Open Concept Kitchen Pros and Cons

If you’re renovating your kitchen and thinking about going open concept, you might be wondering – what are open concept kitchen pros and cons? Well, there are many benefits to having little or no barrier between your kitchen and living/dining areas. However, along with all the positives, there are also some negatives to having an open concept kitchen.

Before you start any home renovation, it’s important to know what you’re getting into. To help you decide if an open concept is right for your home, our Edmonton kitchen renovation experts have put together a list of the most important pros and cons to consider.

Open Concept Kitchen Pros and Cons

Pro #1: Inclusivity

Any family-designated chef can attest to the separation that is felt when there’s a wall between the dining and living room. While everyone else is chatting in the other room, they’re stuck behind a wall working away. However, with an open concept kitchen, everyone can get involved in the conversation – including the cook and the clean-up crew.

When comparing open concept kitchen pros and cons, this benefit is significant. Renovating your kitchen to be open concept means it will be more inviting and inclusive for everyone. At Nord Alta Construction, we’ve completed many kitchen renovations to help do just this.

Con # 1: Less Space for Kitchen Cabinets

Unfortunately, fewer walls mean less cabinet space. However, a good kitchen design can fix this quite easily. In fact, one of the most popular additions during a kitchen reno will help you recover most, if not all, of the lost storage space – the island.

By building an island in your kitchen, not only are you creating a welcoming space for people to gather and converse, but you’re also adding a ton of storage. As a result, this common con isn’t significant enough to discourage most homeowners in Edmonton from designing and building an open concept kitchen.

Pro #2: More Natural Light

In an open concept kitchen, there are fewer walls blocking light that is coming from one room to another. As a result, there is potential for a lot more natural light in your kitchen.

When it comes to open concept kitchen pros and cons, this is an especially notable advantage for homeowners in Edmonton. While the summer months offer warmth and lots of sunshine, winter in Alberta can be cold, dark and dreary. With more natural light coming into your kitchen from other rooms, your space will be brighter and look better. Best of all, a little Vitamin D is great for your health and can help you feel better – especially during our long and gloomy winters.

Con #2: Cost

Renovating your kitchen to be open concept means tearing down walls. Unfortunately, removing walls in your home can be expensive.

Why does removing a wall cost so much? Well, there are several reasons.

The first, and one that every homeowner will encounter, is that removing a wall affects the ceiling and the flooring around it. Therefore, not only does the wall need to be demolished but the wall and floor around it will also need to be fixed. This isn’t always a serious fix, but it does add an extra cost.

Next, is the electrical, plumbing and ventilation. If your electrical, plumbing or ventilation needs to be moved, you’ll be looking at another added cost. Sometimes this change is easy to make, sometimes it’s not. Regardless, you’ll be paying more.

Finally, if the wall that you want to remove is a load-bearing wall (i.e. it is bearing the load of the ceiling and roof), then you will need to add support beams to ensure the safety of your home. This is another cost and one that can be particularly expensive, depending on the circumstances.

Keep in mind, these aspects won’t come into play with all open concept kitchens. But, you never know what you might encounter once you start opening up walls.

Pro #3: Beauty and Functionality

When homeowners weigh open concept kitchen pros and cons, one of the biggest benefits that often sticks out is the beauty of an open concept kitchen. There’s no doubt about it, a new kitchen with an open layout is beautiful. But, even more important than aesthetics, is functionality. A well-designed and highly functional open concept kitchen will provide benefits for years to come.

An open concept kitchen allows the whole family to be together without getting in each others’ way. Plus, a well-designed open concept kitchen will create a great flow in your home, allowing everyone to come and go with ease.

Con #3: Privacy

Some people prefer a wall separating their kitchen from other areas of the house for one simple reason – privacy. Not only is it extremely difficult to get away with sneaking a snack or treat when you don’t have any walls to hide behind, but it’s also hard to get any privacy at all.

With an open concept kitchen, your cooking will be on full display at all times. And, as we all know, the kitchen can become a very messy place. With no walls, there will be no way to hide this mess. Be sure to consider this lack of privacy before committing to an open concept.

A Renovation Contractors Opinion on Open Concept Kitchen Pros and Cons

As professional renovation contractors in Edmonton, the team at Nord Alta believes that the pros of an open concept kitchen far outweigh the cons. In addition to creating a more inclusive, warm and welcoming space (when designed well), an open concept kitchen can also add more value to your home.

Currently, open concept kitchens are a hot trend – and one that we believe is here to say. But, regardless of our opinion, designing a new kitchen that is on-trend and will stand the test of time will ultimately result in a higher return on your investment. This means that, when you go to resell your home, you can expect to get more for it based on your beautiful and functional kitchen renovation.

Ready to renovate your kitchen?

If you’re looking for renovation companies in Edmonton, give the kitchen renovation experts at Nord Alta a call.

We can help you with any questions you may have about creating an open concept kitchen and even provide you with a free estimate for your upcoming kitchen reno.