I also think that the sliding door is a good compromise between open and closed. The client is uncertain; what should we advise? Even if everyone recommends open, it can be wrong.
Folding walls would be a bit more elaborate - this also requires more space and budget. There are some great systems for this in the commercial sector.
Floor-to-ceiling sliding doors would also create significantly more connection and openness. We are also planning an open design with an island and a pantry where the really tricky appliances like Thermomix, Bosch MUM, etc. can operate in seclusion.
We once had an open kitchen in a rental apartment. I never wanted that, but due to the housing shortage, we had to take the apartment. I never want to have that again. Sounds from kitchen appliances, smells. No thanks. In the house, we have a closed kitchen again, thank God!
Clearly a closed kitchen.
We lived with an open kitchen ourselves for a good 10 years and on every vacation in DK we have one, and I just find it annoying.
It's not even the supposed mess or the smells that bother me. What really annoys me is, for example, when I'm sitting comfortably in the living room with a coffee and book/while watching a movie and just then the husband or the teens get ravenously hungry and turn on the stove, sizzling noise and clattering plates included, open kitchen, honestly, depending on my mood – closed kitchen, door shut and everyone has their peace ^^
Our kitchen is big enough that we can cook with friends or hang out together, but if you don't want that, I just close the door tight.
Interestingly, all our friends/family are also cured of open kitchens, only one family consciously decided on an open kitchen again in their new house.
So everyone does what feels right for them; you just have to be happy with it yourself, no matter what others say.
Yes, that's how we see it too. In our case, the pets come into play, whom I can now keep out again thanks to the kitchen door, for example when I'm cooking or when I have a piece of meat on the counter. If one person wants to watch TV in the evening, another is loading the dishwasher or cooking or the kids are grabbing something – I really don't need to hear all of that directly. And I think the smells are the main argument against an open kitchen. Personally, I don’t like still smelling in the living room the next day what I cooked the day before^^. And I really don’t want to smell the cat food in the living room when it’s freshly served. I absolutely can’t understand the hype around open kitchens.