Open Concept Kitchens

Yellow Team Kitchen

Both teams faced the challenge of having a fairly open kitchen space. In the Blue Team home, the kitchen is open to the dining room, but in the Yellow Team home the open-concept first floor means that the kitchen is open to the dining room and living room areas.

Open concept kitchens have several advantages:

• they can be brighter and cheerier than smaller closed off rooms
• they allow for interaction between the cook and everyone else
• they let busy parents keep an eye on kids while doing meal prep and cleaning

But with these advantages come some potential disadvantages as well:

• clutter and mess can't be hidden away so counter space and cupboards must be kept clean
• cooking noises and smells aren't contained

With an open concept kitchen you have to keep in mind the look of the entire space and create a cohesive look throughout. It can demand more discipline to keep an open concept kitchen clean and tidy all the time. It's also important to have sufficient cupboard space and beware of creating too much visual clutter. But when done well, as our two teams have, open concept kitchens are a more modern and flexible approach and provide busy families and those who like to entertain with a great space for all the things they do.