I think many are swinging back to closed off kitchens. I expect we'll see more and more people opting for separation between kitchen and other living spaces.

It's possible we'll revert back, but I think open kitchens will be here for a bit longer. I would expect the transition back to closed kitchens will be a slow moving one.

Central open kitchens absolutely contribute to mindless overeating. It only takes 4 calories a day to sustain a pound of fat. People with visible cereal boxes are on average 10lbs fatter than those with cereal hidden away--and that's just one food cue. (Visible fruit makes you skinnier, all things being equal.)

I'm not an "open concept" fan.

I don't care if a kitchen is closed off, if there is a keeping/hearth/sitting area that is a part of it. I would want someplace to have a couple comfy chairs, maybe a small table for snacking, and a TV so that I can have it on while I'm cooking. I don't like to be isolated while cooking, so I want an area that entices people to come and sit and keep me company, and a close place I can sit while something bakes or simmers and I don't have to be right next to it.

i don't mind my kitchen somewhat open to family room, but nowhere else, and i hate the kitchen as you open the front door concept.

I entertain/cook a lot, so my perspective may be skewed.

So far, I've lived in three houses with closed-off kitchens and missed out on a lot of conversation and bonding while stuck in there. It kept the smells and mess out of view but it was claustrophobic.

In the last two houses I owned (including my present one) the kitchens were open to the dining/living areas.

It feels better entertaining with an open concept. No longer relegated to the kitchen like "the help" and missing out on all the conversation and fun with family and friends, I get to talk to my guests while prepping food for them or fixing cocktails or dessert. Having bar stools at a kitchen bar or island bar really helps, because I can not only serve my guests, I can talk to them and see their faces and they get to watch what I'm up to. It's really hard to get them to go to the living room (which is way more comfortable) when I'm ready to sit down!

The trend is not for everyone, but I really like it.

As people become more "closed off" from each other with their devices and cell phones, it's nice to know that (for now) the trend is to BE WITH EACH OTHER in open concept areas that don't have walls. I don't see this going backwards for quite a while.

I'm with ALLart above. I don't want a closed-off kitchen away from the guests or my better half while I'm getting a meal. I like to chat, maybe catch up with the 6:00 news on TV, that sort of thing.

As for the calorie thing, sorry, don't get that one at all - it's pretty easy to close a pantry door so that food isn't on display. In fact, with open concept, you pretty much have to keep everything closed or it looks a mess. Isn't that the main complaint about open concept? That you have to be more tidy and put things away all the time?

I have no misapprehension that open concept is for everyone: clearly not. But it is for me.

The visible kitchen is an eating cue. Visible food just makes it worse.

I like my kitchen ABLE to be closed off and also able to be open to a family room.

I have never wanted an open floor plan much less an open kitchen. When we purchased our current home what sold me was the relatively closed off kitchen. That was before I lost my hearing (relevant in next paragraph) It is becoming more closed as we remodel. The doorway to the hall will be getting a pocket door and the wide doorway to the family room will be narrowed somewhat.

I was at a small gathering last evening. Only 7 people. The home is beautiful but I find it almost painful. I am severely hearing impaired. Six women chatting in the open kitchen. The floors are wood throughout the house. The acoustics were that of a restaurant designed to be noisy. I turned my hearing aid down as low as possible and it was still loud. So loud I retreated to the side and just concentrated on happy thoughts waiting for us to move on. LOL

Once we retired to the dining area adjacent to the kitchen it got much much better. Same wood floor, same walls but I guess just having a table and chairs instead of granite and stainless muffled the sound bouncing all over the place. I was able to increase the volume of my aid, participate in a game and at least hear what was going on despite the chatter that was mostly unintelligible with everyone talking at once.

So for me it is a matter of sound transmission. I don't enjoy being a guest in an open kitchen and don't have any desire for guests in mine.

My hearing loss was sudden and not age related. However people who plan to age in place should take hearing loss and sound transmission into consideration. Most people who live long enough will experience hearing loss to some degree. Being deaf is not silence, it is extremely noisy.

I agree with jmm1837... if the kitchen is cleaned up and food is stored properly, it is only a utilitarian room visually, IMO. The fact that my kitchen shows from all angles keeps my inner slob in check. If simply having a snack showing is going to trigger me to munch, then maybe I need to check into how much self-discipline I'm exerting. Perhaps refrigerators should have full-length mirror doors! :-)

The kitchen is a symbol of togetherness, life, pleasures, warmth... I like having it visually integrated into the whole of my home.

People with visible cereal boxes are on average 10lbs fatter than those with cereal hidden away--and that's just one food cue. (Visible fruit makes you skinnier, all things being equal.

Very interesting! I'd like to read the study from which these conclusions were derived. Will you post a link to it?

I quickly googled and found this: visible food and weight

Cornell's Dyson school has a research center for environment and obesity.

They like to portray people was helpless lab rats a bit too much, but the information is very helpful for designing a home that promotes healthy choices and behaviors.

I dont have any friends who have children who are overweight and DONT have an open kitchen. But of course, an adult who is very food fixated and also sedentary (wants to see TV from kitchen--this is my nightmare) is more likely to choose an open kitchen. So there's that.

You want to read Slim by Design and Mindless Eating by Brian Wansink.

I got fat (technically I was just slightly overweight) after I was bed bound for most of one pregnancy AND had awful morning sickness that was only helped by constantly munching on bland foods. Just about destroyed my health. Lost every ounce (of 60lbs+ of fat) and more and have kept it off for years. Weigh what I did as a high school track athlete. I feel a thousand times better. I didn't even know how bad I felt until I felt better.

