lol I wish. It looks so expensive.

[Bandit74]

Wow, That looks really nice, especially the stones.
Probably really expensive tho 😭

[misscoffeehead]

@chocolateismylover yeah I knowww.. But I still want it.. I would just have to shop around for good quality but cheap materials to get something like that.. Or close to it even..

@Bandit74 yeah I know!! 😢😭 I'm thinking of cutting that stone separate room out.. Lol and having an enclosed Lounge area underneath poligolas and vines..

[misscoffeehead]

pergolas*

[Bandit74]

You could probably afford something like that if you just ignored the rest of the house. Like your home would just be what's in the picture, no bed room, no garage, no basement, just a kitchen and a sick patio. So you'd litteraly live in the kitchen but it might be worth it lol

[bubble_tea]

hahaha.. what about the master bathroom? should he watch you from the bed while you're in the shower? xD I hope you at least remember to build a door in the guest bathroom xD

[misscoffeehead]

Hahaah @Bandit74 yeah no lol I would want a house to call home so, I would want everything else.. No point of having half of something when you want the whole real deal meal right.. Or else you just won't be happy and satisfied, I think I would look back at my house and be happy, like an achievement! All the hard work results to a home in front of the beach! HAPPY LIFE!!! 👍😁👍

[misscoffeehead]

Asker- Ferk that shit he can watch me in the shower if he likes it or not.. Hahah 🙈 I for one would love it! (being late to work would be an issue a hell of a lot) LOL! I want to christian every part of the house! YIKES!! 🙈 I suggest neighbours should live two houses away from me 🙈

[Bandit74]

I agree, your home should be something you're proud of.

On the beach too?

Wow you better start saving 💲💲💲💸

[misscoffeehead]

@Bandit74 don't worry I am!! Would like to get to a certain amount of money so I can buy land.. And work my way up from there.. 😁 #ifmoneygrewontrees

[bubble_tea]

ahahaha.. I think your neighbors wouldn't mind, they'd probably enjoy the view xD

[misscoffeehead]

Asker- next door neighbours wife: DAMNN.. I want what she is having 😭 better get some really nice tall hedges around the house while I'm at it.. 🙈

[ThePragmaticRomantic]

Cosed: Warmer, lets you shut the dirty dishes away if you dont have time to do them, means the entire house doesn't have to stink of fishpie or whatever else is cooking.
Really the kitchen is a work space, its good to separate that from a relaxing space like the lounge.

[bubble_tea]

yes, I fully agree.. I'm a lazy dishwasher xD

[Ihav2fart]

For those who regularly do heavy cooking I suggest Closed Kitchens.
Open kitchens looks much more nice though.

[bubble_tea]

sounds like you have experience with both kinds of kitchen ^^

[Ihav2fart]

I sell kitchen and bath remodel supplies. I know my stuff. ;)

Open kitchen + heavy cooking everyday = you're gonna ruin your walls and ceilings in your big open space. Over time its gonna get greasy regardless of how strong your range ventilation is.

And on your first pic how that duct is vented upwards near that skylight is a horrible idea.

[JackKerouac77]

Professional talk, right here! :)

[bubble_tea]

oh we have an expert here ^^

isn't it vented upwards because the ceiling is sloped?

[Ihav2fart]

Venting straight up wards is the way to go, but the skylight is gonna get all greasy.

[bubble_tea]

what? still when it's that way up? :O

[Ihav2fart]

It'll get greasy on the outside, cause there's a cap for it and the gease will flow downwards outside.

[bubble_tea]

oh... what was I thinking xD lol
definitely chose the right mh.

[Ihav2fart]

lol thanks

[Bandit74]

Ok between the two you posted I'd choose open but I do think it's a little too open.

I think id prefer something like this

housenationidea.com/.../...sign-ideas-1024x623.jpg

Or
st.houzz.com/.../modern-kitchen.jpg

[bubble_tea]

yes yes... everyone bashing my choice of pictures.. yet most people chose open 😤

[Bandit74]

Well yeah, the picture you chose for the closed kitchen just blows lol

I think it's good for a kitchen to be somewhat open but still have privacy but I've got to admit the one coffee chose looks really nice.

What do you think of the pics I posted?

[bubble_tea]

sigh.. I had to find something that was roughly the same size as in the open kitchen Dx but it's okay, I don't like your pics either :P

I think such concepts look fine on paper.. but when someone is chopping stuff, throwing on the mixer and using the vent.. it's not so nice for the partner if she's trying to watch TV xD

[Bandit74]

So you prefer the closed kitchen?

