Closed or open kitchen?

Hello!

Actually.... we have already decided how our kitchen should connect to the dining area. But who knows, maybe you still have the ultimate tips or ideas

In our place, the kitchen and the dining area of the living room will be next to each other. The shared wall (if it were to be built) would be 3.50m wide.

Basically, there are two extremes:

1. Closed kitchen, meaning just with a regular door.
+ no kitchen smells or less in the living area
+ no disturbing appearance (for example, if you have guests, they cannot see how you messed up the kitchen before)
+ more wall, so more space for placing things in the kitchen
- whoever is in the kitchen is practically out of the action (the space for a kitchen-living room with a dining table is not enough for us)
- the living area feels more cramped

2. Fully open kitchen, for example, with a countertop or stove facing the dining area
+ visually nicer, more spacious
+ partly shorter distances (just reach over, no constant running through the small door when clearing the table)
- smell nuisance
- sometimes visually disturbing (see above)

We have now arrived at a compromise: A sliding door is supposed to separate the kitchen and dining area, and so that it can stay open permanently, it will be recessed into two wall sections on the left and right. So about half of the width is usually open but can be closed if needed. The only downside is that we lose space for work surfaces and cabinets in the kitchen. Due to two windows and the door to the hallway, space on the walls is already tight anyway...

What do you think about this solution? Are there any brilliant ideas that we haven’t considered yet?

Thanks and best regards,
Christiane

I personally would never have an open kitchen, because especially when you have guests or cook particularly odorous dishes, you are very glad to be able to separate the eating and cooking areas. The idea with the sliding door is not bad. Why do you need two windows in the kitchen?

Hi,

one side faces south and at the same time towards the street and access path to the house. So an area you want to overlook, plus then the south sun falls into the kitchen. The other side faces east, and I just love the morning sun When you stumble sleepily into the kitchen in the morning and the first sun rays are already flashing through the shutter... that always puts me in a better mood

With the sliding door that is recessed, it’s just annoying that about half the width has to be wall to accommodate the door. Theoretically there are also sliding doors that you can slide into each other or in front of each other, like in many showers. But the ones we have found so far are just too expensive...

Regards, Christiane

Hello Azalee,

this is a matter of personal attitude towards life, which everyone should decide for themselves.

I personally prefer an open kitchen, as Dr. Alfred Bioleck calls it, a post-cozilian kitchen. The cook looks over the stove towards the people, that is, towards the dining area. This has the great advantage that the cook is not locked away and can continue to talk with guests sitting at the dining table while cooking.

For our house, we planned and executed it as follows:

Open kitchen (approx. 2.75 x 3.50m) with adjoining dining area (approx. 4.00 x 4.75m). Here stands the large dining table (1.00 x 2.20m) with space for about 8 people. From the dining area, we have an open passageway (approx. 2.00m) to the adjacent living room.

I do not find kitchen smells unpleasant; no, to me they are rather appetite stimulating, especially with a nice glass of wine. But as I said, it’s all a matter of opinion.

Regards, Danton

Hm... actually, we do prefer the open version. We only want to close the sliding door in "emergencies," so that you have the feeling of being secured...

Could a raised kind of pass-through prevent the view straight into the kitchen? So that the actual passage only has a normal door width?

Hello Azalee,

what dimensions should the actual kitchen and the dining area have?
And the questions are: Should no one be able to look into the kitchen and why? The kitchen is after all a workplace where things sometimes get left lying around.
Do you want to make life unnecessarily difficult by blocking free paths?
In smaller rooms, partitions make the space seem even smaller. That then has nothing to do with a spacious open kitchen.

Best regards, Danton