Open plan living 'on the rise'
Open plan living is ideal for style-rich, space-poor urban pads. Now analysis of Britain’s housing stock by Lloyds TSB Home Insurance for its My Favourite Room competition finds one in five (21%) homeowners polled said that they have taken a sledgehammer to their home’s walls in the last 10 years, while an equal proportion have similar plans afoot for 2012.
A third (32%) of the 2,000 homeowners polled said that they have sacrificed a separate dining room, 18% have repurposed a garage and 12% have ditched a single-purpose kitchen.
And it is social living that has driven the trend – 48% said they needed extra space to entertain guests, 29% as a child’s play area and 27% to watch television.
The kitchen breakfast room is not the only addition being made to the country’s housing stock. Also featuring in today’s homes are the utility room (26%), the en-suite (23%), study (20%), wet room (3%), games room/den (6%), and even gym (2%).
“Houses, especially older properties, were designed with people’s lives in mind, with set rooms for set activities, but as times change so does what we want from our homes,” said Simon Hamilton, member and International Director at the British Institute of Interior Design.
“With our increasingly hectic lifestyles convenience and sociability have become key – which is why kitchen diners and games rooms have grown in popularity. In the next 10 years, the majority of houses will be designed in this style.”
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Tags:
- city living ,
- decor ,
- design ,
- interiors ,
- lloyds tsb
