Find out what's behind current kitchen trends and the benefits you may realize from enclosing your kitchen.
When it comes to kitchen trends, and home design more broadly, what's considered stylish changes as society does. For decades, open concepts have been hugely popular. Homeowners tore down walls, rearranged living and eating spaces, and reimagined floorplans, creating free-flowing spaces where families could feel together and easily communicate with each other and guests, even if they were technically in another room.
But, as always, how people use and interact with their homes evolved. Today, fewer young adults are buying houses, leaving many living with their parents longer — or moving back with their parents in a difficult economy. Rising costs and inflation lead to more people entertaining guests at home instead of going out to restaurants or bars. On top of that, work-from-home and hybrid schedules seem to be here for the long term.
All this means that individuals share the same space, each with their unique needs, making some open-concept layouts less than ideal.
One of the most common open spaces, and an area that's often a hub of family activity, is the kitchen. From private kitchen and dining areas to family rooms, the closed-concept plans of the past provided more order, privacy and even temperature control for residents.
So, if current economic and societal changes are leaving you wondering "Are enclosed kitchens coming back?", the answer is "kind of." It depends on what's best for you and your family.
To help determine if an enclosed kitchen is right for your home, read on. We're comparing open and closed kitchens, highlighting a few benefits of an enclosed kitchen, and sharing how to use Masonite interior doors if you want to retain some of your favorite open-concept benefits.
The best way to describe a closed kitchen is by contrast. An open kitchen is what it sounds like: a fully integrated food storage, cooking and dining space, where there is an absence of walls and other barriers. Cabinetry and pantries are arranged for open views and easy access, as are appliances. There is an open flow between rooms, often seen in the combination of kitchen, dining and living spaces. Open kitchens promote an interactive atmosphere that is often ideal for entertaining and engaging with family and guests.
Conversely, a closed kitchen design compartmentalizes a room, but not necessarily in a bad way. Instead, it creates a defined space dedicated exclusively to cooking and food preparation, separated from the dining and living areas by walls, partitions and doors. This design is a more traditional approach to kitchen layouts that has made a resurgence as a more modern trend. But, this doesn't mean your closed kitchen must be completely closed. There are ways to blend the two concepts together for an approach that works well for your family.
If you're considering a closed kitchen layout, these benefits can help guide you to understanding if it's the right decision for you:
In a closed-concept kitchen design, interior doors can be used to separate cooking, dining and entertaining spaces, adapting to your specific needs. Kitchen doors can separate the place where you cook from the table where you eat. These doors help keep the smells and noise from the kitchen in the kitchen, while avoiding the disruption of work or study that may be taking place elsewhere in the home, which is important for those who enjoy the solitude of cooking without interruptions.
Whether you're hosting guests for the big game or need a quiet place away from the kids to prepare dinner, a closed kitchen can provide an added layer of privacy. Kitchen doors can help to close off your spaces, which helps to dampen sound and hide any mealtime messes. Because let's face it: our kitchens aren't always Instagram-worthy.
And when the dishes pile up and counters are due for a cleaning, a kitchen's chaos isn't just something we want to keep from guests — it can also have a significant impact on our overall sense of our home's cleanliness as well.
More people at home means more stuff to store and food to have on hand. And a closed kitchen by nature has more walls, and, thus, more opportunities for shelving and cabinets to store important supplies and ingredients. Added wall space opens the possibilities for other features that can help families in their busy lives, like collaborative chalkboard shopping lists, meal planning and calendars to track family schedules.
Closed-kitchen functionality, privacy and storage can benefit any style of home, not just more traditional ones. It's all about choosing materials and products that reflect both the aesthetic of your home and the functionality you're looking for.
Of course, more separation between rooms typically means less light flow from space to space within the home — a major selling point for the open-concept style. Simple adjustments, such as choosing glass-paneled interior doors, allow for more natural light in the kitchen and other rooms, keeping spaces feeling light, bright, airy and spacious. Our interior doors come in styles with a variety of glass panel options, so you can add light and life to your refreshed enclosed kitchen space.
If you're worried about how to get natural light into a room, especially a room without windows, French doors, like the Full Lite, are a great option. Whether you choose a single or double-door layout, you'll get more of an open-kitchen feel. (And, French doors can quickly elevate the aesthetic of your kitchen, too!)
If you have windows in one area of your kitchen, but your true cooking space needs a little sun, open that French door (or doors!) wide, or let the light pass through its clear or textured glass panels.
When choosing between clear glass or one of our textured options, consider the amount of light that can come through and the privacy level. For example, clear glass will allow the most light through but has the lowest privacy rating. On the other hand, a textured glass option like our Pear glass will still let plenty of light through, but has a 9/10 privacy rating so your kitchen doesn't have to be on display when the doors are closed.
Other unique doors for the kitchen include barn doors, an ideal option for enclosed areas where space is tight. Unlike traditional swinging doors, barn doors glide on a track flush to the wall. With one, your kitchen can remain open when you want a natural flow between spaces or closed off when you're ready for more privacy. It's as simple as sliding the door open or closed.
Adding a barn door to your enclosed kitchen means that, when open, you and your guests won't maneuver awkwardly around it or worry about the door bumping into cabinets or other furniture. And, it'll be easier to transport food and tableware from the kitchen to the dining room.
Consider a barn door with glass, like the 6-Lite Metal, that allows for continual light flow while still maintaining a closed kitchen space. If you want to make the switch from open concept to enclosed spaces, the flexibility of barn doors could ease the transition and give you some of that openness while still providing separation.
The space-saving functionality of barn doors is easily achievable. Masonite offers a curated collection of barn door kits in a variety of styles that come with all the hardware you need and helpful instructions. Installation can be completed in 90 minutes or less.
If noise-dampening is more important than natural light flow, you may consider installing a solid core door in your kitchen. While solid core doors are exactly that — solid and without glass — they are made with 70% more material than our standard hollow core doors, making them more durable, heavier and quieter.
Solid core doors may be your perfect solution if you want to keep the sounds from the kitchen away from other areas of your house (have you ever tried to blend a smoothie at 7 a.m. while your family is still sleeping?) or vice-versa for when you want to cook a meal in peace. The durability of solid core doors means they are better able to withstand everyday usage without wear. As one of the most high-traffic areas of the home, your kitchen and family may benefit from having a more solid door closing this space off from other rooms.
If you're ready to elevate your enclosed kitchen, shop the perfect interior door with options that elevate style, increase light and reduce noise. Before you know it, you'll have a space that's exactly what you want and need.
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