Correction. I remembered wrong. Women with visible cereal boxes in their kitchens weighed 21 pounds more on average: https://food.unl.edu/documents/ControlDiabetes/March2016/4-SlimByDesignSlides.pdf

Both my kitchens are closed off.. even with one being outside a few steps away for when making fish or for barbecue stuff items for outdoors cooking too. it stops kids running in and out anyway and you can close it off while something is simmering without worrying about kids going inside , if you want to do another chore around house while waiting for food to cook.

Some mothers might like the open kitchen idea so they can keep an eye on the kids too, in the end though a closed off kitchen is better safety wise.

There's a HUGE market of empty-nesters and boomers without kids who like smaller homes/condos/zero lot, etc... these look far better when they're open concept designs which helps smaller overall sq. footage look larger. I think the trend is especially strong in the smaller new home market for this reason as more and more boomers retire yet still want a house of their own.

I am an empty nester, and sooner or later we will be downsizing. Speaking only for myself, while I agree it may make a smaller kitchen feel larger, an open floor plan in a small space brings to mind an efficiency apartment. No thanks. I would not buy a house with an open kitchen.

The OP asked "Are people starting to want kitchens to be rooms unto themselves again?"

Most online data I've checked says that - at least for baby-boomers - no, they aren't. I've checked 5 fairly recent online article sources, all say that a majority of boomers want open concept houses.

Everybody here wants what they want, but remember the OP's original question and the answer is: Some do, but not the majority.

the problem is with all open, smells etc. go everywhere. and you must clean as soon as you eat or before. i do not mind so much to a family room, but not whole home. there is also no magic to the cooking methods, that can be a major loss.

My mom's a baby boomer and doesn't want an open kitchen. She's never gone along with the crowd, though! Cooking is a once in a while thing for her and entertaining happens in her living and dining rooms. My grandmothers had everyone in the living areas instead of the kitchen. This is how I prefer it, too, but I'm sure it's because of their influence.

I'm with the more closed kitchen group. A doorway and/or pass-through are fine for me. I do spend a lot of time in there but it's mostly when no-one else is home and I can get things done without interruption. I don't watch tv or listen to music while working. I like the quiet ;) Relaxing in an armchair or couch is so much more comfortable to me, while visiting with my family or guests. When the weather is nice, we're outside.

Things are a bit off these days but in my normal life the kitchen is where I worked. When I'm done working I want to lounge and not be looking at my work space. That's not really atypical, I don't think. People don't have open-concept offices. I'm an adventurous cook but it's not a "joy". The meal is, though, and that's why I learn techniques and explore recipes/cuisines.

Lol. Open offices are the new fad. It's as popular as you think.

My ideal is a nice sized eat-in kitchen...but definitely closed off from the living room and dining room. I abhor eating in the living room or eating with food in the lap. Nor do I want guests spilling food in the living room. For special occasions and dinner parties, I love to use the dining room. We have friends who use their dining room nightly--lovely tradition. But nothing beats hanging out at a kitchen table with family or friends casually....

Milly Rey Lol. Open offices are the new fad. It's as popular as you think.

Ha! Nothing like staring at what you need to do, later, to make one relax at the end of the day. Is this why drinking is a theme for t-shirts/memes?

I should qualify that we did eat at the table every night. Then, we sat in the living area. Right now my family eats around a coffee table in the living area but, we're in transition and I don't have a table. I don't have room for a table to seat all five of us, either!

I do not like the open concept. It seems the only room you have privacy is in your bedroom. I like a closed off kitchen from the dining room so you do not see the dirty dishes during dinner with company. A formal living room to sit and read a book with no one walking by.

Well, I'm a boomer myself, and an older one at that, and, having lived in all sorts of places with all sorts of kitchens, I definitely prefer open concept. I like the relaxed flow from space to space, the fact that I can chat with hubby or any guests while putting the final touches on that magnificent repast (cough, cough) I'm about to serve, and the reality that open concept imposes some discipline - have to keep the clutter and mess under control - which in my case is a good thing!

The cooking smells don't bother me - it's only in the kitchen/dining area if you've got a good fan - and who minds the smell of food being cooked if you're about to eat?

And privacy isn't much of an issue for empty nesters: there are plenty of places to "escape" if needed - in our case, a TV room/library, or a spare bedroom kitted up with some exercise equipment and a 40 year old stereo system (yes, we actually have vinyl), or a nice little back deck.

If there's one thing that I disliked about some traditional homes I've lived in, it was the waste of space - rooms that got used once a week or once a month when guests were over, otherwise sitting empty, but still needing to be heated, cooled and (ugh) dusted and vacuumed. I'd much rather have a home in which it's all being used, all the time.

I get why some people prefer closed kitchens - it's a matter of personal preference and we all have those. I just like having an other option available, and I know a lot of people of my vintage that have similar opinions, so I don't see open concept going away anytime soon. It's not a trend, it's a valid alternative.

In a closed kitchen, NO ONE IN THE HOUSE, knows, one could USE some H E L P in the kitchen, it's much easier to catch them if you can see them sitting in the den. I think husbands and kids like kitchens closed off? That way no one can give them "the eye"... LOL BUT, I know a lady that has variable amounts of "drop in" company cause she is active in her childrens' school and many church activities which usually means someone is picking up or dropping off, whatever... She always keeps her front room ready for company. She typically has something being fixed or being cleaned up in her kitchen. She hated her open kitchen. She loves her home with a kitchen in private, from her 'receiving room', and the family room.