Before you go building walls, why do you dislike the open space?  What are your specific problems with it?  There may be easier ways to fix it than major construction.

I've lived in a lot of homes, some open, some closed, some that worked, some that didn't.  With having a baby, soon to be a young child, I would think you'd want it open to watch him/her play.

TarHeels&Rebels:

Before you go building walls, why do you dislike the open space?  What are your specific problems with it?  There may be easier ways to fix it than major construction.

I've lived in a lot of homes, some open, some closed, some that worked, some that didn't.  With having a baby, soon to be a young child, I would think you'd want it open to watch him/her play.

We have 5 kids. They have an area downstairs but still spend a lot of time in the living room in the evenings. They can get loud. At the end of the day when I'm cleaning the kitchen it would be really nice if the kitchen was a separate room so I could either listen to music, watch something on my laptop, or just have a little quiet time to myself. 

We also host every family birthday and holiday at our house. On holidays like Thanksgiving there are tons of dishes that I don't have time to clean until after the meal. I'd love to have a kitchen that isn't in the same room where we are celebrating. I hate how you can see messy dishes in some of our holiday photos. It would also be nice to have two separate rooms for when we host things. MIL and I usually do all the cooking and cleaning and have our own conversations. It would be nice if we could have them without having to worry about interrupting other family members conversations or competing with the noise.

I hear people talk about open floor plans being great for entertaining but IMO they are not. We are hosting something at least once a month. The room layout the way it is really doesn't work for this. No one else is willing or able to host so that's not an option.

My personal opinion is that it is a terrible idea.  I think it will really make your house feel choppy and much much smaller.  There is a reason that people buy houses that were built in the 80s when chopped up rooms were common and knock down walls to enlarge spaces.  It might give you the things you are looking for but I think it would be very difficult for resale down the road.

I hear what you are saying, and the things you hate about the open floor plan are valid. However, I live in a home built in the 1960's and am about to tear down a wall between my living room and kitchen specifically because it will give the house a more open look instead of the closed off feeling it has right now. When the wall is torn down, I'm going to build an island/bar between the rooms.

I watch a lot of DIY shows, and in many of them, the idea is to open the rooms up more, not build walls. But, I do have to admit that you have one of the most open floor plans I've ever seen, LOL.

Before going to the large expense of building walls, why not try some room dividers first? Either get a set of tall open shelves from IKEA to put where you'd like to put the walls, or get the foldable room dividers at a second hand or antique store, or somewhere else? That way you get to try it out before going to the expense.

Also, even though you are not considering moving at any time in the future, I'd probably ask a real estate agent in the area for some input. Maybe the agents that are selling the similar homes in your area? Ask them if buyers are looking for open floor plans or seem to hate the fact they are that open.

Messy kitchens is my #1 problem with open floor plans - I was wondering if that was your reason. I don't think it's crazy. I think pp's idea of a temporary trial is a good idea before you spend the money.  I think enclosing the stairwell would make the space feel much more polished. 

I'm not concerned about resale in the least. This type of post-construction wall is super easy to remove if necessary.  

I personally wouldn't subdivide the LR into a formal DR. I entertain a lot and find I can fit more people and there's a better party when there's not a wall. You can achieve visual division with area rugs to ground the LR side and the DR side.  

before you dive in, there are a few things to note.  from looking at your photos and reading your ideas, putting walls up in some areas just seems like they wouldn't make sense or fit in that area.

pic 2 and 3:  i could see removing the banister and putting up walls...and then opening a doorway to the living room.  However, I would make this a wider (double sized) archway instead of a standard doorway.  living room-kitchen transitions are typically high-traffic areas and I personally HATE having only 1 entrance/exit in the kitchen -- especially when entertaining.  You could add pocket doors or french doors if you really wanted full separation.

pic 4: is this the living room/dining combo?  I would simply set up zones in this room.  you have very little furniture here, and once you fill the space appropriately, it will feel separated

 

I agree with PP about trial running some screens, or hanging curtains as walls for a couple weeks, or finding tall bookshelves to put up (added storage - yay!)

...as far as resale, the trend IS towards more open floorplans. so this may hurt your resale. that being said, people love houses of all kinds. so who knows.

 

hubby and i have a fairly contemporary open layout as well. the only room that was completely closed off was the kitchen -- so we knocked down the wall and created a half-wall between the rooms that is our bar/kitchen island. it's truly awesome and i love being able to watch hockey/football games/movies while i cook =)   our kitchen used to fit 3 people, and now we've had 10 in there without worrying about bumping into everyone!

to design things, i used a computer program (ok, i used The Sims) to 'build' the house, and arrange furniture and see what the renovation would do to the space. it was an awesome idea, and i loved having a 3d view before we went ahead and did it. maybe try something like that too?

If you were to put a wall between the kitchen and dining room I would absolutely wall off the stairs. Don't do a single door into the kitchen - a double wide opening will help keep the space from feeling cramped and keep people from running into/blocking each other. If you want doors you could perhaps go with sliding barn-style doors on the living room side. 

I would use furniture to separate the living space. We have a very long living room, so we use a L shaped sofa to create a cozy seating space, separate the room, and direct flow. A console table behind the exposed side gives light and interest.

Here's some examples (sorry no clicky links on Chrome) http://designindulgences.com/2012/03/04/heres-how-to-arrange-furniture-to-creat-conversation-areas-in-an-open-floorplan/

gymbugmj2k:

to design things, i used a computer program (ok, i used The Sims) to 'build' the house, and arrange furniture and see what the renovation would do to the space.

lol at this. Building and furnishing houses is the part of the SIMS game I really liked. Once that was done I would get bored. 

I like having my kitchen in a separate room from my living room, so when I entertain I don't have to look at dirty dishes in the kitchen. I think enclosing the stairway would look nicer too, but I wouldn't split up your living space. 

I have an almost 2 year old and she plays in the kitchen when I cook a lot. I think it's good for her to watch me cook anyway so it's never been a problem to not have an open living plan.