What is an open kitchen?
As its name implies, an open kitchen refers to a cooking place where walls and obstacles are limited, aiming to create a widened space. Obviously, it is the result of the integration of the kitchen and other surrounding areas such as the living room, dining room, backyard, or garden into a large room/space.
The open-concept kitchen appeared in the late 19th century and became more popular in the mid-20th century, especially in the United States. Along with the bloom of minimalism, the open kitchen concept still be a good choice for modern life
Read more: Grey And White Kitchen Ideas
The benefits and drawbacks of an open kitchen
The benefits of exposed kitchen
Convenience for movement
There is no doubt that accessibility and movement will be easier with a kitchen following the open space concept. The fewer barriers and walls, the more convenience in cooking, preparing, and serving food. Therefore, the combination of the dining room and kitchen is very popular because of their function. Sometimes, the dining area can temporarily become a place to prepare food for parties. On the other hand, there are some designs that connect the kitchen to the garden where is full of fruits, vegetables, or spices. It will be very convenient because they can be harvested and moved directly to the kitchen for cooking or processing. The integration of the kitchen and backyard will benefit BBQ parties, the time for BBQ party preparation or cleaning will be shortened and people will have more time for digging and chatting.
For me, an idea that can create an open space among the dining room, backyard, and garden is the best idea ever. The kitchen will be the center area surrounded by these areas.
The feeling of expansive space.
The elimination of the walls and barriers will absolutely create a large space for your house. It is very suitable for a small house or apartment. The open space created by the kitchen, living room, and dining room is very popular in medium-sized apartments. By eliminating walls, there is an uninterrupted line of sight throughout the living areas. It creates a sense of continuity and makes the apartment feel more expansive while the area of that apartment is not changed.
Natural light for the health
Open kitchens often allow more natural light to flow into the space. If there are windows in the nearby areas, the light can easily penetrate the kitchen without any obstruction from walls or barriers. Increased natural light has a significant impact on people’s health such as boosting vitamin D, reducing stress or depression, and killing disease-causing bacteria,…
Increase in face-to-face interaction.
The open concept also brings people or family members closer due to no more separation of obstacles. There will be more talks and social interaction during cooking and preparing food. It will be easier to commute to each other from the kitchen to another room where the wall was eliminated. Sometimes, when the homeowner opens a party, the stage of preparing and cooking food will be more interesting because people can talk, chat, and interact with others while they are working. Finally, it makes the house more lively, bustling, and cozier than a house which has a closed floor plan
The drawbacks of an unenclosed kitchen
Offensive smell
It’s not hard to recognize the smell as a disadvantage of the open kitchen. The house can be totally full of food smells when someone is cooking in the kitchen, especially for heavy-smelling dishes. Furthermore, furniture made of fabric or cotton can easily absorb the smell of food and the situation will become worse if there is some foods are burned in the kitchen.
Unpleasant noise
Noise is another drawback the homeowner has to consider before designing an open kitchen. It is easy to understand that as the space becomes larger, the sound will be louder. Only a small sound in the kitchen can become a loud sound when heard from the living or dining room. Let’s imagine that there are some people watching television or sleeping on the sofa, but the sound from pots, bowls, dishes… hitting together and making them feel bothered while enjoying the TV shows or having a sweet sleep.
Regular cleaning
The open-concept kitchen, especially between the kitchen and living room, also forces the homeowner to always notice whether the kitchen is messy. Because of no walls and barriers, visitors can draw their eyes directly to the kitchen instantly when they have the first step into the living room. Therefore, if the homeowner wants his guests to be stunned by the open concept of the house, he has to ensure that everything is clean and neat. However, in an open kitchen, cabinets or drawers may be eliminated to create more space, which leads to a lack of storage space for cooking tools, pots, and dinnerware. Consequently, the kitchen will easily get messy and cluttered.
The principles for building a kitchen with open-concept
Open layout
Open layout plays a crucial role in building an open kitchen. It will be meaningless if there is an open kitchen which evokes a feeling of narrow or limited space. Therefore, the walls or barriers have to be eliminated enough to create a widened space between the kitchen and surrounding spaces. Along with spaciousness, convenient movement has to be ensured between rooms or function areas.
