I wouldn’t want to see a kitchen sink or counter upon entering the house. If you buy a house that has not been renovated yet you could configure it the way you want. Or if you find one where they only removed half of the walk, providing a peekaboo glance into the kitchen, you might not mind that as much.

I remember reading an opinion article about kitchens being open to the dining and family rooms. Sorry, I don't remember who wrote the article, just that the author had the same reaction as you—did not like them. You are not alone in your reaction.

Small houses get remodeled by flippers who need to increase the apparent value of the home. The kitchens of older homes, and possibly the whole house, often need fixes and upgrades to the plumbing and electric. But buyers don't see those improvements. Removing a wall is supposed to modernize the design, because open-design is the current normal. I would not like to lose living space to a kitchen though. Look for improvements to design flow and function.

My kitchen is open to my living, and it doesn't bother me. Then again, I don't often have company over for dinner. Making simple meals that don't require lots of pans and utensils will cut down on messiness. Making some dishes ahead of time also cuts down on the mess the day of the dinner. If you prefer more formal dining, look for a house with a dining room, even if it's small.

In my climate, most homes have some kind of foyer at the front door. In the winter, you don't want 12-degree air coming into the living room and kitchen every time the front door opens. I cannot wrap my head around opening the front door directly into the living room or kitchen, but in milder climates, this must be fine.

We had a small house in Calgary and I also ran a catering biz from that house . We had a front entry that honestly no one sed that entered from a porch into our nice LR but guess where everyone entered ? Our back door 5 steps up into our kitchen. Houses often have a way of functioning differently than you though it would so I always tell my clients to wait before doing any major renovation to see how the house actually functions. If you hate open concept than look for a house that doesn’t have it . I do agree that the counters can be saved from being a mess with good planning when entertaining but I find everyone wants to be in the kitchen no matter where it is

I would never want any part of my kitchen viewed from the front door. Too ‘Little House on the Prairie’ for me.

Whenever I see HGTV shows, I am reminded of Ronald Reagan: Take down that wall. Of course, that wall was an abomination. But some walls serve a useful purpose: place furniture, hang art, separate functions ordors.

I prefer not being able to see the kitchen from my front door. If I had removed the wall between my kitchen and dining room, I would have had the great room you describe, where everything is visible from the front door. I decided NOT to remove that wall, despite tons of friends saying how nice it would be to open up the space.

I don't even understand the allure of an eat-in kitchen. Why would someone want to dine next to a bunch of dirty pots and pans?

Having the front door open right into the kitchen - no, not for me. Open concept, okay. Kitchen open to front door - no. I don't know of anyone that wants to walk right into the kitchen from the front door. It's a different circumstance if you are using a back or side entry to walk into the kitchen.