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just wait .stainless steel hard to clean , open concept noisey while cooking . Hubby dont like dishwasher , mixer going while watching the game . while cooking aand talking to friends burned soup , forgot to add ingrediants to recipes. so bye bye all

hardwood floor cold and nosiey

Klink - we KNOW you hate open concept floorplans, hardwood floors and stainless steel and granite - but, you keep insisting they are fads and are going away soon.
There are many people who love the open concept, hardwood, etc so I see nothing wrong with those people having whatever they want in their own homes without labeling it as a "fad". Now, sure, if they decided to get the red washer/dryer sets so popular a year or two ago maybe I'd agree it's a fad - but s/s has been around for a very long time as has granite and hardwood floors and at least from my viewpoint with my clients I don't see them getting dumped anytime soon.

I would be interested, klinkdog, in hearing what you do like.

What is your dream house like? What are your favorite materials and finishes?

What's good for the goose, is not always good for the gander.

What you really don't like, others may love. This is part of why the remodeling type shows tend to conflict one another. People like different things, I may not like the fully open concept but others love it.

Also, what builders are doing in your area, they may not be doing in others, well where there are builders that are building that is, so you can't throw around blanket statements like until consumers want, because in other areas, they are doing it.

I Have to agree with Doodles. I am a traditionalist to the point of being a museum curator! I like seperate kitchens, soapstone counters and farm house sinks with old brass fixtures. But there is no way that open concept floor plans, stainless steel, and granite are trends on their way out. First off todays children are made of spun sugar so Mom needs to see them at all times, so open concept isn't going anywhere until todays parents realize that a bump on the head now and then isn't going to keep Junior out of Prep school.Stainless has been used in restaurants for 40 years, so that's hardly a trend, and granite is practical, durable, and microbe resistant, so other than quartz or soapstone what surface material has all those qualities? Not liking these options is anyones perogative. Claiming them to be out of fashion is incorrect.

This message has been edited. Last edited by: Charles D,

I don't know Klinkdog so have no opinion on his/her previous views.

Personally I would not like to live with Open concept. However I would love to have one really large open room, that allows one to walk "tall" esp if it had long, long windows!

I can't understand why anyone wants to be in a crowd when they are cooking. I have enough trouble following a recipe when I am alone. Mixing a salad is not really "cooking" And I don't notice so much chit chat in a restaurant kitchen.

However I adore and love hardwood and soft wood floors. Like white appliances so that leaves out stainless, however If I could change appliances as easily as I change shoes I probably would go for different colors, but then on the other hand I really like my 40 year old washer and drier and dishwasher (which is stainless)

[QUOTE]Originally posted by lady of shallot:

I can't understand why anyone wants to be in a crowd when they are cooking. I have enough trouble following a recipe when I am alone. Mixing a salad is not really "cooking" And I don't notice so much chit chat in a restaurant kitchen.[QUOTE]

I never thought I would really like an open concept kitchen, but I do in this house.

As far as a crowd, it is usually only DH and I or a friend or two, but with the whole family or friends, there are just more hands to help. With a large island, I can put more onlookers to work dicing vegetables or combining ingredients for making salads, pouring wine, cleaning up...

Mostly I just like the openness of the vaulted space, we have large windows on three sides to enjoy the mountains/outdoors/wildlife all year round. If the kitchen were in a separate room, I would probably only get one window.

quote:

Mostly I just like the openness of the vaulted space,

ITA. Now, as to stainless steel, I have to admit I prefer colored appliances. My dream kitchen would be outfitted with butter-yellow appliances from The Big Chill (their retro fridges are divine). But since that isn't in my budget we went with stainless steel. It was the least expensive way to get a quality gas range that didn't use any (repair prone) electronics.

Hardwood floors are probably never going out of style. They are so much easier to get really CLEAN compared to wall-to-wall carpet. Maybe I'm biased because we've torn up so much old carpet in old houses and once I saw what was under it I thought, "Never again. No carpet." Sort of like that "no wire hangers" moment in Mommy Dearest, but less violent.

I think the days of having a small kitchen stuffed in the back of the house with no access to the rest of the family are gone.

However, I do think that some things are going out of style that were popular in the McMansion heyday. Palladian windows are one example (double hung window with a 3rd semicircular window on top). And the color wheel has shifted away from warm beige tones in bathrooms to cooler colors like black, white, and grey. The faux-aged look of tumbled beige marble is being traded for cool gray & white carrera marble on many design shows. Someday the vintage 1960's Tiffany-blue bathroom fixtures that I have will be back in style (if not on this planet then surely on another one).

I chuckled as I read the part of the open concept being out...because it interrupts a football game. We have a NEW, more quiet, dishwasher. And we don't have the open concept kitchen.

