While the traditional floorplan of an open kitchen usually means the room is opening up to an eat-in area, dining room or living room, why not take the design outside.

Design expert Foster Frable discusses the emergence of open kitchens in restaurant dining rooms. Foster Frable , Founding Partner , Clevenger Frable LaVallee Inc. May 13, 2013 ...

That is why one company, Schumacher Homes of Akron, Ohio, has a fresh new design on offer: a house with an open floor plan, with its kitchen, dining area, and living room all flowing into one another.

LEFT: New kitchen technologies, including gas and electricity, were introduced in the early 20th century and made meal preparation easier, which ushered in an era of more casual dining.

The apex predator of the dining room is the “great room”—a combined living room and kitchen, bridged by an open dining space. “It’s not that Americans don’t want dining rooms.