Kitchen South Wall
The Case for the Closed Kitchen:
"Closed kitchens are actually more efficient for cooking b/c the distances are shorter. Smells are contained. Ventilation is a huge problem, particularly in modern, tightly sealed energy efficient homes. Not separating cooking, living, & dining is an acoustical nightmare, esp in today’s style of interior design, which avoids carpet, curtains, & other soft goods that absorb sound. This is esp true of homes that don't have separate formal living & dining spaces but one single continuous space. Nothing is more maddening than trying to read or watch TV in the tall-ceilinged living room w/ someone banging pots & pans or using the food processor 10' away in the open kitchen. Kitchens used to be closed off to avoid the psychological effects of seeing leftovers, plates, bowls, washing-up clothes & other items lying around. Today, the kitchen isn’t even functioning as a kitchen- according to research, less than 60% of American meals are actually made at home, only 24% of meals are made from scratch, & 42% of meals are eaten alone. But the average fridge is opened 40 Xs per day; the kitchen is just a grazing pasture now. What has happened in the last 50yrs is that we have outsourced our cooking; first to frozen & prepared foods, then to fresh prepared foods that you buy in the supermarket, & now trending to online ordering. The kitchen has evolved from a place where you cook to a place where most people just do the warming. Designing homes around “entertaining” that happens only a handful of times a year is a wasteful yet mindbogglingly popular practice."
www.treehugger.com/kitchen-design/case-closed-kitchen.html
I couldn't agree more, that is why I designed my house w/ the kitchen separate from the living & dining area. I don't want to see all the dirty dishes from dinner when I'm sitting on the couch binge watching Netflix :P
Kitchen South Wall
The Case for the Closed Kitchen:
"Closed kitchens are actually more efficient for cooking b/c the distances are shorter. Smells are contained. Ventilation is a huge problem, particularly in modern, tightly sealed energy efficient homes. Not separating cooking, living, & dining is an acoustical nightmare, esp in today’s style of interior design, which avoids carpet, curtains, & other soft goods that absorb sound. This is esp true of homes that don't have separate formal living & dining spaces but one single continuous space. Nothing is more maddening than trying to read or watch TV in the tall-ceilinged living room w/ someone banging pots & pans or using the food processor 10' away in the open kitchen. Kitchens used to be closed off to avoid the psychological effects of seeing leftovers, plates, bowls, washing-up clothes & other items lying around. Today, the kitchen isn’t even functioning as a kitchen- according to research, less than 60% of American meals are actually made at home, only 24% of meals are made from scratch, & 42% of meals are eaten alone. But the average fridge is opened 40 Xs per day; the kitchen is just a grazing pasture now. What has happened in the last 50yrs is that we have outsourced our cooking; first to frozen & prepared foods, then to fresh prepared foods that you buy in the supermarket, & now trending to online ordering. The kitchen has evolved from a place where you cook to a place where most people just do the warming. Designing homes around “entertaining” that happens only a handful of times a year is a wasteful yet mindbogglingly popular practice."
www.treehugger.com/kitchen-design/case-closed-kitchen.html
I couldn't agree more, that is why I designed my house w/ the kitchen separate from the living & dining area. I don't want to see all the dirty dishes from dinner when I'm sitting on the couch binge watching Netflix :P