The Pros and Cons of Open Concept Kitchens

Television networks are filled with DIY home improvement shows, home remodeling series, and design-oriented reality shows. Everywhere you turn, someone somewhere is showing you how to update your kitchen, bathroom, or basement. And, of course, modern styles and trends often dictate what viewers will see. Currently, one of those popular remodeling trends is the open-concept kitchen.If you’re sick of your old, boring kitchen design and are making plans to complete a remodeling overhaul of your space, you may have taken a cue from TV and considered altering your home’s layout to include an open-concept kitchen. But, before you take a sledgehammer to those walls and rip out your cabinetry, take some time to examine the pros and cons of open-concept kitchens to determine if the change is really right for you.The Pros

• Entertaining- If you enjoy entertaining guests, an open-concept kitchen allows you to still interact with everybody in an inviting atmosphere while preparing delicious meals, snacks, and beverages that everyone can enjoy.
• Visibility- If you have young children, you understand the importance of keeping them within earshot (and a straight line-of-sight) at all times. It can be difficult to spend time in the kitchen when you can’t see your little ones in the living room or play area. An open-concept kitchen will usually give you a clear vision of everything happening around, outside of the kitchen area.
• Appealing Style- Open-concept kitchens are becoming more and more popular among home renovation trends and new construction kitchen designs. If you’re the type of person that likes to stay up with hot trends and styles, this could be the perfect way to bring your outdated home into the 21^st century. Plus, this new layout can increase your home’s marketability if you decide to sell it later on.

The Cons

• Expensive and expansive- Transforming your current kitchen layout into an open-concept design is not as simple as replacing some cabinets and repositioning your appliances. Your total kitchen overhaul could mean a complete home makeover. Will you need to replace the flooring in all adjoining rooms to make sure the look is cohesive? Will you need to repaint walls in other spaces to match your new kitchen’s look? Will you need to redecorate neighboring rooms to match the style and flow that your new kitchen will display? Because an open-concept kitchen is designed to create one large, singular space as opposed to multiple rooms that are closed off from each other, it’s important to make sure that all affected rooms have a cohesive style and design that flows throughout. The costs for these changes can really add up.
• Your Kitchen is WIDE OPEN- As convenient as it can be to have easy access to your family and guests while you work in the kitchen, there is a downside to this fact, too. Cooking is messy. It’s a trial and error process. Do you want everyone seeing that massive stack of dirty pots and pans or failed cooking attempts that fill your sink? If you’re ever forced to practice the 5-second rule, you certainly wouldn’t want people witnessing your food prep faux pas.
• Great look, Wrong architecture- When making major structural changes to any room in your house, you have to consider the physical space your house actually has. Is your house’s floor plan conducive for an open-concept kitchen? How will you create a natural divide between each separate space (i.e. kitchen, living room, dining room, etc…) without canceling out the open-concept design? The truth is, the design you pictured in your head might not work out so well in real life.
• No escape from the world- Everybody needs at least one room in their house that they can escape to in order to get away from the madness. Ever step away from the table for some dishwashing therapy during a tense dinner? When irritating family members and guests are around, the kitchen can serve as a convenient locale for that 5-minute getaway for some peace and quiet. Sadly, an open-concept kitchen eliminates your hiding space, leaving you stuck in the middle of the chaos.

The decision to completely overhaul your kitchen and integrate a new design is not one that should be taken lightly; and, it definitely shouldn’t be made because you saw something on HGTV. Take the time to sit and talk with a kitchen remodeling professional to determine if an open-concept design is a viable option for your upcoming kitchen upgrade. Getting the right information up front can help you prevent some very costly mistakes once you get started.Interested in remodeling your metro-Detroit area kitchen? The answers to your questions are just a click away. Fill out the online form today and schedule a no-obligation appointment with our experts at Kurtis Kitchen & Bath. We’re committed to offering innovative designs with the highest level of service and quality to each of our customers, and want to transform your kitchen into a space you can enjoy for years to come.Remake or remodel your bathroom and/or kitchen today with Kurtis Kitchen & Bath. Find us online at https://www.kurtiskitchen.com/, visit our showrooms in Clarkston, Livonia, Royal Oak, Woodhaven, and Utica MI, or call us at 1-888-Kurtis-1.