Styles come and go....what WE like, our children won't. The one thing you can count on in life is ongoing change.

Heck...I never thought the quarters, nickels, or pennies would ever change their design. And just discovered how the pennies have changed.

What about a combination of WtW carpeting in each room but connected by hardwood walkways? I have a couple rooms with inlaid WtW dark green with tiny black flecks carpeting and the HW walkways are finished in old English mahogany.

The carpeting adds in sound deadening (very important to me) and a nice cozy feel on bare feet.

I too dislike the open concept as to me it increases the ambient noise level to an uncomfortable degree, especially if someone is doing anything in the kitchen and you are trying to hear the TV.

I prefer SS appliances as we tried black and it shows every fingerprint and water spot. Tired of white anything. I don't even have white toilets in the bathrooms. I used a sand colored one piece fixture.

When it's all said and done what you should do in your own home is what YOU like. Yes, you probably should keep in mind that your 1980's burgandy and hunter green color scheme with shiny brass lighting fixtures may not play well when you go to sell, but if you're willing to replace a few fixtures, paint and update slightly when you go to sell, go ahead and do what you want.
Trends come and go - but y'all know I feel pretty firmly open concept homes, hardwood and S/S aren't going away soon enough for most of us to have to worry about.

Funny thing is, we did ours in 1999-2000 and we get a LOT of compliments on it as it is dramatic and not cookie cutter beige or Navajo white. That plus the REAL oak wood trims and lever handled door knobs, the earthtones hand-patterned tile countertops.

Way too many people and shows on HGTV show cheap, thrown together and extremely sloppy "fixits" committed on an otherwise nice home just to make it more mainstream if the home is up for sale.


One thing I have learned over the years: "fashion" is what everybody does and "STYLE" is what YOU do.

This message has been edited. Last edited by: Gizmologist,

quote:
Originally posted by Gizmologist:

Way too many people and shows on HGTV show cheap, thrown together and extremely sloppy "fixits" committed on an otherwise nice home just to make it more mainstream if the home is up for sale.

One thing I have learned over the years: "fashion" is what everybody does and "STYLE" is what YOU do.

I agree totally. Great quality, great function and classic design are slow to show age.

I always loved the open plan room with family room-kitchen-dinette together. Until recently with two more adults in the house with me, whenever someone's in the kitchen washing dishes, i can't hear the TV.
Now i laugh at myself and my First World Problems.

Charles D...your spun-sugar children comment was hilarious

I never have liked stainless steel appliances or granite counter tops. I've grown to despise tile floor. They are all "cold" to me.

After the avocado green fiasco of the 70s, I learned that dear mother was correct...white appliances. When one goes out, it's not a problem matching the replacement with the remaining appliances.

I like wood floors and would have them throughout if I had my "druthers." Right now, I have only one room with wood floors. Husband won't consent to getting rid of the carpet in the remaining two bedrooms. And the tile floor isn't old enough to rip out and replace.

I like open floor plans. Even when cooking, I am still part of what is going on...not relegated to the kitchen alone like Edith Bunker.

In the past couple of years, I've done a few different kitchens. One was a pecan, stained with a fruitwood stain. A maple with a van dyke brown dye/newengland chestnut stain . And a Hickory with the same fruitwood stain.

The Pecan and the hickory you don't see very often, granted both woods are in the same family, but the do have some subtle differences, especially since the pecan was seasoned rather than kiln dried and the hickory was kiln dried. But I digress, some would not like these kitchens, they are all different, but it's what my customers wanted.

Not everyone is going to like what they see on HGTV, as a matter of fact, there is a disgusting lime green color that keeps getting used, it makes me feel sick. It's not good fungshua It's just a style atm, and one I don't particularly care for. But another thing to think about is regional styles. What the current home building trend is in New York, probably isn't going to be the same for California, or Florida. I mean, what are you going to do with a mud room in Florida? Just like Transims over windows is not out of style in the south, errr Palladium windows, whichever.


P.S Edith was probably happy just to get away from Archie, and didn't feel consigned to the kitchen.

"The mark of a good carpenter is not how few mistakes he makes, but how well he fixes them."

