Open plan or seperate rooms

[Timewalker]

I like open plans aesthetically, but I also like wall space for furniture, which it makes somewhat more difficult to do.

Furniture can be placed elsewhere than against the walls...

Eh, that just strikes me as an inefficient use of space. It's segmenting things off rather than creating room. I accept it's an inevitability in some floor plans where you have to have a sofa in essentially the middle of the room, but it's not at all my preference.

It's also a terrible idea for things like bookshelves, TV stands, etc.

It's an excellent use of space for my purposes.

 

[Owain Taggart]

Open plan is this thing people who never had teenagers made up. It looks sweet. The reality is awful, AWFUL.

This. When my Grandfather passed away, my Grandparent's house got sold to a renovator who flipped it for profit, but not before renovating it to an open plan. This was a house originally built in the 60's. We saw some pictures of the renovations and while it looked elegant, it didn't look as practical.

We visited two house lottery homes this fall, and both used similar concepts. The big ticket home that most normally go for was horrible with some very questionable design decisions, including a master bathroom exiting off the kitchen; to exit the bathroom you had to walk across the doorway overlooking the kitchen to get to the master bedroom. It lacked a lot of privacy.

The second house was much better, less expensive a ticket and had more of an effort for giving much needed privacy. But the new trend both houses had were the main entryway being located in the basement, which meant a trip up two flights of stairs to get to the living-room/kitchen and the rest of the house.

 

[Mary Ann]

I wonder if several years from now the trend will move away from extreme open plan living and people will start erecting walls again. If nothing else it would cut down on heating bills.

 

[Tom Hendricks]

Open plan is this thing people who never had teenagers made up. It looks sweet. The reality is awful, AWFUL.

This. When my Grandfather passed away, my Grandparent's house got sold to a renovator who flipped it for profit, but not before renovating it to an open plan. This was a house originally built in the 60's. We saw some pictures of the renovations and while it looked elegant, it didn't look as practical.

We visited two house lottery homes this fall, and both used similar concepts. The big ticket home that most normally go for was horrible with some very questionable design decisions, including a master bathroom exiting off the kitchen; to exit the bathroom you had to walk across the doorway overlooking the kitchen to get to the master bedroom. It lacked a lot of privacy.

The second house was much better, less expensive a ticket and had more of an effort for giving much needed privacy. But the new trend both houses had were the main entryway being located in the basement, which meant a trip up two flights of stairs to get to the living-room/kitchen and the rest of the house.

Can you explain this House Lottery thingy?

 

[Timewalker]

To raise money, hospitals and service clubs sell tickets to a fancy house. There are other prizes as well, but the house is the main thing. Winners can either choose to live in it or sell it.

 

[Owain Taggart]

Yeah, something like that. Around here, there are always two different organizations doing their own. And you normally either win the house or some of the other things like a vehicle if you come in 2nd or 3rd or so, and you can always elect to for money instead if you win the house. They're always around this time of year, with the drawing done in the new year.

Normally, the first house is the big ticket item, with tickets going at $100 each. Last year, we thought the house was OK, but this year we thought it wasn't a very well designed house. And to top it off, they seemed to have downsized a bit and weren't offering any other prizes such as vehicles to be won. Overall, not as appealing as it used to be. The upstairs/living area also had windows pretty much all around it, which felt like an Air Traffic Control Center. The kitchen was designed to be a central gathering area, with a stove you could do cooking on from either side of the counter so that you could entertain or watch TV while cooking, with the TV in the living-room. Aside from that TV, there were no other ones.

Then we waited for the second house; a better designed one with tickets for $50, and overall a more appealing package with more on offer to be won. And in contrast, this house did have a home-theatre room with a bar, something the other lacked.

Mostly though, it's fun to visit them and see what kind of trends are emerging. Last year, both houses featured heated floors, which are very nice during the winter months.

 

[Alidar Jarok]

Furniture can be placed elsewhere than against the walls...

Eh, that just strikes me as an inefficient use of space. It's segmenting things off rather than creating room. I accept it's an inevitability in some floor plans where you have to have a sofa in essentially the middle of the room, but it's not at all my preference.

It's also a terrible idea for things like bookshelves, TV stands, etc.

It's an excellent use of space for my purposes.

Good for you?

 

[Timewalker]

Eh, that just strikes me as an inefficient use of space. It's segmenting things off rather than creating room. I accept it's an inevitability in some floor plans where you have to have a sofa in essentially the middle of the room, but it's not at all my preference.

It's also a terrible idea for things like bookshelves, TV stands, etc.

It's an excellent use of space for my purposes.

Good for you?

