I can't understand why people think that if you don't have an open kitchen you are isolated. Like many posters, I try to get most of the work done before guests arrive so that I don't spend the entire time in the kitchen, but it doesn't matter because people tend to congregate there anyway. They go in to get a drink and linger to talk with someone else who is doing the same thing. There are ALWAYS people in the kitchen when I have people over, and my kitchen is not open. Sometimes I would like it if they would isolate me :-)

I have cats and that is why I like the idea of actual doors to the kitchen. Likely glass doors, but doors. I don't mind having to wash down counters before cooking but I know some people would be weary of it if a cat jumped in the sink during dinner. Plus I like being able to watch/listen to what I want in there and not bother others in the adjacent rooms. I do love the look of some open concepts (like having a arch almost as wide as the room frame out the kitchen) but I am unsure if it would work. Plus I like having different themes in each room and not worrying if the colors match or not. 2 friends of mine (both men) have said they prefer the kitchen closed off. 1 said because he feels the kitchen is a work area and the other because he says its very easy to get open concept wrong and trying to fit too much into too little space (his father is in the building industry).

As far as entertaining, I also prefer to have most stuff already cooked or if its something that bakes already in the oven before people arrive. I have, however, gone to friends homes before and cooked for them at their home and no one cared about the cooking mess (of course the friend helped clean while I cooked).

I do think for open concept it's important to have a "away" room to separate out from the rest of the house and noises (like if 2 people want to entertain different groups of friends, or someone wants to read while another wants to watch loud movies).

Over all I don't think any one type (open concept, closed concept, simi-open) is right for everyone. It just depends on your lifestyle and personal preferences. I look forward to seeing builders offering more variety in how open or closed the rooms are from each other.

i am not a fan of super open concept spaces either, ie i like some separation, but not a completely closed off kitchen. i like prepping and cooking after work while watching tv and when guests are over i don't want to feel closed off in the kitchen. i do agree though that you have to be a pretty neat cook if you're going to have guests this way. i always prep the day before and my final cooking is done right before guests get there. i don't want them to see a mess. also we have a very strong exhaust fan that has a straight line vent (no elbows) straight to the roof. it's hella loud but at least it doesn't stink when guests come over.

Before the Reno, we had a smallish 11 x 11 kitchen, with a separate dining room and living room. The dining room table was rarely used except as a catch-all for stuff and we rarely sat in our north facing living room. We took out the wall between our dining room and kitchen, expanding into the DR by only 15", but what a difference this made for us! The dining room table is now used every day, I have fabulous views of our ravine backyard from my new island (8' slider in the kitchen, and another 8' slider in the dining room area), I can chat with guests who sit at the table while I cook, and we use our living room almost every day because it is open to the DR and kitchen backyard views. It would be nice if I could hide my kitchen mess from guests, but I'm resigned to the fact that I can't have it all. I'm absolutely thrilled to have a much more functional, useable space:)

So it seems everyone has their differing priorities about exactly which functions are most important and to what degree. I think to reduce the kitchen to _only one_ function these days is a bit short sighted. People will be people, unless one locks the doors to the kitchen.

Also, I have yet to find a kitchen that was actually _unusable_. I haven't found a kitchen that couldn't function as a kitchen. Some are more difficult than others, but that was due primarily to what I am used to, my own muscle and associative memory.

So, "function" is relative (entertaining? casual? formal? baking? grilling?), and usable is on a sliding scale. And all that is affected by available space. I know I'm not lucky enough to have the room to have a fully functional kitchen for every possible cooking and entertaining style. Nor would I want to. So we prioritize.

Joe

I prefer a closed kitchen. I don't cook in front of guests unless we are grilling or BBQing outdoors. No way would I be prepping in front of them. When we have dinner guests they are to make themselves comfortable in the living /dining room, or family room if it's a casual visit. Cooking is not a social activity for me. The kitchen is my lab and I want people to stay the hell out of it.

I know others ( probably most) feel differently. But I am old school. I want to sit down and talk directly to guests and visit with them., not multi task. No tv, no cell phones, no cooking except for required last minute touches.

