So this was in the Boston globe, and if I hadn’t read it myself I would have thought it was an Onion article. The lady wants walls again because now when she is working in the kitchen, her husband is in full view sitting watching TV and doing nothing. When they had walls, she was basically less aware of how ignored she was while being a hard-working woman and housewife. They don’t need walls, they need a marriage counselor.
Okay, but also: the walls are there for a reason.
In particular, the kitchen walls are there so that you can leave the kitchen messy when entertaining guests or having a meal (to the point that some open floor concept homes have a second, secret kitchen called a mess kitchen). The walls of the kitchen confine smells to the kitchen area, so your sofa doesn’t smell of bacon. Mess spreads from room to room.
Noise too, travels in an open floor concept. You’re confined to a bedroom or outside to make phone calls, listen to podcasts, etc. etc. without disturbing the rest of the household. The minute someone needs to cook? The entire house becomes unusable.
Open floor concepts have higher heating (cuz drafty) and cooling (kitchen) costs. They also require ALL of your decor to match if that’s a thing that’s important to you.
The noise and mess spreading in particular seem to me they could exacerbate marital problems. Do they need counseling? Oh yeah. Does the house make for a less hospitable home, that puts stress on a marriage? Yes.
my GOD does sound carry in an open floor plan.
The only doors in my house are the ones to bedrooms, bathrooms, closets. And when I’m in my first floor bedroom, even with the door closed, I can hear everything that goes on in the living room and kitchen, and half of what goes on in the dining room. I hate it.
the absolute funniest revelation in this article is that open floor plans took off because of home renovation shows, and the reason every home renovation show did an open floor plan is because they thought smashing walls down with sledgehammers would appeal to male viewers. that’s it. that’s the only reason.
I am Silver Tongue, I am an artist. I have many characters and you can check out my art in the art tag. I occasionally practice witchcraft though I don't do anything too complicated. I am girl 2 and don't know what else to put here.