3 ms·

I don't really see rooms making a full recovery from the current open floor plan trend. While I agree that there are some downsides to an open floor plan (sound

I don't really see rooms making a full recovery from the current open floor plan trend. While I agree that there are some downsides to an open floor plan (sound, cleaning, etc), I would be surprised if the open floor plan does not have serious longevity. Specifically, the open kitchen, which seems to be where the open floor plan started. Attitudes towards meal preparation have had significant changes over the past few decades, and given the changes to women's roles in society, I don't really see a potential to return to separate cooking and serving spaces. I wouldn't be surprised if the pendulum swings the other way soon, so that there is at least some compartmentalization of the first floor (kitchen, dining room, living room, entry, etc). But probably the dining room and kitchen will be that last to be divided, if ever.

jerf 7y ago
"While I agree that there are some downsides to an open floor plan (sound, cleaning, etc)" Sound could be mitigated at least somewhat if these rooms weren't so often hardwood floors, windows, and drywall on every surface. I'll cop to being at least somewhat above average on sensitivity to such things, but while a big space will always have a certain big space-y sound to it, it doesn't have to be a booming echo where the high-frequency sounds bounce around for seconds at a time.
- tropo 7y ago
  I'd really like to suppress the sound. Doing that well is non-standard, and thus expensive. There are so many obvious fixes that introduce other problems. Textured surfaces like carpet and popcorn ceilings get filthy disgusting. Wooden walls and ceilings are a fire hazard. I think white silicone rubber would be an excellent surface material. It won't burn, nothing eats it, it won't rot, it can be scrubbed with bleach or detergent, and it can have the right sort of softness for absorbing sound. It could work as floor tiles or wall panels, with a smooth exposed surface and a waffle-like backing to grant it some additional squishyness. For the ceiling it could even be like stalactites, perhaps 4" diameter and 20" length, to better absorb the sound.

jerf 7y ago

"While I agree that there are some downsides to an open floor plan (sound, cleaning, etc)" Sound could be mitigated at least somewhat if these rooms weren't so often hardwood floors, windows, and drywall on every surface. I'll cop to being at least somewhat above average on sensitivity to such things, but while a big space will always have a certain big space-y sound to it, it doesn't have to be a booming echo where the high-frequency sounds bounce around for seconds at a time.

tropo 7y ago
I'd really like to suppress the sound. Doing that well is non-standard, and thus expensive. There are so many obvious fixes that introduce other problems. Textured surfaces like carpet and popcorn ceilings get filthy disgusting. Wooden walls and ceilings are a fire hazard. I think white silicone rubber would be an excellent surface material. It won't burn, nothing eats it, it won't rot, it can be scrubbed with bleach or detergent, and it can have the right sort of softness for absorbing sound. It could work as floor tiles or wall panels, with a smooth exposed surface and a waffle-like backing to grant it some additional squishyness. For the ceiling it could even be like stalactites, perhaps 4" diameter and 20" length, to better absorb the sound.