I am loving these posts...why did it take me so long to find this site. Thanks all for the enertainment and ideas.
I am in the process of restoring an 1880 Victorian, but not a lover of Victorian foo-foo, seem to be somewhere between arts and crafts/ art deco interior. But this all started with a 1928 Restored and shiny Glenwood Gas stove that needed a new old home.that was $250,000. Ago

quote:

Originally posted by vixenhouse:
I am loving these posts...why did it take me so long to find this site. Thanks all for the enertainment and ideas.
I am in the process of restoring an 1880 Victorian, but not a lover of Victorian foo-foo, seem to be somewhere between arts and crafts/ art deco interior. But this all started with a 1928 Restored and shiny Glenwood Gas stove that needed a new old home.that was $250,000. Ago

Vixen, I helped clients with their 1880 Victorian a couple years ago and like you, neither of them were a fan of the Victorian foo-foo. They knocked out some walls and were able to keep the original wood floors (sanded and restained, of course) and the kitchen is absolutely gorgeous - very open, huge island and state of the art appliances. The granite we selected is drop dead gorgeous and yes, we had to go to several granite yards to find it, but the end result was worth it. This house was three stories and I talked them into putting in an elevator tucked into a corner of the breakfast room - they have said a million times how glad they are that they did that. They kept the original stained glass in the front parlor windows and the upstairs front bedroom but replaced the rest of the windows for energy efficiency. The whole thing was a lot of work and took us well over 18 mo. to get perfect, but it was worth it!
Good luck with your Victorian! Love the architecture - hate the foo-foo! LOL

Thanks, Doodles.I have been lucky, not much has been changed, floors are original and in pretty good shape. Should do well after sanding and buffing, most of the windows are old, and thankfully the stained glass is intact. First I have to deal with the asbestos and radon, before we get to the fun stuff! I am going with white local marble..I know, ? Choice, but I love the look, even worn and stained. Wish you wete closer to Vermont..there are no decorators I can find and I am doing this long distance from Oklahoma, with an excellent contractor. Any advise or suggestions are welcome and appreciated! Carol

quote:

Originally posted by vixenhouse:
Thanks, Doodles.I have been lucky, not much has been changed, floors are original and in pretty good shape. Should do well after sanding and buffing, most of the windows are old, and thankfully the stained glass is intact. First I have to deal with the asbestos and radon, before we get to the fun stuff! I am going with white local marble..I know, ? Choice, but I love the look, even worn and stained. Wish you wete closer to Vermont..there are no decorators I can find and I am doing this long distance from Oklahoma, with an excellent contractor. Any advise or suggestions are welcome and appreciated! Carol

Well, Carol, I do travel - LOL. Actually, CharlesD, a long time (and IMO excellent) designer and poster on here lives in NJ so he's a bit closer, and I know he does travel too and this type of thing would be right up his alley.
In redoing a vintage home you always have to walk a fine line between keeping the charm and character, yet making it usable for modern livestyles. In the one I decorated, the clients had a problem with the teensy closets available, so ended up building out on the second and third floors. - The built out part on the second floor ended up a huge bathroom (the tub itself is in the big turret with 3-4 steps leading up to it) and a monster closet. On the third floor the built out part is a large guest suite with a nice closet and bathroom. The turret area in that room was turned into an open reading nook with it's own little crystal chandelier (Candice would be so proud of me - LOL). If you will PM me I'll send you to a link where you can see a few pictures.

Where to begin? Some people believe that most everything is a fad and while some things certainly are, open concept floor plans are not...what would you do, build walls to close in all the millions of homes built this way? I won't even address the SS issue...it's been around for 40 years for crying out loud.

I, too, am a traditionalist. I prefer period homes and open concept does not compute. My last house was an 1881 Folk Victorian, and while we had to change the wall configuration in the kitchen area, we did not "open" it to the formal rooms...couldn't, wouldn't, didn't. Our present home is a 1930's story and a half bungalow/cottage and once again, only removed the swinging door between the kitchen and dining room because it was a nuisance. I've lived in open concept style homes and they weren't a problem, other than the fact that they were contemporary and just not my cup of tea.

To each his own. To declare that something is a fad because you don't like it is just plain ignorance. Apologies if I offend, but there you go!

Our current house is open concept but primarily the back half of the house. if you enter from the front you have the separate living and dining room. If you enter from the side door you enter into the kitchen, breakfast nook and family room. I am used to it now but at first I didn't really like it. I have a hard time keeping the kitchen island clear so there is more pressure if people come by unexpectedly . Other than that it's fine - I can be doing something at the island, my son may be doing homework and i'm available to him. DH might be reading in the family room. We are all together but still with our own space. With our last house, when company comes we go sit in the living room. Kitchen area is not visible unless you go to the back of the house that house was a 1932 colonial. I guess it boils down to what you are comfortable with. I have a lot of art so the more open plan helps with displaying it. The colonial was fine with the art but the open concept really helped elevate the artwork and make it more integrated with the home. That's the best I can explain it lol.

I don't think stainless will ever be out. I think it is a classic. Did chrome ever really go out of style for faucets? If it did don't tell me

All these ideas are really helpful, thank you everyone for posting. What you describe is a similar layout for my Victorian. I finally have a definite move in date next month, I am SO excited. This forum helps me a lot with ideas and suggestions...what is the current idea of wallpaper..not the little chintzy-flowerdy kind but stripes and motifs? Thanks