Push your dining table up by the built in seating leaving room for a small sofa and possibly one modern feature chair. At meal times, they can sit at the built in seating as it will make them higher up at the table. Define the 'lounge' area with a rug. Keep the children's area over by the shelving and have a small low desk area included in the shelving system for them to sit at which would remove the need for kids table and chairs.

Hello all, I am back in the game. was out of country for few days. After reading everyone's comment and considering I need to go with something different. Also, looking at budget, I have found something which I would like your opinion on Its basically a black wooden table with cream and black fabric chair? U have seen my kitchen in the pic above, please advise!!

Agree with going for the pocket doors. You may likely have to build out the wall so the pockets have something to recess into, otherwise you could go for Japanese style sliding doors that slide along the face of the wall. I personally don't think you have the space for that large a dining table, it's too wide. As others as suggested I'd replace with a extendable table. I've done 2 layouts, option 1 with your 1m wide table, option 2 with a 80cm wide table and a bench. It doesn't quite meet the 1m clearance rule but it gives you more wiggle room. OPTION 1 OPTION 2 Couple of links I thought were relevant - https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=grwHG9SDkRs&ab_channel=NEVERTOOSMALLNEVERTOOSMALLVerified https://www.houzz.co.uk/magazine/houzz-tour-a-tired-flat-gets-a-light-and-space-boosting-layout-stsetivw-vs~113120675

Hey Lee, Just another idea not covered above, without moving the stairs or load-bearing walls (which is obviously super expensive). I wondered if you could move the new WC and utility in your hallway space, using that space also under the stairs. This would then do a similar thing as moving the staircase to open up the space but would leave you with wider rooms rather than narrower ones. I'm also not a fan of long halls as they are a bit of a waste of space. So if I can ever get rid of them I do! I am also not a fan of a WC right off a living/dining space so having this off the hall seems more logical. If you also have the WC in the utility/panatry area your guests have to go into it to get to it, which for me defeats the purpose of having this hidden messy space!!! The doors between spaces can obviously be adjusted, you could also enter the utility from the dining area if preferred but I've seen so many great designs for small utilities/WC's that would be great in that space. Purley going from the thickness of the wall between the dining area and old utility, I assumed it was load bearing, so left it in, but could open it up, or if you want more of a broken plan feel, you could put barn door type dividers in or glass doors to let in light but keep spaces sperate. Depending on how load-bearing the walls are. This should only mean a small stud between WC and utility and then the old utility walls in the new kitchen space. I blocked up the door between the dining room and utltiy but this also could be kept in if you don't mind accessing it from this room. Hope this helps :) Rhiannon