My current kitchen has a wide doorway to the family room and a doorway to the hall just near the dining room. The hall door is getting a pocket door so I can close it off and the family room doorway is losing a bit over a foot in width in our remodel. Peace at last.

The only place we are opening the kitchen into is the outdoors. We are replacing a 6 foot window with a six foot patio door onto that side of the house which will hopefully gain a new deck in the near future.

as I'm reading some of these responses I'm wondering if some of the differences come from stage of life or kids vs. no kids. When I hear about people prepping before company comes over and actually sitting down to a meal and talking to your friends, I think, 'that sounds AMAZING but how do you actually manage that?'

I have had a dinner party or two but it takes a lot of planning to make it happen, so basically, it rarely happens. When I say I'm prepping in front of my guests it's more like we pick up the kids from whatever activity and everyone, myself included, arrives at my house at 5 or 6 and we more or less make dinner together or my guest sits/stands in the kitchen and talks while occasionally lending a hand. It's not that I really prefer it this way, but more that the option is to do it that way, or just not see my friends.

So I'm wondering if it will change when our kids get to be teenagers or out of the house and our lives don't revolve around them anymore. Maybe I will want a separate kitchen then?

I have kids and host dinner parties (where I kick the kids out!), but that's once every few months.

I cook dinner for the six of us nearly every night.

We have grandparents over where everyone is working together on the meal every week or two.

I'm designing for the latter two, not the former.

Plus now my kitchen is gorgeous AND functional so I want to show it off, not shut it away! I do try and do most of my dinner party prep before hand so then I'm back to having a clean kitchen when guests arrive and can set out drinks and hors d'oeuvres on the island.

Mostly I just find the OP's assertion that open kitchens mean people don't cook hilarious.

If anything I cook more now that the kitchen is open, and I didn't think that was possible! We generally run the dishwasher at least twice a day because so many meals are prepped and consumed here.

I hope I didn't sound judgmental. If people have kids and host dinner parties where you prepare in advance, I think it's awesome and I'm not trying to win an award for the busiest/hardest life. I know people have different lifestyles, but I just started to wonder if the people having more formal dinner parties don't have kids at home, or have teenagers. There are exceptions to everything, obviously, but I would think most families with kids would be more like cevamal's and my scenario, mostly informal gatherings or family dinners at home because prepping beforehand and (hopefully) getting rid of the kids for the night is tough and if your friends have kids that's two or more schedules that have to be altered to accommodate it.

So while I love an elegant meal where I can sit down and talk and have a glass of wine and socialize, I'm designing my kitchen around what I see as the main use case, which for my family is group cooking or multi tasking (socializing or homework while cooking), but now I'm a little worried that in a few years I might have changed my mind because my daughter is 11 and won't be hanging out with her parents that much longer, so that might free me up to do more formal parties/dinners.

We entertain quite frequently, and they are multi-family affairs. The younger kids are set up to eat in the kitchen, and the parents are in the closed-off dining room. The beginning is a little hectic as the priority is on getting the kids set up with their meal, but then they are off and running - either the basement or outside or both weather-depending. Which leaves us adults to enjoy our meal in peace. It does get disturbed by the occasional disturbance or very little ones, but it works. It's good for the kids b/c it's free play w/multiple age groups, and it's good for the adults b/c get time to talk about adult things.

On another note, and touched on above, is that opening up the kitchen is about more than function - it's about light and space. By opening it up, it not only makes the kitchen feel better b/c your vistas are much longer, but it brings in light from another aspect. If your kitchen is very large it doesn't matter much, but for those of us w/smaller kitchens it makes a big difference.

Megan Don't worry, you didn't sound judgmental at all. :)

Normally if it's a situation like that then everyone helps cooking, but if I know the day before someone is coming over then I make a meal ahead that can be heated up easily without constant supervision and items that can be served cold. Growing up my family always had the food ready or close to it before guest arrived even for casual meals. As far as the kids and age, that depends on how close parents and kids are. I've seen some parents that the teens consider their best friend (and share everything with) and others that want to be very independent and so try to not spend time with family.

