Do you have an open plan in your house? Before you answer, “Yes,”
think about this: I just recently learned that today’s version of “open plan” is
a single, multi-functional room containing living space, dining area and
kitchen, all in one. Did you know this? If you did, you must be paying
attention to domestic design trends more closely than I am!
I had not seen this type of floor plan until recently when
we visited a Homearama here in
Dayton. I’ve been under the impression for years that an “open plan” meant a free-flowing
combination living and dining room, or it meant kitchen and family room
arranged as a single open space. I wasn’t aware that “they” had done away with
any enclosures around these rooms altogether. I also hadn’t realized that
entire rooms had been eliminated in the process. I’m not sure I like where
this is heading.
In case Homearama
is unfamiliar to you, this is a term coined (locally?) to describe a showcase
of newly built developers’ homes, all tarted up, excuse me, “STAGED” by decorators
and ready for viewing and sale. Usually these exhibitions of the newest in home
design, oversized furniture and excessive quantities of dried flowers, are set
in new developments in remote, far-flung suburbs. This recent Homearama was unique because of its
location in a more urban setting, i.e., a reclaimed tract of land in our very
own neighborhood, a five minute drive from the city core. We HAD to go. It
would have been un-neighborly not to.
We encountered “open plan” in the first house we viewed. A large kitchen dominated the first floor, spatially
defined by a substantial island with requisite granite counter top and
stainless steel appliances. A zone containing couches, chairs, fireplace and
flat screen TV flowed into kitchen and dining area in a zen-like confluence. A
master bedroom opened almost directly from these spaces. I did a quick scan of
the room and then it dawned: Wait a sec! Where’s the living room? Where’s the
dining room? They don’t exist as separate entities! This isn’t the family room
of old – this is IT! I surmised that this was what they call a “Great Room.”
It was then that I understood what I’ve seen time and time
again on HGTV: homeowners seeking “nice big open plans for entertaining.” They are apparently looking for this
arrangement. They all seem to romanticize the notion of having guests gather
around the granite island perched upon bar stools quaffing wine and laughing
gaily while their host deftly tosses salad and plates dinners that look like they
are prepared by a Michelin Star chef.
Now, I don’t mind the family room/kitchen combo, because “family
room” implies that only the closest of relatives and dear friends are welcomed
there. Or I can accept an open living/dining room arrangement. But I don’t
think anyone is thinking clearly if they desire this exposed-to-company kitchen
concept. I’m a reasonable cook, but I like my privacy. I’ve had enough mishaps in the throes of
preparing a meal that I’d just as soon keep that to myself, thank you very
much! Give me a kitchen that’s off-limits to all non-essential personnel.
Don’t judge me! You can’t tell me that you haven’t had
moments of sheer panic preparing a meal. Like when your roasted Brussels sprouts
go just a bit too long at 400° and you catch their charred remains
just before they burst into flame. Or a lemon sponge that falls so flat it becomes
a sauce. I like a kitchen separated from guests who await the arrival of the
meal at the table. I can take a deep breath, swing open my Hazel door¹
and calmly, with poise and quiet grace, never let on that I cut a corner off
the roast where the dog licked it.
No, I don’t approve of the open plan. And I hate to think what’s
coming next. If you study the history of interior design², you will know that today’s
open planning concepts (originated by Frank Lloyd Wright, by the way) derived as
an antidote to tightly corseted Victorian parlors and subterranean kitchens,
which developed out of room upon room manor houses, which, if you look far
enough back, came out of the Middle Ages when dining, lounging and sleeping
all took place in the same vast room. Now I ask you. Are we on our way to
repeating history? If this open planning trend continues will we one day eat
our meals, entertain our guests and then take to our beds all in one open room?
Loft apartments are already there. I’m not sure I’m ready for this.
Although, breakfast in bed would take on whole new meaning.
² Home: A Short History of an Idea; Witold
Rybczynski; Penguin Books, 1986.
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