Colin and Justin: An open and shut case?

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Open concept has its advantages, and its detractors

Taste, in so far as interior design is concerned, is a wholly subjective matter. Each decorative component is relevant to the whims of the individual, inspired by inherent design predilections, magazine and TV content, or fodder harvested from social media stratospheres that, for better or for worse, inspire and inform our very existence.

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That which is hot (or indeed not) also comes at the behest of interior designers, architects and decorators, whose collective conspire the creative fraternity’s zeitgeist.

But of course much of that considered au courant is cyclical, huh? Accordingly, that which goes around comes around. Again and again.

An example of the ‘hot one minute, less so the next’ trend is the discipline of open concept design. Hmm: if we had a buck for each fluid abode we’ve re configured (from boxy and compartmentalised, to free flowing and airy) we’d be sufficiently wealthy to see out our years on some beautiful, Caribbean beach.

That said, as much we’re excited by the notion of sun, sea and sand, we’re workaholics, and would almost certainly get bored. So toil on we will.

Aficionados of open concept typically suggest it can make space seem more generous. The dissolution of architectural room boundaries, they opine, increases sociability between zones, whilst encouraging the appetite for sharing and interaction. Much of that, as we see it, is indeed relevant, but with a few C+J caveats.

The issue, for us, is the wanton pursuit of open concept simply because it’s what many people think they should do. If proportions are tight, noise concerns can be problematic, light bleed issues a concern and privacy to work, enjoy music or watch TV (whilst others have a different intention in that exact moment) simply further complications.

Typically, when appraising contentious issues, we like to harvest opinion which we’ll eventually extrapolate in print, on TV, or during home shows and private speaking engagements.

To that end (and before penning this column) we posed the question ‘open or closed concept’ to our multi-platform social media army.

Whilst we thought ‘open concept’ would win out, ‘middle ground’ (or best of both worlds) proved the common denominator. Experience, we figure, shows that flowing blueprints don’t always optimise environmental ‘yield’.

Prior to the recent renovation of our own cottage, we deliberated various layouts, finally settling on an open plan kitchen/living room (so we can engage with guests whilst preparing repast) but a semi open plan dining room because we enjoy fostering an intimate atmosphere unto which we can retreat, sufficiently removed from pots, pans and ancillary meal prep chaos.

Additionally, being that three walls of our dining room house large swathes of jet framed fenestration (essentially ‘open plan’ – visually at least – to the forest) a modicum of ‘enclosure’ ensures no one feels ‘exposed’. It’s a spatial balancing act that works for us, and, we hope, our guests.

Other consideration pertaining to the open versus closed debate are music, lighting and heating. With open plan, it’s less easy to balance sound levels in each zone, and therefore trickier to create privacy if different life aspects require to play out, consecutively, under one roof.

The same applies to lighting and heating: open plan blurs spatial boundaries, but energy is potentially wasted across the bigger picture if ancillary portions of the floorplan aren’t required in that moment.

As is often the case with stylistic appraisal, it all comes down to what works best for those by whom we’re hired to retool space. Or indeed ourselves, if reworking our own environments.

We’re less likely to follow trends, mindful that ambition, pertinence and taste are – potentially – wildly different from subject to subject.

Hmm, best of both worlds, as witnessed in our semi open concept dining room? It certainly works for us. And isn’t that what really matters.

Watch for Colin and Justin on City-tv’s Breakfast Television and Colin and Justin’s Sub- Zero Reno on Paramount TV. Find the Colin and Justin Home Collection in stores across Canada. Visit www.colinandjustin.tv.