If a child gets to the age where he or she doesn't want to spend so much time with you as they do now chances are with open concept that they will just start hanging out in their bedroom or go out with friends.

Personal story:
When I was in my early teens and onward I noticed that usually if I went to a friends house and it was open concept (even with food) that we just hung out in the bedroom for privacy, but if there was some privacy in the living room then we just stayed out there and interacted more with other people in the home. Growing up I never would have been comfortable in a open concept home because I have always been a kinda private person and my mother always liked to tease me about things (which in my case I couldn't really handle all that well since I get easily embarrassed) and I would want to be alone most of the time or just play card games with grandpa (we lived in my grandparents home). So if I was social it's because I wanted to be rather being forced to be. I was always more comfortable with my grandfather than my mother but I never knew my dad (if I had I likely would have been closer to him).

So the way to know if you are making a good long term choice if your daughter is the reason you like it open is, how social is she? Does she talk to you like she would a friend? Does she like helping you cook? Is she very shy? You know your family better than anyone would. If open works best for your family and you like it then go for it. Go to friends houses and see how you like it closed and open. That's how I learned how each makes me feel. I do think it can be nice to have kitchen and dining open or dining and living open, but I don't like all 3 open without a extra living space.
In a couple years it will be easier to have a dinner party no matter what kind of kitchen you have though, so if you know you like open then I'd say go for it.

I was very shy growing up and that's why I liked individual rooms, I didn't even want family seeing if I was singing along to music or anything. I felt too embarrassed by it. Now I'm in my late 20s and hang around family more and actually talk to my mom but I still would not want her to see me listening to music or anything, but at least I can watch TV with her.

Add us to the list of people whose kitchen is used for real cooking 3 meals a day (husband works from home), save for eating out once a week. We also host regularly. We are in an urban rowhouse with not a ton of space, so the kitchen is totally open concept to the main floor and dining room. Friends congregate in the kitchen and all over. I love it. For regular weeknight dinners, my husband or I cook and the other one is always within easy ear shot. Our kitchen definitely hits high marks for both style and function.

Growing up, my mom cooked dinner every night while my sister and I and dad were in another closed off room watching tv. If I were her, my blood would have been boiling every night. Then also hosted parties all the time and, again, dad was out in the living room with drink in hand while mom slaved in the kitchen until it was time to sit at the table. She hated it.

I wonder if hating open concept kitchens is a function of age (as in, older generations are used to closed concept kitchens).

I cook a lot - 2 meals a day usually (I'm not counting my breakfast smoothie), and I do look up and talk to people while I'm prepping and cooking......I'm not making anything so delicate or dangerous that prep or cooking requires my undivided concentration. One of the things I hated about my galley kitchen was that I could hear people in the other room, but I couldn't interact with them unless I made a special trip out there; even if people don't sit at the island counter, I know I will still see and talk to them if they're at the table in the corner (of my soon-to-be enlarged and renovated kitchen). I don't like cooking and constantly having to turn around or walk away in order to take part in a discussion. (I am making a larger open kitchen, but it will not be open to the living room......still big enough for people to gather in the kitchen.)

I don't care if people see me chopping veggies or slicing cheese and arranging it for hors d'oeuvres. It's not a secret process or intimate moment that requires privacy. For my friends and family, I also don't care if they see my mess - I'm not trying to pretend to be a perfect cook and homemaker; they like me as I am. "Hiding my mess" from the rest of the house/from others is not a priority for me. If I don't like seeing my mess, I clean it (not hide it).

I guess the OP and I have different needs and expectations for our kitchens, but it's not related to just style vs. function or how much someone cooks. There are many designs that are still functional for "real cooks", and "real cooks" don't have to be limited by a particular style (in their kitchen design, or their cooking).

Picture the family watching an Oscar-winning movie in the living room. It is the death scene of the central character who is beloved by all. The living room is hushed except for sniffles, even from your always-joking son. Oops, there goes the disposal grinding from the open kitchen!

