Why Open Kitchens Are In
What happened to the private and separated kitchens of ‘60s sitcoms?
Whether or not a full-blown open floor plan is right for you, chances are high that new builds and remodels these days will feature an open kitchen. Driven by shifts in gender roles, the way we entertain, and everyday lifestyles, closed-off kitchens have all but faded from homebuyers’ wish lists.
Cooking Became Collaborative
While the art of creating the perfect meal used to be a hush-hush task performed behind closed doors, nowadays it’s viewed more widely as a bonding experience. Whether we’re entertaining guests or just whipping up a weeknight dinner with family, it’s more common than ever for more than one person to be involved.
Rather than being a task that wasn’t spoken about much, cooking has become the “main event” of many friends’ gatherings, with a fun and collaborative multi-course meal simply being the culmination of enjoyable teamwork throughout the evening. In family settings, preparing meals often serves as a way to impart important life skills on kids or as an opportunity for couples to bond and catch up about their day. Open kitchens allow for everyone to play a role, without too much limit to the space of the kitchen itself.
Less Segmented Mealtimes
In addition to cooking itself losing its air of mystique, formal mealtimes have also seen a decline in popularity. For better or worse, shifting schedules across family units mean not everyone is ready for dinner all at once, and formal sit-down dinners with extended family are often reserved for holidays.
A layout with a kitchen flowing into other living and dining spaces means families can spend time together even when one person is eating, another cooking, and another working on a homework assignment. The breakdown of set timing for each part of a family’s day has aligned with the removal of kitchen walls as well.
Architectural Flexibility
The removal of the requirement for a wall between the kitchen and the living and dining spaces of a home means more opportunities for creative design and flowing spaces. Not only does this layout change lend a multifunctional lens to smaller homes, allowing for more usable living space, but it also invites creative layout ideas that flex to fit the homeowner’s lifestyle.
Whereas a layout incorporating separate rooms for dining, sitting, and cooking required square footage for walls themselves and roughly dictated how families should use their space, now there’s more open space to be used as desired. For example, some families might need a larger dining table, or might delegate some space as an office nook or schoolwork spot. Without the overly-prescribed cookie-cutter layout of the past, we can enjoy the ability to flex a space to our needs.
If you’re ready to build the home of your dreams and live out the future you’ve been waiting for with your family, get in touch with the experts at Atmos today.
