Cohousing-L Mailing List: Re: How are your great room and kitchen connected?

[Mac Thomson (mac]

We spent quite a bit of time discussing whether to have an open  
kitchen with the main concern being the noise.  We ended up building  
an open kitchen and reserved a few thousand dollars to close it up  
later if need be.  As it turns out, the noise is rarely a problem (we  
have good dining room acoustics) and the open kitchen is much more  
socially connecting.  We've never really considered closing up the  
kitchen because the open design has worked so well for us.

We have a good sized workshop (800 - 1000 sf) that gets used a fair  
amount for woodworking and fix-it projects.  It's also been used  
commercially at times by members for producing timber frames, T&G  
flooring, etc.  Being one of the woodworkers, I love our workshop and  
am glad to have it.  Others that don't use it might feel that it's  
underutilized, but generally over the years we've come to recognize  
that almost nothing gets used by everyone and we therefore try to  
stretch ourselves to support each other by putting community resources  
into things sometimes only used by a minority of members.

Cheers,
Mac

--
Mac Thomson

Heartwood Cohousing
Southwest Colorado
http://www.heartwoodcohousing.com


"The world is a comedy to those who think;
     a tragedy to those who feel."
            - Horace Walpole
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On Mar 11, 2008, at 2:26 PM, cohousing-l-request [at] cohousing.org wrote:

> Date: Tue, 11 Mar 2008 14:01:56 -0400
> From: "Kristen Simmons" <simmonskristen [at] gmail.com>
> Subject: [C-L]_ How are your great room and kitchen connected?
> To: cohousing-L [at] cohousing.org
> Message-ID:
>         <ae8bfc1f0803111101n19e0fe01p6f9075f14f01346a [at] mail.gmail.com>
> Content-Type: text/plain; charset=ISO-8859-1
>
> Hi all,
> Stony Brook Cohousing, forming in Boston, is having it's Common House
> programming this weekend. I'm seeking information from experienced  
> folks
> living in cohousing about your kitchen set up (and workshop too).
>
> Does your kitchen completely open to the great room/dining room?  
> What works
> or doesn't work about this?
>
> Are you able to completely close off the kitchen from the great room/ 
> dining
> room? What works and doesn't work about this?
>
> I'll admit that I have a preference for an open relationship (it  
> feels more
> homely to me), but I am sure that there are drawbacks. Any feed back  
> from
> the crowd would be useful. This seems like a pretty important  
> decision!
>
> Also, does your group have a workshop? Do you wish that you had one?  
> I want
> one badly, because where else will we put the table saw and drill  
> press? But
> maybe communities that have them don't use them? How do you deal with
> insurance issues? (By the way, I'm not a serious wood worker; I make  
> things
> as needed for repairs and home improvements.)
>
> Thanks,
> Kristen