What do you hate that most people like? - Bilge

W woofmutt Member Seattilite Telstar Joined: Mar 26, 2002 Posts: 2639	W woofmutt Posted posted on Tue, Jun 15, 2010 7:24 AM Open kitchens in homes. (Where the kitchen is not a separate room but open to the dining room and/or other rooms.) I "see" (have on in the background) a fair amount of remodeling and home based shows and over and over and over again the people have either remodeled to get rid of the walls that separate their kitchens or walk into a traditional kitchen and announce "Oh, I hate that the kitchen is so closed off from the rest of the house..." Which is exactly why I like a closed off kitchen. To me the kitchen is like the garage or shop or studio: It's a place to make or work on things which are then taken out of the kitchen to be used elsewhere. Another reason I like a traditional kitchen: I hate lingering food smells in the house. Yeah, it's nice to come into a house and smell good food cooking, but it's depressing to have the front room still smell like lasagna the next day. Or fish. Or burned rice. In Woofmutt's Dream House the kitchen is at the back of the house in a separate little building. The other good reason for a closed off kitchen: It can be a complete mess even while you're having a party. You just close the door. The main reason the boring TV people usually cite for liking the open kitchen layout is that when they "entertain" (as if these dullards could ever be entertaining) or have a party "everyone always ends up in the kitchen! Ha-ha-ha!" Occasionally they say it with an "I don't know why!" Hey dumb TV house couple! If you did not intend for everyone to gather in the kitchen and you don't know why they do you're probably not capable of reading anything more than the TV Guide but I'll explain it to you anyway. Everyone gathers in your kitchen because... You're in there still cooking when the party has begun. The food is in there. Everyone else is in there because you, the food, and everyone else is in there. If it remains mysterious to you as to why everyone ends up in the kitchen try this simple experiment at your next party: Put all the food, drinks, and yourself in the dining room or rec room or back patio. See where everyone ends up. What I find most amusing about the open kitchen design is that it's essentially the design of most studio apartments and trailer houses, neither of them being housing options that people usually get excited about. When I see one of the dull TV couple walk into a big open layout house and they ooh and aah and coo "We love the open layout!" I like to add "It looks just like a triple wide!" Also amusing: As design trends go there's a good chance one of the most popular remodeling trends of the 2020s and on will be closing the kitchen off from the rest of the house so it isn't so open and in your face. DISCLAIMERS: I completely understand the appeal of the open kitchen layout, I just don't care for it myself. In many cases it's clearly the ideal option. I never walk into someone's house, see an open kitchen layout and think "What a dumb idea."* The thing I'll probably most notice in a home is a complete lack of anything interesting. I'm not against the idea of using the kitchen as an entertainment hub. If that is the intent it's fine, if it keeps happening by accident and you're confused as to why...See above. *Oh wait, I did once. But this was the home of a budget blind interior designer with fairly lousy taste. (She wasn't a friend, she was working on a friend's house.) Her house looked like a double wide inside.

Open kitchens in homes. (Where the kitchen is not a separate room but open to the dining room and/or other rooms.)

I "see" (have on in the background) a fair amount of remodeling and home based shows and over and over and over again the people have either remodeled to get rid of the walls that separate their kitchens or walk into a traditional kitchen and announce "Oh, I hate that the kitchen is so closed off from the rest of the house..."

Which is exactly why I like a closed off kitchen. To me the kitchen is like the garage or shop or studio: It's a place to make or work on things which are then taken out of the kitchen to be used elsewhere.

Another reason I like a traditional kitchen: I hate lingering food smells in the house. Yeah, it's nice to come into a house and smell good food cooking, but it's depressing to have the front room still smell like lasagna the next day. Or fish. Or burned rice. In Woofmutt's Dream House the kitchen is at the back of the house in a separate little building.

The other good reason for a closed off kitchen: It can be a complete mess even while you're having a party. You just close the door.

The main reason the boring TV people usually cite for liking the open kitchen layout is that when they "entertain" (as if these dullards could ever be entertaining) or have a party "everyone always ends up in the kitchen! Ha-ha-ha!" Occasionally they say it with an "I don't know why!"

Hey dumb TV house couple! If you did not intend for everyone to gather in the kitchen and you don't know why they do you're probably not capable of reading anything more than the TV Guide but I'll explain it to you anyway. Everyone gathers in your kitchen because...

You're in there still cooking when the party has begun.
The food is in there.
Everyone else is in there because you, the food, and everyone else is in there.

If it remains mysterious to you as to why everyone ends up in the kitchen try this simple experiment at your next party: Put all the food, drinks, and yourself in the dining room or rec room or back patio. See where everyone ends up.

What I find most amusing about the open kitchen design is that it's essentially the design of most studio apartments and trailer houses, neither of them being housing options that people usually get excited about. When I see one of the dull TV couple walk into a big open layout house and they ooh and aah and coo "We love the open layout!" I like to add "It looks just like a triple wide!"

Also amusing: As design trends go there's a good chance one of the most popular remodeling trends of the 2020s and on will be closing the kitchen off from the rest of the house so it isn't so open and in your face.

DISCLAIMERS:

I completely understand the appeal of the open kitchen layout, I just don't care for it myself. In many cases it's clearly the ideal option.

I never walk into someone's house, see an open kitchen layout and think "What a dumb idea."* The thing I'll probably most notice in a home is a complete lack of anything interesting.

I'm not against the idea of using the kitchen as an entertainment hub. If that is the intent it's fine, if it keeps happening by accident and you're confused as to why...See above.

*Oh wait, I did once. But this was the home of a budget blind interior designer with fairly lousy taste. (She wasn't a friend, she was working on a friend's house.) Her house looked like a double wide inside.

Post #536372 by woofmutt on Tue, Jun 15, 2010 7:24 AM