Natural light
Natural light is one of the essential elements in designing an open-concept kitchen. With the natural light, the sense of spaciousness will be enhanced significantly and the brightness of the kitchen will be optimized, which helps the monthly electric bill decrease.
Functional zones
Because there are no walls to separate the space into function rooms. Thus, the homeowner has to draw down the functional zone logically before building the kitchen to ensure a convenient working flow as well as a beautiful open concept. The logical functional-zone separation will help improve the speed of food preparation, cooking, or cleaning and neatness of the kitchen.
Storage solutions
Storage will be a big problem for a cooking lover or a big family due to a large amount of dinnerware and cooking tools. Therefore, storage optimization is very necessary for an open kitchen where some storage places can be removed to create an open concept. Some storage solutions can be considered to help the kitchen neater such as multi-drawer cabinets, vertical storage, or pantry area…
Seamless transitions
The sense of spaciousness also comes from the consistency among the kitchen and adjoining areas in paint color, design element, and floor patent. For colors, bright colors are highly recommended because they evoke the feeling of a large space. However, if there is an overwhelm of bright colors, it will make the kitchen dazzle. Minimal design elements and no-texture or simple texture patents should be considered for the open kitchen too.
Proper ventilation
As discussed above, the smell is a disadvantage of the open-concept kitchen. Thus building a high-quality ventilation system is a smart choice to limit the smell, smoke, odors, or heat generated during cooking. Proper ventilation promotes a comfortable and healthy environment within the open kitchen space.
Flexible seating
Flexible seating options will help the kitchen have a balance of space creation and functionality. The homeowner can set up bar stools on the kitchen island or lightweight chairs for the dining table. These stools or chairs can be removed to create a wider space if it is necessary, or changed for functional area creation.
Consider acoustics
To eliminate the annoying sounds from the kitchen, the homeowner can apply acoustic treatments such as sound-absorbing materials, rugs, or curtains. However, he should not abuse them to much, because they will help to minimize the noise but their material is an ideal place for mold or unpleasant smell to linger.
Some open kitchen concept ideas for your reference
Open Kitchen With Island And Bar Seating
The kitchen island not only helps the kitchen have a widened look but also is a functional area. A kitchen island with some bar seating around will be a good place for eating, drinking, and preparing food. Sometimes, it will be a place for working, studying, and entertaining.
Large Windows or Glass Walls For Exposed Kitchen
There is no doubt that natural light will make a place look larger and brighter. Therefore, let the kitchen dive into the natural light from windows or glass walls.
Double-Sided Fireplace For A Cozy Open Kitchen
There is an idea to suit nations having freezing winters, which is a double-sided fireplace. The kitchen and another room such as the living room or dining room will share the fireplace together. Besides, the fireplace will ensure that the sight from the kitchen can easily go through it to the shared fireplace room.
Unclosed Kitchen And Open Shelving Dividers
There is a similar idea with the double-sided fireplace above but everyone can apply it without the weather consideration. It has the same formula as the double-sided fireplace but now is the double-sided shelf.
Hidden Appliances For A Seamless Open Kitchen
White paint color, natural light, and hidden appliances are a perfect combo for the spacious sense. Thus, hidden appliances will create a seamless sight for the kitchen. The appliances will be out of sight because they are hidden in the cabinet or covered by the same surrounding pattern. Finally, there will be nothing to distract the eyes from the overall view of the kitchen, which invokes the larger kitchen feeling.
Modern Open Kitchen With Peninsula
If the kitchen lacks space for the kitchen island idea, let’s consider the kitchen peninsula. The peninsula has similar functions as the island and it is usually near the entrance to the kitchen. So that, it can help widen the sight into the kitchen and make the space opener.
Mirrors For Kitchen Space Duplication
We can not deny the fact that the mirrors will reflect the light which makes the kitchen brighter and wider. Moreover, it also evokes a spacious feeling because of its image reflection feature. There are some ideas that can help the kitchen look larger such as mirror/glass-door cabinets or mirror backsplash as in the picture above.