Conversely, you are working with your son on his math homework at the kitchen table. He is struggling. You are patient. Except it's not the kitchen table. It's the island that separates the kitchen from the living room. The living room TV is blaring the Packers-Bears football game. Touchdown! Everyone yells! Math homework?

That is why I like a kitchen separate from the living room.

I think that everyone should have the kitchen they want that can work in their home. I still don't understand though why everyone thinks that if you don't have open concept you will be alone and isolated in the kitchen. My husband, exchange student and I all cook together in our non open concept kitchen. No one is in there by themself while others lounge around, unless they want to be. That I think is more a function of your family dynamics than whether or not your kitchen is open. If people want to be together, they will be, open concept or not.

We don't have a TV in the living room, so that's not an issue.

My problem with the non-open kitchen was that people DID want to be together, there was just nowhere for them to be! Guests & family were forever dragging DR chairs into the kitchen and talking to my back. Plus there was barely enough counter space for one person to work, much less two or three.

I've decided semi-open is best for me. And I do have/am building a working kitchen.

The kitchen is open to the dining area (over a peninsula) and the dining is open to the living room, which extends around the corner. There is a wall between the kitchen and the living room.

Rationale for my design: I just really don't like the looks of the totally open concept. I like space to demark, and I know that there will be some level of clutter from cooking, all idealism aside.

I also like the fact I can have three walls upon which I can put at least some upper cabs. I am tall. I have a bad back.

I also like the space for artwork on the living room side. Much better than looking in through there and seeing someone cooking. I love art!

I put my main sink on the peninsula, facing out to the guests who may be at the dining room table. If someone is cleaning up, they can talk with guests still at the table.

When I was in my teens and on at home, I was the designated dish washer after dinner. RIGHT after dinner. It didn't matter how fascinating the conversations were, I HAD to go in immediately and clean up, mid-thought and all. Of course our family kitchen sinks in every house we lived in faced out the window. (My personal druthers would have been a total willingness to make the place spotless once our guests had left, but no...) So... I am sure this is why my sink in the house I am building faces the dining area. While I'll likely wait until they leave (unless they are spending the night), I want to be able to engage my friends and relatives while we are all together. This will also assist if some guest or another volunteers to help out with cleanup for a few minutes, too.

My prep area faces out the window. The majority of prepping will occur before guests arrive. Unless it's a pot luck where we cook together (many of the pot lucks I attend are a group of friends who like to try out recipes together... hence a lot of counter space).

"I still don't understand though why everyone thinks that if you don't
have open concept you will be alone and isolated in the kitchen. My
husband, exchange student and I all cook together in our non open
concept kitchen. No one is in there by themself while others lounge
around, unless they want to be."

It depends on the size of the kitchen ;) Without an island, there would be barely enough space for 2 people to work in the kitchen at the same time without bumping elbows.

Picture the family watching an Oscar-winning movie in the living room. It is the death scene of the central character who is beloved by all. The living room is hushed except for sniffles, even from your always-joking son. Oops, there goes the disposal grinding from the open kitchen!

Solution: everyone helps clean up and then we start the movie. I'm not their scullery maid.

I also don't like the loudness factor of open kitchens. You have the clatter of pots and pan, the vent hood, opening and shutting things and everyone is speaking louder to be heard above all the background noise. When I am in a home with an open kitchen and everyone is chatting at once I find myself looking for somewhere to escape to. Anywhere.

The world seems to be getting louder and louder in general. I miss the day s when when people used their inside voices when dining out in restaurants. Now those types of places are getting harder to find. Come to think of it hardly anybody understands inside versus outside voice or activity any more. Maybe it because of those open concept homes. ;-)

"I miss the day s when when people used their inside voices when dining
out in restaurants. Now those types of places are getting harder to
find."

Actually, what's getting harder to find are restaurants that use noise-dampening interiors design, with things like upholstered furniture, carpeting, drapery, and tablecloths. A lot of restaurants used to be quieter because the style allowed more absorption of sound; these days, the styles result in more echo and reverberation, with glass, metal, high ceilings, and other "minimalist" looks like blinds instead of drapes.

