Open-plan kitchens bring light from the terrace into the cooking space, make small apartments feel larger and suit sociable cooking and entertaining. Their drawbacks are cooking smells and noise in the living area, less wall for units, constant visibility of the kitchen and more demanding extraction. The best results come from good ducted extraction, a peninsula or partial opening and a layout that keeps work areas out of sight lines.
What is best about an open kitchen?
- Light. In many coastal apartments the kitchen faces a light well and the living room faces the sea. Opening the wall brings that light into the kitchen.
- Space. Two small rooms become one larger one without adding floor area.
- Company. Whoever cooks stays part of the conversation, which suits holidays and family gatherings.
- Flexibility. A peninsula or island doubles as a breakfast bar, workspace or serving counter.
What is worst about an open kitchen?
- Smells and steam reach the living area unless extraction is strong and ducted outside.
- Noise from the extractor, dishwasher and cooking carries across the room.
- Less wall for tall units and storage once a wall is gone.
- Visibility. The kitchen is always on show, tidy or not.
- Floors and ceilings usually need redoing across both spaces to join them cleanly.
Which design choices make an open kitchen work?
Ducted extraction to the outside, sized for the space, is the single most important factor. A peninsula rather than an island, in most apartments, because it needs less space and simpler services. Keeping the sink and the busiest worktop out of the main sight line from the sofa. Tall units grouped on one wall so the open side stays light. Quiet appliances, if you are replacing them anyway.
Which choices tend to go wrong?
An island squeezed into a room too small for it, leaving narrow walkways. A recirculating extractor in a fully open space, expected to perform like a ducted one. Removing a wall without checking whether it was structural. Leaving a strip of old floor where the wall used to be. Losing all the wall units without planning where things will be stored instead.
Is a semi-open kitchen a better compromise?
For many owners, yes. A wide opening with a counter, a glazed partition or a large sliding door keeps most of the light and connection while allowing the kitchen to be closed when cooking or when guests are over. It still needs the same checks on the wall and services. Our open-plan kitchen page covers the options.
Who suits an open kitchen, and who does not?
It suits households that cook socially, entertain often, use the property for holidays with family or friends, or live in apartments where the kitchen is dark. It suits less well those who cook a great deal of fried or strongly flavoured food, who work from the living room, or who want to close the door on the washing up.
How does an open kitchen work in a holiday let?
For short-stay guests an open kitchen is generally an asset: groups like to cook and eat together, and the living area feels larger in listing photos. The weak points are the same as in any open kitchen, but magnified by use. Guests may not switch the extractor on, so a hood that starts automatically or a strong ducted extractor helps. Worktops and fronts take more wear and are always visible, so durable, easily cleaned surfaces are worth choosing over delicate ones.
Storage matters too. With fewer wall units, a tall larder unit or a pantry cupboard keeps crockery and supplies organised for each changeover team.
What should you check before deciding?
- Is the wall structural, and has a professional confirmed it?
- Can the extractor be ducted outside, through a shaft or an outside wall, with the community’s agreement where needed?
- Where will the storage lost with the wall units go?
- Which services run inside the wall, and where will they be rerouted?
- Is there enough space for a peninsula or island with comfortable walkways?
- Will one floor finish run through both rooms?
If most answers are positive, an open kitchen is likely to work well. If several are uncertain, a semi-open design may be the wiser choice.
What does it mean for the renovation?
Opening a kitchen combines a kitchen renovation with partition work, services rerouting, often a new ceiling for the extractor duct and a new floor across both spaces. It is planned as a single job, in the order described in the kitchen sequence guide. For the kitchen itself, see kitchen renovation.
Bauman Raymond Attila · Reforma Baños Málaga · Avenida Antonio Belón 3, Marbella. Last reviewed: 05/11/2026.
