When the heart of your home feels cramped and confined, change is in order. Open concept kitchen designs are still popular today—and for good reason. Do you love entertaining, but feel disconnected from your guests when you have to be in the kitchen to prepare dinner or dessert? Do you want more natural light in your kitchen, living, and dining space? Do you desire the best use of space for the square footage you have, or have the illusion of greater square footage?
At MN Contractor Pros, we understand how overwhelming a kitchen remodeling project can feel to homeowners. We design interior remodeling projects that fit your style so you can love your home again. Our indoor and outdoor remodeling projects are built to last, and our customer satisfaction, expert team, and superior products bring homeowners back for subsequent projects after their initial experience with us. Check out our reviews to hear what others are saying about our remodeling services.
Open Concept Kitchens Are IN
Many homeowners enjoy the lifestyle an open kitchen creates for them and their family. An open kitchen typically includes the kitchen, dining room, and living room. Here are some of the things homeowners love about an open concept kitchen:
1. It transforms a cramped space into an open, airy space
Nobody likes feeling closed in within their own home. Natural light and the removal of some walls can create the elbow room people crave in their homes.
2. It offers a better use of the square footage your home currently has
If you aren’t up for a home addition, but want to create what feels like more square footage in your home, an open concept kitchen may be just what you need. When there are no barriers (walls) between the kitchen, dining room, and living room, it creates one big “great room” for the family to enjoy.
3. It creates a natural gathering place in the heart of the home
The kitchen is often the heart of a home and a typical hub of activity. When parents and children have different undertakings throughout the week, the open concept kitchen offers something for everyone. Elementary age children may be gathered at the island doing homework or playing games while a teenager chills out on the couch with a few friends. Mom may be at the stove cooking while overseeing everyone’s current activities.
4. It offers a casual atmosphere in which to entertain
The formal dining room isn’t as popular these days, while the open concept kitchen continues to steam ahead in its popularity. When entertaining, the open concept kitchen allows you to prepare meals in the kitchen within earshot of your guests in the living area. It facilitates connection and conversation that would not happen if the walls were still up dividing the kitchen from the living space.
5. It brings more natural light into the great room space
Natural light pours through a home’s windows and brings a lift in the atmosphere as a result. People’s moods can be boosted when natural light fills a space and uplifts all who enter the area. Natural light teems throughout the house when walls aren’t blocking it from entering.
6. It adds value to your home due to its continued popularity
When people are in the market for a new home, they expect to see a great room in most homes they tour. They appreciate the lifestyle an open concept kitchen facilitates, and value it enough to make it a requirement when searching for a new home. Add resale value to your home with an open concept kitchen.
7. It makes way for the popular kitchen island
Every room needs a focal point, and today’s best kitchen focal point is an island. Great creativity can be expressed in the size, materials, and height of an island. Unique task lighting can add to the creative style of the island. And an island offers the perfect gathering spot in the popular open concept kitchen. It provides some great storage space to make up for the storage that was once in the wall that separated the kitchen from the living area. Practically speaking, when remodeling an existing kitchen into an open concept kitchen, counter space is added when you add an island.
8. Adding sliding doors to the open kitchen can make it more versatile.
Adding sliding doors to section off an area of the great room is an option if you need more privacy than an open concept kitchen space offers. Sliding doors create flexibility when it’s needed.
9. It creates functionality within a family home.
Families grow, change, and get busy. Time together is something to be treasured, and streamlining any part of our lifestyle can help us carve out more time together. A functional space like a great room lends itself to the diverse and changing needs of family life.
10. It lends itself to a cozy breakfast nook or informal dining space.
The undoing of the traditional dining room offers creativity to breed new eating options within a home that offer practical, casual solutions to a family’s everyday needs.
Tips on open concept kitchen design
- For continuity, bring cohesion to the space by including pops of the same color throughout the great room. Keep design consistent or complementary between rooms.
- While each part of the great room has its own function, keep transitions between spaces seamless for functionality.
- Never underestimate the value of natural light. Consider large doors or windows that open to your backyard or patio adjacent to your open kitchen — so all the areas of the great room can enjoy the natural light.
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