I don't peruse kitchen design magazines, but I did go to a Parade of Homes last summer when we were in the kitchen design stage for our remodel. What struck me was that the kitchens were designed poorly as far as layout and dimensions. All of the houses we toured had open concept kitchens, but that didn't seem to be the issue with the poor design. The main bugaboo for me was aisle widths between the islands and the perimeter, lack of drawers, lack of good work flow, and little-to-no pantry space. I was also surprised that the kitchens seemed to be done on the cheap, despite that the homes were high dollar. Seems at odds with the kitchen being the heart of the home for so many of us.

When we designed our kitchen we decided to not open it to the dining and living rooms. We have two pocket doors between the kitchen and each of these rooms and appreciate having some separation between the activity in the living room and the kitchen space. If we didn't have preteens and teens at home maybe we'd have opted for more openness. But that's not our reality, so being able to shut out the noise from the TV/videogames is lovely, and vice versa. I'm sure they're glad that there is a buffer between them and kitchen clatter.

I don't think I'd have stressed about all the mess being on display if we had gone with an open concept, because I've lived in other homes with that layout and it was never an issue. One of the things I love about the new kitchen is that the big sink can hide dirty dishes if needed. I tend to clean as I cook, but it's fairly common for a load of dirty dishes to be accumulating while the dishwasher is running.

It would surprise me that open concept kitchens lead to less cooking as that is dictated by economy and interest usually.

When entertaining or hosting, do most of you really cook _after_ the guests have arrived? I usually try to have everything finished by the time guests arrive. There may be one or two things that may be best if finished exactly when it is time to eat (like maybe "build your own pizza" style events), if that time is after everyone is expected. But over all, I usually cook _before_ party time. When it is just for family, I don't really care if I am too messy or noisy. Am I the only one crazy like that?

Joe

Joseph Futral I also try to get food ready before people are here. I always tell people to be here about a hour or 2 after I'm off work so I can change clothes and cook. I don't do well cooking with a audience.

Carolyn87, just after I wrote that I went back to reread some posts and found yours, almost word for word. I don't mind cooking for an audience. I just don't think I am that interesting! :-D

I just don't think open kitchen vs "real" cooking (whatever that is) is all that much an issue as either side seems to make it. YMMV.

Joe

Joe I am totally like that BUT sometimes they show up early or even if it's a family party but extended I do not like to be moving about my kitchen with an audience other than my immediate family of hubby and 2 boys. In fact I HATE it.

For me a kitchen with an island or peninsula for seating is great because it houses a few people, accommodates homework, helpers, chatting without the need for it to be 100% open to the whole house. Mine is way too open and really truly gah - no. What if I want to cook with the radio on? What if I want to cook in QUIET. What if I am running the sink and clanging pans and yup the fam is trying to watch a show or whatever. I call it all for 1 living. We all have to want the same thing because it's too open to have anything but 1 thing going on comfortably. No thanks. Next time if there is one I will strive for moderately open but I want it to feel like it's a kitchen for goodness sakes and not that it's sitting IN the living room.

edit: yes like artemis - semi open. I think I'd feel better if my sink/island faced the dining room and not the living room? That feels weird to me. I seldom want to watch TV while I am in the kitchen anyhow. And when I clean up or make something I don't want to feel like I need to be super quiet or endure the volume going up up up.

We are designing a custom home and will be doing something between open concept and completely separate. We lived in an original 1920 craftsman where the kitchen was closed off with only a doorway to the open dining/living area and I hated it, we now live in a totally open concept house with the kitchen dining and living areas totally open and we don't like that either. I don't mind guests seeing me cook or even seeing the mess from a current meal, the times when we want to be away from the kitchen are in the evenings when we are done using the kitchen and want to relax and be away from the "work" areas of the house. Or when people drop by unexpectedly and need to stay for a bit, which we completely welcome, but can be a little uncomfortable when the kitchen is a disaster, which happens when you have 5 young kids! We cook almost every meal and usually have our kids in the kitchen helping so we need a lot of space but plan to have a large pantry as well to tuck away some of the mess. Having an island is nice when you want your kids to "help" but don't want them underfoot, they stay on the other side of the island and help chop or stir etc. We are planning to have a large opening between the kitchen and dining areas, and the dining area will be open to the living area, basically and L shape. That way I can cook and clean up and see most of the living areas by looking out of the kitchen or by leaning over the island, but you won't be able to see the kitchen from the front door and won't be able to see most of it from the living space.