[misscoffeehead]

Your options looks more better when your working within a certain budget 🙈 lol

[Bandit74]

@misscoffeehead a certain budget 😢

[misscoffeehead]

Kitchens are expensive lol aww I didn't mean it that way.. I like the bottom link though.. That's a $60-70,000 kitchen right there..

[Bandit74]

@misscoffeehead
A 60-70k kitchen? Well its good thing I planted one of these😋😎

3.bp.blogspot.com/.../iStock_money+tree.jpg

[misscoffeehead]

LMFAOOOO!! you need a whole acre of such trees 🙈

[bubble_tea]

well.. I've always wanted an open kitchen, but then someone I know sold their open kitchen house for a closed kitchen house and their arguments were pretty strong.. so I'm slowly leaning towards closed kitchen, but it should be bigger than the one in the pic.

[Bandit74]

@misscoffeehead You just love raining on my parade don't you 😡

Well don't ask me for any money off my money tree 😝💸

[misscoffeehead]

AHAHHAA ok I'm sorry I'm sorry I just had to.. If the ball comes rolling you have to take a bloody swing!! *here batter batter batter* 🙈

@bubble_tea- babe I don't hate your choices of pictures.. I like the open one.. Just saying.. lol 🙈

[misscoffeehead]

@bubble_tea ferkkk stupid ----

[bubble_tea]

@misscoffeehead thank you ^^

[wölfin-fräulein]

I like open kitchen. Closed gives me a negative thought of being lonely. When I cook, I like others to see what I am doing.

I like when someone comes and actually looks at what I cook, because cooking too is an art. when you do it you need love and a passion, that others being involve in what you do gives you and empower the passion very much.

[bubble_tea]

I bet @Bandit74 would love to give you the love and passion you need to create good food xD *I'm serious*

[Darkfairie17]

I love the idea of an open kitchen. It's nice to be able to entertain while you are cooking. That way you don't feel left out of the conversations, and actually get to enjoy yourself too. Plus it allows you to keep an eye on the food.

Also, open kitchens just seem to help the house flow better. It makes the house seem less cramped.

[bubble_tea]

that's true.. but I think you have to keep an open kitchen very clean to enjoy it.

[Xiloquin]

Open kitchen if you don't cook a lot and mostly just use it for light cooking and snaks, its a nice luxury to keep watching TV while making a sandwich :D
Closed kitchen if you cook a lot. Period.

[bubble_tea]

do you think everyone who prefers open kitchen only cook light or snacks? ^^

[Xiloquin]

No. But I think it's the reasonable thing to do. Some people might go for open kitchens even if they cook a lot but they'll have to deal with a living room that smells like kitchen all the time. Now you just have to answer simple questions. Do you mind that smell? Do you get a lot of visitors? Do you have fortniture that catch smells? etc

[bubble_tea]

yes, smell is the main reason for me to chose closed kitchen, but the open kitchens look so much nicer haha

[Xiloquin]

I couldn't agree more, look-wise open kitchen is the winner for me.

[bubble_tea]

also, I just read your profile... what? people can't choose palestine, but they can choose israel? o_O

[Xiloquin]

Haha appearently that's the case. It's not a big deal. :)

[bubble_tea]

:/ ok.. then I won't make a fuss about it either..

[kangy]

Closed because of the smoke and smell
That's how it is like in my country too

[bubble_tea]

yes, I prefer closed for those very reasons too.

[kangy]

do you have glass door installed? to prevent smoke from going to the living room

[bubble_tea]

yeah.. but we never use it xD either our vent is strong enough or cooking with ordinary pans on a glass ceramic stove doesn't cause as much smoke as with woks and open gas flames xD

[DodgersGM]

I HIGHLY prefer an open kitchen. I cook a lot and I like preparing food for people, and I don't wanna be all lonely in the kitchen.

I'd probably prefer something a little more closed off than option A, though. That feels a little too open.

[bubble_tea]

I think most new buildings are built that that.. the semi-open kitchen are rather renovations.

[AvaMarina]

I like closed kitchens. I like closed floor plans in general, because I love when every room feels cosy and private. It's comforting. The kitchen might be my least favorite room, too, so I don't really want to see it more than I need to. :P

[bubble_tea]

hahaha, yeah, the kitchen floor is always so cold 😢

[Ccmeu]

I think a semi-open kitchen is nice. It's wider then the closed kitchen, and opens up to the dining room. I live in an open concept house abd I think they're a little over rated... but then again maybe that's because I have a loud family. XD

[bubble_tea]

haha.. yeah, I just noticed there are also semi-open kitchens xD
yeah, watching TV is probably difficult when the mixer and vent are running xD

[Ccmeu]

Haha that's fine. xD the only reason I know they exist if because my last house has one.
yeah, if someone's watching tv, someone's cooking or doing the dishes, and someone's typing on the computer... and people are talking simultaneously. . It gets loud fairly quickly.

