Open Plan Living – Pros and Cons

Open plan kitchens are becoming more and more popular and creating an open plan kitchen can have a really impressive impact on your home, before you start submitting plans and choosing your cabinetry, make sure you take time to think of all the elements. In this article we have listed pros and cons to consider when you are thinking about an open plan kitchen.

PROS:
Sociable
Instead of being restricted to different rooms, an open plan kitchen is amazing for casual dining and entertaining, allowing you to interact with your guests as it enables you to cook and chat at the same time.

Bringing the outside in
Features such as bi-folding doors that open onto the garden are a wonderful way to bring the outside in, creating that garden room feel. In the summer it will provide the perfect dining experience, regardless of the weather.

Adding value
The kitchen is the one room that can really stand out as the showpiece of your home, and a well-designed extension can make a great difference in the value of your home. Generally, a good single storey kitchen extension can add between 10% and 20% to the value of a small house, provided the kitchen is well fitted and has a timeless design.

Improving your quality of life
As foreign investors are buying up London’s prime properties, house prices in London and the South East are still rising, which causes more and more homeowners to look for interior projects to fall in love with their home all over again.

Kitchen extensions really open up a space and by allowing more natural light to flood in, it can transform an average sized room into a wider and brighter kitchen large enough to include a dining area or extra living space.

A blank canvas to create your dream kitchen
A brand new extension is the ideal blank canvas for you to create that perfect kitchen you have always dreamed of. From start to beginning, you will be able to decide what you want your kitchen to look like; there are no restraints in terms of existing electrical work or plumbing.

CONS:
Wall space
With open plan kitchen designs, you often find yourself losing wall space. Those walls are generally used for cupboards, sideboards and appliances. Even though this problem can be easily solved with clever storage solutions such as kitchen islands, it is highly recommended to bring in help from professional interior designers to help with spatial planning.

Getting it right aesthetically and spatially
It is very important to get the extension right or it can end up looking like it does not belong to your existing house. Planning your kitchen’s layout is also very important in terms of space, but also aesthetically. A badly designed kitchen extension will waste precious space and can decrease your home’s value.

Charles Seligman of Savills suggested that bad design might decrease your home’s value by £30,000 in an area like Chelsea.

Minding the little ones
Although an open plan kitchen makes it easier to keep an eye on the kids, it is not always safer than a separated kitchen. Homes with small children will have to be a little more cautious of their children getting in the kitchen and grabbing a pot on the stove or running their hands along an induction hob. Even though this can happen in any home, with a kitchen that is separated from the living room it is easier to keep out small children.

Heating
Naturally, an open plan kitchen works very well in warm climates, where windows and doors can be permanently open and aired, however in the UK, a good heating system and good insulation is very important if you do not want to pay a fortune on heating costs. If done correctly you might even spend less on heating costs as old Victorian houses often aren’t that well insulated.

Always on display
As your kitchen will be in view a lot more with an open plan kitchen, you might have to get used to the sight of dirty dishes in the background when entertaining. Of course with a beautifully designed open plan kitchen carefully decorated with attractive appliances, the focus will be on the actual kitchen rather than a couple of pots and pans.