"When entertaining or hosting, do most of you really cook _after_ the guests have arrived?"

Yeah, I do. I may start some things early if they take an hour or longer to cook (the prime rib or roast bird), but most things are cooked while people are there. Things are prepped beforehand, and cold things like salads are made before too.

cooking is one of the most creative interesting fun things. It's a great activity to share even if others just observe,ask questions while in process. This is about proper zone creation. Any kitchen should have space where dirty things land and the whole karma of the space not be ruined for the human activity that's also a part of the mix. Homes will be smaller going forward.....open plan allows flexibility and transition from kids at home..kids gone...adults working..doing [carry-out or eating out] vs. cooking, eating in. One thing seems certain with home building -the formal separated dining room will no longer be. Flexible dining zones as part of the whole space give credence to the open kitchen concept. Make your space beautiful, smartly planned and take out the walls..in my opinion.

Moving from a closed to an open kitchen set up has only increased our "real" cooking. It has made cooking a fun and social event. I wish we had a similar set up when our kids were little and learning. To each their own, but I think mourning the death of "real" cooking is a bit dramatic.

I am with you 💯 here.

If I had my way, my kitchen would have 4 walls and a locking door. 🤣 (Introverts raise your hands! )

I want my kitchen to be a workplace and fortress of solitude. I love to cook and bake but HATE, and cannot do a damn thing, if people are in my space. Cooking is not a social activity for me. I prioritize work flow and efficiency. People can eat at the table like civilized humans and mingle in the living room where my extroverted partner can share his fancy stereo. My kitchen is my sanctuary.

Open concept designs may be a great idea if you live in a congested metropolitan area. But if you live anywhere else, go outside for your open concept. The upper Midwest has a lot of prairie that you might love if you feel you need space.

2017 post!

Yes. And yet, people keep thinking that their cook's kitchen needs to be transformed to open concept to increase resale value. I wholeheartedly disagree. I wish people would quit opening their traditional kitchens. There are those of us who think a tradocook's kitchen is a an asset.

" people keep thinking that their cook's kitchen needs to be transformed to open concept to increase resale value....There are those of us who think a tradocook's kitchen is a an asset. "

But are there enough of you to change the resale value of a house? Or is it a small percentage who like what they like, even if it's unfashionable and not as attractive on the real estate marketplace?

Only one person will buy your home. Not “the market”.

Exactly, Joseph.

I probably will never understand why someone wants to have their kitchen in their living room. And some people will never understand why I want my kitchen to be my sanctuary.

I'm not sure when we stopped valuing individuality and began thinking that everyone needs the same cookie cutter home. Anyone remember the kitchen debate when VP Nixon showed how American women could choose the home they wanted and get the appliances they wanted in any color they wanted while the Soviets were ensuring every person had a home provided by the government with standard issue white refrigerator and white range?

I had an open concept kitchen / family room in my last home that was quite unique for it's era (built in 1970.) I now own an MCM with a closed kitchen built in the late 1960s. I thought about opening it up to the LR, but I love the flow of the home and decided that I am fine with an open kitchen or a closed kitchen.

Different lifestyles and priorities want different kitchens.

I want an enclosed, separate kitchen with zero seating or space for idly-hanging-about-and-pretending-to-help people. When we have dinner parties, I'm making six to eight dishes that have to be timed right, sauced or garnished, and served in order. If I were making some pasta sauce and steamed veg, then sure come lollygag, otherwise GTFO.

Anyway, my neighborhood is all very traditional, typically 100 y/o houses with distinct interior spaces So that's what people are looking for when they buy here. If they want open floor plans and sprawling family rooms merged with the kitchen, they go to other neighborhoods. And most of them immediately start a full kitchen reno anyway.