Considering that I own several thousand books, I need to find creative ways to fit them all in, given that I don't want to put holes in the walls to attach shelves there.

 

[TEACAKE'S PLEATHER DOME]

I have chucked out/given away most of my books.

I am free now. Before that they were like some womb lining building up all around me, confining and smothering.

 

[Mary Ann]

When new books come into the house old books are donated to charity shops. We have nowhere to place yet another bookcase, so the in/out rule applies. We downsized our book collection a few years back and now have less than 1000.

 

[Alidar Jarok]

It's an excellent use of space for my purposes.

Good for you?

Considering that I own several thousand books, I need to find creative ways to fit them all in, given that I don't want to put holes in the walls to attach shelves there.

You would agree that not everyone has the same needs as you do, right?

 

[Timewalker]

Good for you?

Considering that I own several thousand books, I need to find creative ways to fit them all in, given that I don't want to put holes in the walls to attach shelves there.

You would agree that not everyone has the same needs as you do, right?

Where did I say they do?

 

[Amaris]

It's an excellent use of space for my purposes.

Good for you?

Considering that I own several thousand books, I need to find creative ways to fit them all in, given that I don't want to put holes in the walls to attach shelves there.

With lots of books, you could turn your open plan house into a library.

Or am I the only one who thinks that would be awesome?

 

[Mr. Laser Beam]

I guess I'm not a romantic when it comes to books - I buy them all on Kindle now, and I'd happily replace all the books I already have with Kindle format if I could afford it. I'm only concerned with the material within, not the actual feel of the book. I'm all-digital and proud of it.

 

[Amaris]

I guess I'm not a romantic when it comes to books - I buy them all on Kindle now, and I'd happily replace all the books I already have with Kindle format if I could afford it. I'm only concerned with the material within, not the actual feel of the book. I'm all-digital and proud of it.

I have about 2000 Kindle books, and 115 physical books. The nice thing about the Kindle is that those 2000 books only take up the space of a single magazine.

 

[Pondwater]

Or am I the only one who thinks that would be awesome?

Totally awesome!

 

[Timewalker]

Good for you?

Considering that I own several thousand books, I need to find creative ways to fit them all in, given that I don't want to put holes in the walls to attach shelves there.

With lots of books, you could turn your open plan house into a library.

Or am I the only one who thinks that would be awesome?

I recently saw a Library Bookcase Chair on the Etsy site that has built-in bookshelves. It's an armchair, comes in a variety of fabrics, and costs nearly $3000 CDN. If my dad was still well and at home and able to build stuff, I'd get him to make me some (he used to make lots of different kinds of custom furniture, including most of the bookshelves I own).

I guess I'm not a romantic when it comes to books - I buy them all on Kindle now, and I'd happily replace all the books I already have with Kindle format if I could afford it. I'm only concerned with the material within, not the actual feel of the book. I'm all-digital and proud of it.

A lot of my books aren't available on Kindle and I doubt they ever will be.

I do have a Kindle, but most of what I've got on it is either free or very inexpensive. If I'm going to pay money for my reading material, I want it to be something I know is there, that doesn't depend on electricity or batteries to work.

 

[SPCTRE]

Open plan is this thing people who never had teenagers made up. It looks sweet. The reality is awful, AWFUL.

Yes. And masturbation? Really awkward.

 

[Mary Ann]

A lot of my books aren't available on Kindle and I doubt they ever will be.

This is the situation I'm in as well. A large chunk of our books are non-fiction, and several of them are old second-hand ones that have been out of print for years. The chances of them being released on Kindle are zilch. The idea when I bought the Kindle was that fiction books would go on there and the bookshelves be used mostly for non-fiction. It's mostly gone to plan though I do succumb to paperback novels if I make the mistake of walking into a bookstore "just to browse". The Kindle certainly has its uses and made reading the Song of Ice and Fire books in bed much more comfortable, but I'm still a paper book gal at heart.

 

[Amaris]

Or am I the only one who thinks that would be awesome?

Totally awesome!

Yay! Let's get started!

Considering that I own several thousand books, I need to find creative ways to fit them all in, given that I don't want to put holes in the walls to attach shelves there.

With lots of books, you could turn your open plan house into a library.

Or am I the only one who thinks that would be awesome?

I recently saw a Library Bookcase Chair on the Etsy site that has built-in bookshelves. It's an armchair, comes in a variety of fabrics, and costs nearly $3000 CDN. If my dad was still well and at home and able to build stuff, I'd get him to make me some (he used to make lots of different kinds of custom furniture, including most of the bookshelves I own).

I never thought I could fall in love with a chair, but I was wrong.