Picture credit: Rezt & Relax Interior
In response to smaller homes and hectic modern lifestyles (with more dining out than eating in days), we have seen the rising popularity of open concept kitchens as a contemporary solution to optimising our home spaces.
Different from traditional kitchens that are usually enclosed in a single space, open concept kitchens do not have clear delineating boundaries between the kitchen and living space. In fact, they are often fused seamlessly as a coherent space within the context of the entire home. Before you dive headfirst into this up-and-coming trend, here are a few questions to ponder over in deciding if this is the best option for you.
Correct Fit for Your Lifestyle
Picture credit: Plastolux
Are you the type who eats out or dines in most days of the week? Is your idea of cooking closer to whipping up some quick dishes in the kitchen or an elaborate operation that lasts for hours? If your answer is the latter for both questions, then the open concept kitchen might not be the best choice for you.
Open concept kitchens are more suitable for couples who engage in the occasional light cooking as opposed to those who enjoy intensive cook-outs, given that the smell of oil and grease can easily permeate the rest of your home due to the lack of an enclosed cooking area. This naturally translates to more tedious cleaning work for you. In addition, the resulting mess and clutter from an intensive cooking session will be on full view from the rest of your house – definitely not a good first impression you want to make.
That said, the open concept kitchen, however, is a great choice for homeowners who enjoy hosting their friends for a simple meal at home. The open concept kitchen allows the host to continuously interact with guests while keeping your hands busy. Guests would also appreciate that they can see the process of their food being lovingly made.
Interior Design Priorities
Picture credit: HGTV
Apart from the functionality of an open concept kitchen, you might also wish to consider whether it would be in line with your overall interior design objectives.
The open concept kitchen could be a great solution for small homes that are looking to remove limiting wall partitions and open up the entire space to make it look bigger. The kitchen island or counter could also be a great space saver, as it doubles up as storage space and a dining table.
However, for what you gain in space efficiency, you lose in terms of flexibility, as much of the layout of an open concept kitchen tends to be built in and customised at the renovation stage. This will make reconfiguring the space further down the road more difficult, so you definitely want to think it over thoroughly before committing to the choice.
