I read a lot of real estate ads.  I like to look at what’s out there, and see all the pretty pictures of houses dolled up for sale.  Sometimes I look at houses in my price range, and sometimes I look at those ridiculously out of it.  I’ve learned what some of the buzzwords mean – “cozy” often means the house is unbearably small, “newer” can mean anything from two to fifteen years, “potential” means it needs a lot of work.

And “open concept” means a house where the main part of it is basically one gigantic room.

That open concept idea has been around for the last 20 years or so, and many people think it is a great idea.  I do not.  In fact, I prefer “openness” to refer to the back yard.  An open concept house means that the living room or family room, dining room, and kitchen are one big space with very little between them.  Messes in the kitchen are visible to anyone watching television or eating dinner, and the couch often smells like bacon and garlic.  Anything put out decoratively in any of the rooms will quickly become covered with an ugly fuzzy greasy veneer that is hard to clean.  The carpeting in these areas, especially if it is laid in the dining room (and I’ve even seen carpeted kitchens – I can’t imagine the horror of that!), will be desperately stained and virtually uncleanable.  Yes, it means that people in the living room or dining room can interact with whoever is working in the kitchen, or the kitchen itself can be a gathering area.  But for a cook like me, this is pretty much a bad thing.

When I am cooking, I’m concentrating.  I have things to cut up (that don’t include my finger tips), things to monitor on the stove for boiling over (like the gravy), need to be able to move freely between stove and sink and refrigerator, and I don’t need people in the way or people talking to me.  In other words, I take my cooking seriously.  So far, every house I’ve rented has been “open concept.”  And personally, if I ended up buying a house that was “open concept,” I’d probably be looking for a way to add a wall or two.  In my “dream house,” the kitchen is big and there may be areas for seating and sharing, but generally, I’m building a kitchen for cooking.  Professional cast-iron stove, triple ovens, commercial refrigerator and freezer, an indoor grill and a huge cast-iron griddle.  Counter space for everything, cupboards to store everything, and skylights for natural light.  A small atrium where I can grow herbs and some veggies in winter.  The dining room will be separate.  So will the living room or family room.  The kitchen will be a thing unto itself.

I don’t think there’s anything wrong with separate space for separate purposes.  I wouldn’t want to have the kitchen and my sewing room together.  The mess would be awful and my sewing equipment would be ruined.  If I had my computer at a desk in the kitchen, I’d be cleaning grease off the screen on a daily basis.  And who would want a kitchen in their bedroom?  Cooking is messy.  It is better to keep it contained.

I can still entertain quite well with the kitchen in its own space.  I don’t want to hang out in my messy, hot kitchen once I’m done cooking.  I want to relax with everyone else out on the patio or in the living room.

What do you think of open concept houses?  Yay or nay?

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