Craftsman homes started to open things up. I kind of dig an open "feel" but love to close doors, especially when we are chasing down our cat to get her to the vet.

I think the full open concept was a (somewhat lazy) way to address lack of flow. No walls, no flow obstacles. Then it is only furniture.

A well designed open concept still has distinct "rooms", or areas for certain tasks. I suppose it was postmodern that threw it all to the wind. And some loved it. Everytime I come across a room that is too big for a single use, I'll still divide it up with the furntiure to make certain areas work for certain things. Two chairs in a corner for simple conversations, a single chair with a lamp for reading, some seating aruond a TV or fireplace. Even a well placed divider screen can be useful.

Judy Andrews said: I want my kitchen to be a workplace and fortress of solitude. I love to cook and bake but HATE, and cannot do a damn thing, if people are in my space. Cooking is not a social activity for me. I prioritize work flow and efficiency. People can eat at the table like civilized humans and mingle in the living room where my extroverted partner can share his fancy stereo. My kitchen is my sanctuary.

And why can't people mingle in the living room, eat at a table and stay out of the kitchen when it is open to other spaces? Not everyone wants to be locked away in the kitchen. Different strokes for different folks.

With my house there is no reason people can't mingle in the living room, eat at the table and stay out of the working area of the kitchen, Because a kitchen is open to other spaces does not mean it is not functional.

I don't understand why we make cooking a chore or a task. I grew up in a big family and my fondest memories are of days spent canning, baking or preparing meals with my mom and my sisters and my aunts and my sister-in-laws and nieces. We got the work done while we talked and listened and learned. I am 63 and until last year when my oldest sister passed away, we got together every weekend from 2 weeks before Thanksgiving through Christmas to do baking for the holidays. We baked pies and cookies and pastries and made enough for all of our families. Last year I baked the pastries for all the families since my siblings are all getting too old to stand for that long or have issues with joints and can't enjoy baking anymore and my nieces have grown up and moved on to new lives in bigger cities. It just wasn't the same baking batch after batch with just and audio book for company.

Whew, necropost on fire! Hehehe. And years later, yeah, there for sure is some design things that seem to take over functional things.

I grew up with some open concepts. Sort of, lol. Houses with the kitchen table as the center or kitchen had an island and the area was also open to include the kitchen table. It has seen a lot, and now that table is in my kitchen (built in the 50's) that is open to host it. So for me, it is sort of odd that people rely so heavily on islands to the point where the kitchen table seems almost alien as a workspace.

For the most part, kitchen is seperate from the rest of the house- cept the house my folks built. That had the kitchen, table area, and living room open running across the back of the house. The family room, foyer, and dining room along the front of the house were walled and had doors. So I think a more open concept can work if it's with good purpose. I also think many people just blow out walls or built without them just cuz and the results can be not great.

Another one growing up is that if there was wall space in the kitchen, it was usually filled with useful things rather than decor. Hang up your pots, lids, molds, sheets and so on in a pretty way. My gma had a tiny kitchen, and her wall space including the basement stairwell was an amazing display of useful things. That kind of functional space is now given over almost entirely to decor- and build in more storage to hide those things is now the norm.

A sort of odd one I had growing up was walking to your food storage space. The walk in pantry outside the kitchen, cellar down the stairs. Now its more common to build a bigger kitchen and keep it all in that space. I have a pantry in my kitchen, but I also like to walk down the hall to my larder.

" I don't understand why we make cooking a chore or a task. "

Because sometimes it is a chore and a task......I spoke with a friend of mine and found out she hates to cook because for 20+ years her husband and son treated her like a diner cook, never showing any interest or appreciation about what she cooked for them every night. They felt it was her job to make them dinner - so cooking literally felt like a job. Now that their family (and finances) have changed, they eat out and and take out a lot, because she considers herself to be retired from that job.

I, on the other hand, love to cook, but listening to her showed me why some people don't like it. I also know people who don't really care what they eat, and would happily eat the human equivalent of dog chow if it made them feel full and gave them the energy they need. They just don't really appreciate the different tastes and textures; one food is kind of as good to them as another (with a few particular dislikes).