In my last house, the kitchen was open to the formal dining room and it had a doorway to the mudroom. It didn't have an island so we had a kitchen table too. Then there was a door going into the family room that you could open or close. I think it was a njce medium between the closed and open concepts.

[kairon156]

I said closed but kitchen+dining room is okay.
I've never liked the idea of someone cooking while others are trying to hang out in the living room waiting for the food.

[bubble_tea]

hmm.. are you the one cooking or waiting for the food?

[kairon156]

I'm usually the one waiting for food but I do cook every once in a while.
I say people can hang out around the table while there's cooking going on but when it comes to just chilling and watching TV I don't want to be detracted by food.

[bubble_tea]

I agree.

[TheDevilInside]

Closed kitchen. So that the smell of the food doesn't stink the whole house up. But maybe with a little sitting area in the kitchen too so people could also dine in there.

[bubble_tea]

For some reason I've always thought the kitchen is always so cold, maybe because of the kitchen floor? It feels so uncomfortable to eat there..

[TheDevilInside]

wear those fuzzy house slippers =)

[thewanderingme]

closed. I get in the zone while preparing my food, don't want to be distracted by what's going on in the living room. also, smells traveling far through out the house can be pretty annoying.

[bubble_tea]

true. I'm most concerned with the smell after smelling fresh onions for almost a week after cooking with open doors and without vent -_-

[JackKerouac77]

You while cooking?

www.quickmeme.com/.../...56b702c3adf4ebc81d12a.jpg

[thewanderingme]

@jackkerouac77 good one! ;)

[yaddayaddayadda02]

Open kitchen. During a party, the person doing food prep and cooking feels isolated in a closed kitchen

[bubble_tea]

very true

[JackKerouac77]

Never thought about that. Great point.

[yaddayaddayadda02]

Although that's not a bad thing if you barely tolerate your in-laws. Not that I'm speaking from experience or anything.

[bubble_tea]

lol! but only if you do the cooking xD

[JackKerouac77]

Bahaahah! But open kitchen gives you more room to "accidentally" let a small frying pan slip and land on their head?

[sarmac]

I love an open kitchen. My moms in real estate and i've been around new homes all my life so i've seen my fair share of open and closed kitchens. Open wins by a mile.

[bubble_tea]

open kitchens do look nicer ^^

[heavensgift2girls]

It depends on the size of the house. I like an open kitchen in a small house. In a larger house, I prefer a closed kitchen.

[bubble_tea]

this makes sense.

[SnowHearth]

In my house we have both; a closed kitchen for personal use (of the ones living in the house), and a open kitchen when our relatives arrive to visit us.

[bubble_tea]

oh, not having to decide is even better :D

[SnowHearth]

My mother doesn't like anyone, but us, on "her" kitchen; that's why the open kitchen was built.

[lintcloud123]

closed, but kitchen with a small dining is fine too... but again definitely closed easier to deal with smell, cleaning and overall maintenance.

[bubble_tea]

I agree

[AleDeEurope]

Open as there's a bigger sensefof space, more light and in my opinion it looks better.

[bubble_tea]

I think more light only depends on the amount and size of the windows ^^

[AleDeEurope]

True, but if there's more space the light spreads more. Even if the windows are small, the bigger the room the more lighted up it will be.

[misconstruedhearts]

I like the open concept because I like feeling that is more room. I get claustrophobic easily and small kitchens just set that off more.

[bubble_tea]

good point ^^

[ArabianPwincess197]

Closed kitchen. My mum just renovated it and its looks so glam

[bubble_tea]

renovated kitchens do look glam ^^

[ArabianPwincess197]

Yep it looked nice before but we just extended it and renovated so its looks fab now

[bubble_tea]

is it more like a kitchen/dining room now or just a bigger kitchen?

[ArabianPwincess197]

Bigger kitchen. We have a dining room

[bubble_tea]

Ah, sounds really nice ^^

[ArabianPwincess197]

Thanks it is :)

[mrwunderful]

Open.. it's easier to entertain and it's easier with kids. It also makes the house feel larger.

[bubble_tea]

probably.