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My wife and I often talk about the under valued nature of walls and doors in houses. I feel it’sa trend that will reverse over time. Closing a door to hide toys

My wife and I often talk about the under valued nature of walls and doors in houses. I feel it’sa trend that will reverse over time. Closing a door to hide toys is an awesome thing. The interesting part of this article was they said open concept was preferred for demolition filming. I’ve often heard people say open concept is preferred for home improvement shows due to the difficulty of shooting smaller rooms(tilt shift lens anyone).

pfranz 7y ago
Most of the "open concept" I've seen is just the kitchen/living area. I can see pros/cons for separating the kitchen (to keep a messy kitchen behind doors) or opening it up (more space, can talk to guests while preparing). I can also see why historically they were separate because a lot of aspects (drive ways, hall ways) are inherited from the rich, which often had servants doing meal prep. I do agree HGTV has influenced things and larger rooms are easier to film. I feel like the downside I've noticed from contemporary design is lack of cupboard/storage and awkward layouts for couch/tv placement (many "staged houses" are impractical for living in--I hate decorative pillows). That might be exacerbated by larger, cheap TVs (but I remember this predating them). Maybe the lack of cupboard space is expected because people eat out more? Part of it is obviously knocking down walls gives fewer walls for cupboards, but I guess pantries are blown out to give more sqft to the main rooms? My experience before the open floor plan trend was that there was a lot of bespoke rooms that weren't often used such as a dining room. I lived in places that had a separate living room and family room--but mostly the family gathered in one because the TV was there. Bedrooms have always been closed off. Things like a home office or gym were just extra bedrooms repurposed. The personal space issue they're talking about seems like it would only apply to studio apartments or kids sharing rooms. I shared a room with my siblings and definitely remember feeling like I couldn't escape, but that didn't have anything to do with floor plans.

pfranz 7y ago

Most of the "open concept" I've seen is just the kitchen/living area. I can see pros/cons for separating the kitchen (to keep a messy kitchen behind doors) or opening it up (more space, can talk to guests while preparing). I can also see why historically they were separate because a lot of aspects (drive ways, hall ways) are inherited from the rich, which often had servants doing meal prep. I do agree HGTV has influenced things and larger rooms are easier to film. I feel like the downside I've noticed from contemporary design is lack of cupboard/storage and awkward layouts for couch/tv placement (many "staged houses" are impractical for living in--I hate decorative pillows). That might be exacerbated by larger, cheap TVs (but I remember this predating them). Maybe the lack of cupboard space is expected because people eat out more? Part of it is obviously knocking down walls gives fewer walls for cupboards, but I guess pantries are blown out to give more sqft to the main rooms? My experience before the open floor plan trend was that there was a lot of bespoke rooms that weren't often used such as a dining room. I lived in places that had a separate living room and family room--but mostly the family gathered in one because the TV was there. Bedrooms have always been closed off. Things like a home office or gym were just extra bedrooms repurposed. The personal space issue they're talking about seems like it would only apply to studio apartments or kids sharing rooms. I shared a room with my siblings and definitely remember feeling like I couldn't escape, but that didn't have anything to do with floor plans.