Different strokes.

I'm enjoying this resurrected thread! Cooking socially/publicly (or not) is a personality thing as well as a family dynamics thing, I think. I'm not quite as cranky about company as @John Liu but I tend that way. I seriously prefer to work alone, and if guest/company insists, I give them a simple task to do way out on the fringes where I don't have to dance around them or direct them. My kids are used to hearing "get out of my work space" or "get out of the kitchen"! They don't stay away for long LOL. Current kitchen setup is a very wide galley with traffic through the middle, urgh. Future planned kitchen becomes an L with worktable island to keep traffic out of the work triangle and give places for "helpers" or gawkers that are in distant orbit.

@Toronto Veterinarian Your story is sad on so many levels. I am a huge believer that women will never get equality at work while we accept inequality at home. Her husband and her son were treating her as their servant. What kind of boss do you think her son became? Will he look at women as equally capable as men or will they always be expected to be the support staff? As women we have an obligation to future generations to ensure that our sons are raised to see us as equally intelligent and capable as their fathers.

We also need to be competent. In about 70% of marriages women outlive their husbands. Too often when we see women who were treated as second class citizens in their marriages they were never allowed to manage the household budget or participate in the family financial planning. These self-important husbands often don't plan for life beyond their own for their wives and leave their wives struggling to make ends meet and unable to maintain their homes/lifestyle without their husbands retirement income.

It is too late to change the attitude that her son was allowed to develop, but please, if this woman is truly your friend, make sure she is prepared for the likely outcome that she will outlive her husband.

Anywho, kitchens... Something that has been happening more in recent years since the thread was started is people having a display kitchen and a separate ugly kitchen. Both usually lovely. I think it's a more money for the Pro's lean in... and one that will become unfashionable after a while.

One I think will be fun to see how it develops over the next eight years is poured resin counters. It can be really cool and interesting, and very much a design thing. It could go more mainstream. Or it could age as well as wine left out in the sun.

"I'm not quite as cranky about company as @John Liu but I tend that way."

"My kids are used to hearing "get out of my work space" or "get out of the kitchen"! "

Yep, same here. Except it's my guests I tell that to. My kitchen has an efficient layout, but it isn't large -- two people can't be in there at the same time without being in each other's way. I'm perfectly happy with it, but the problem is that it is open to a very large dining/eating area where guests gather....and those guests naturally migrate into my workspace, sometimes to offer help, other times to kibbitz while I'm working. If the kibbitzers stay on the other side of the (moveable) island I'll listen to their idle chit-chat...or pretend to...but if they enter my workspace I politely tell them to move out of the kitchen. There is one person in particular who I am constantly telling to get out, dude is like the Sidler on Seinfeld...I turn around and bam there he is....always in my way, of course...

Elaine's New Co-Worker Is A Sidler | The Merv Griffin Show | Seinfeld

It's fun to learn how people use their kitchens!

I want a kitchen for cooking and baking that, if someone wants to come in for a cup of coffee or glass of water, they aren't in my way and I don't get annoyed. And I can have someone help with chopping veggies if they need something to do. But also a kitchen where I can feel comfortable and know I can get "in the zone" and create food without too much interruption.

We just moved into a house where the layout is open concept, and the kitchen has an enormous island. Basically the kitchen is the island. On one side is a narrow workspace with terrible flow. On the other side is enough room for a whole hockey team to belly up for lunch. Even though the general design is open, it feels very cramped just because of the island.

I'm going to have the island removed and create an L-shaped counter framing the kitchen boundaries, and add a corner wall that's just enough to add upper cupboards and hide the kitchen mess from the living room, while still keeping the general open feel of the house.

I'll be able to demarcate my territory, open up the actual workspace, add storage for my baking gizmos, and drastically improve the work flow.

I cook most efficiently in, and love, galley style kitchens, so guest can be (not always) problematic. What I want MOST is one of those ovens in Great British Cook Off where the door slides in and out of the way.

I had an oven like that when we lived on our sailboat. I’ve never seen one for a house, but it sure would make sense.