Many months ago now, I read an article slamming open concept homes. I don't remember the exact article, but an online search showed a bunch of options. Here's one of them. And there's also a Bob Vila article where it mentions decor choices as one of 15 reasons to think twice about open concept homes.
These opinions came as a surprise to me and not only because HGTV is always talking about open concept and how buyers love open concept, etc, etc, etc. It came as a surprise to me because I absolutely love my open concept home. (I've lived in 3 of them now.)Some of what they cite as issues don't affect me. For one, I'm absolutely anal about things being neat and clean. When I cook, there are no dishes in my sink because I clean up as I go along and everything is in the dishwasher quickly. For another, as the Bob Vila article says, open concept is more for modern style and my personal decor style is 100% modern/contemporary. I'm slowly replacing one light fixture at a time to get rid of the curly, traditional look. I like straight lines, sleek designs.
As for privacy, well, as someone hard over on the introvert side of the scale, no one loves privacy more than I do, but my dad and I really don't have much problem sharing the space. When I really need to be completely alone, I just go to the bedroom and close my door. Problem solved.
The open concept floor plan also forces my clutter-prone dad to put his stuff away. His room and bathroom are full of stuff because they're out of sight and have doors. If I had more walls in my house, I'd have to nag him routinely to put his things away. The way my current house is setup, the dining room feels separate even though it's really not and he's setup his papers over there so he can write his memoirs.
Storage space was an issue in my second open concept home, but I didn't have those problems in my first house (in Minnesota with a basement) or my current home (upstairs bonus room that I use for storage). I will admit that my office is a continual struggle, but again, that's a closed off room that no one else can see.
As for not enough walls to hang artwork? You can see from my picture above that my problem is not enough artwork, not too few walls.
I can see where open concept might not work for some people, but as for me, I'll keep my open concept, thank you very much. I think it makes the home look bigger and it feels less claustrophobic.
