The great debate: open or closed kitchens.

For centuries the kitchen has been used as a workspace.  Way back in the house, it had room just for the essentials.  These days it’s a different story with the option of open or close kitchens and fancy appliances.

Open kitchens are less isolated and more integrated with adjacent rooms — often the living room or dining room.  It makes it easy to have a conversation with family or friends in the living room while you’re preparing food in the kitchen.  A closed kitchen is a more formal choice and feels more like a separate room in the house.  It makes the kitchen more private, and some argue it even helps stop living room clutter from spreading into the kitchen.

Some people who cook would rather not have their kitchen exposed, whereas others dump a lot of money into remodeling a kitchen to show it off.  Here are some open and closed kitchen ideas you may like.

Open Kitchens:

Open kitchens can make a whole space feel bigger.  Updating your kitchen to make it more open can make the whole house feel more modern.

This kitchen basically occupies an entire wall. It shares an open plan with the living room, and the two areas are pretty well defined.

^{Photo Source: homedit}

This kitchen is open on three sides.  It even shares space with a dining area, which is convenient if you’re still making dinner when guests arrive.

Photo Source: cubeworld.co

Closed Kitchens:

Traditional closed kitchens lend a beautiful, old-fashioned quality to your home, but we’ll look at a contemporary alternative too.  Either way, they make it easy to escape to the kitchen and prepare a meal without the distractions of the rest of the house.

Sliding barn doors to separate a closed kitchen are in very high demand right now.

source: realslidinghardware.com

Metal mesh curtains installed on a track allow the kitchen to easily go from open to closed.

source: jacksonstoneworks.com

Do you prefer an open or closed kitchen? What are your tricks for making it work for you?