The open floor plan has been highly sought out by many home buyers over the last decade. They first appeared in the 1950s as a trend toward more contemporary styling. Right now almost all newer homes have open floorplans in the main living areas.
An open floor plan is simply a floorplan that has removed interior walls that would divide rooms. Most often it is the walls in the main living spaces between the kitchen, dining, and living room that are removed for open floor plan homes today.
Is an open floor plan the right style of home for you and your everyday lifestyle?
Here are some things to consider about open floor plans beyond the ability to more easily entertain guests to consider before you buy.
Less Privacy
Open floor plans that do not offer more than one living/hang-out space leave family members to have to retreat to their bedrooms for privacy. If you have kids that are sharing rooms this could become even more troublesome for them to find some space to be alone if they need it. Whether in the kitchen, living room, or dining area privacy becomes more rare with an open floor plan.
No Cooking Privacy with Guests Over
When entertaining not every cook wants their guests hanging out and watching them while they are preparing the meal. Some cooks prefer to do the work of preparing a meal in quiet as it can be stressful to prepare a meal for several people. If this is you an open kitchen for dinner parties may become a hated part of the home.
Related: Hidden Costs to Buying a Home for the First Time
Food Odors More Easily Travel Through the Home
You may love the smell of a certain dish while you are cooking it, but may not necessarily want to smell it all through the home or enjoy it lingering in the living room for hours or getting into the upholstery of your sofa to stay until you get it cleaned. Open floor plans help kitchen smells to spread more easily through the home.
Harder to Childproof
If you have small children and would like to childproof certain areas that have safety concerns for curious little ones, an open concept makes it more difficult to do. Some open floorplan homeowners of toddlers for example wish it was easier to block access to the kitchen while they are cooking.
Harder to Keep Tidy
Larger spaces require more frequent cleaning as you can see everything from anywhere in the room. So that pile of dishes in the sink is visible from the living room as is the homework and laptop on the dining table which is being used for virtual classes. Having one large open space and keeping it clean means keeping it all clean. It is also harder to conceal or contain the mess if someone drops by.
Of course, there are many great reasons to have an open floor plan and that includes the ability to see what your kids are doing while cooking, the feel of having a larger home without having to pay for a larger home, the ease of turning on the tv and watching your favorite show while baking, and more.
As people have spent more and more time inside their homes during the pandemic some homeowners are realizing they might like a home with less of an open floor plan while others are hoping to find a home with an open floor plan that feels airy and open.
For more information on homes for sale in Avon please contact us any time or for help buying a home in Central Indiana please contact us any time. We would love to help you find a home you love in today’s sellers’ market.
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