Need help designing open plan kitchen/living/dining

7 years ago

last modified: 7 years ago

Hi everyone

my fiancé and I have recently bought a house and really want to knock down the kitchen wall to make the downstairs open plan. The only thing holding us back is that the kitchen is connected to the living room, and therefore if we knocked the wall down we would need to walk through the living room to get to the dining space (labelled as the "garden room" on the floor plan) .

I have attached a floor plan so you can see the size of the space and layout as it currently is (it's is quite a small house).

I've also attached a first design of the kitchen as we would like it (we want to move the sink to the front bay window and have a breakfast bar where the old wall would have been).

I'd appreciate your views on whether you think it would still be functional. We really like the idea of having an open plan home to entertain and socialise with our friends/family but not sure about the kitchen being connected to the living room and walking through it to get to the dining area. (Please note though it is a small space so it's not a long walk)

Thanks

Nisha

Featured Answer

J

7 years ago

Your kitchen seems quite large compared to the living spaces. I would think 3m long would be sufficient. I agree with looking at adding dining to this space. When you've opened the walls, how about a booth style table. Skip the peninsula and continue the line along the wall with built in seating. Or see if it can tuck into the bay window area. The bay window option could be smaller everyday seating with the more formal table in the original location.
Either way or with the original plan. I would skip the bench peninsula. It cuts into the room and you have plenty of space already.

Brintons Carpets - Dining Rooms · More Info

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Comments (29)

A B
7 years ago
Just my opinion, but I have seen this done in a modern terrace and it really didn't work. I'm not sure if you could (with building regs) but opening up the whole space would look much better imo (leave just a small hall for coats and wc door).
Nisha thanked A B
PRO
Equilibrando... Space Planning with Feng Shui
7 years ago
Go for it! How about moving dining table closer to the kitchen? / Marcin
Nisha thanked Equilibrando... Space Planning with Feng Shui
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Nisha
Original Author
7 years ago
last modified: 7 years ago
MM feng Thanks for your comment. We can't move the dining table as the kitchen is too narrow to hold one unfortunately!
Nisha
Original Author
7 years ago
last modified: 7 years ago
Jen P - thanks for your comment. I should have mentioned that we are opening it all. We will be blocking up the current kitchen door and keeping a bit of a hall way but opening the rest out. The wall next to where you can see the fridge on the kitchen design will not be there - we will have a pillar to separate the kitchen and living area if that makes sense?
Nisha
Original Author
7 years ago
last modified: 7 years ago
J - thank you for your comment. The bay window idea is great! it is something I considered originally but my fiancé wasn't too keen on the idea. I'm going to bring up the idea again and see if we can work out some plans to see if it can work.

I also like the idea about the built in bench seating - that might be a good alternative to the breakfast bar/peninsula. The only thing I'm concerned about is whether there would be enough space to walk around the table into the kitchen, but I suppose if we are opening half of the hallway wall it may be okay. Think I need to get an architect to draw up some plans!

On a side note, do you think the american fridge/freezer is a bit too big? We have always wanted one, but think we may be trying to fit everything we want in (breakfast bar, fridge, tower oven... not sure we can have it all! )
Claire Nicholson
7 years ago
Hi Nisha,

We faced a similar dilemma when recently buying our house and I found it immensely difficult to visualise how the space would / could work.

Considering the cost of making the alterations I would highly recommend getting a designer to help you with the space; if anyone had suggested that to me 6 months ago, I would have thought they were crazy but you will be very pleasantly surprised by how little it costs and to be able to see the different options in 3D (and even short youtube videos of how it looks as you walk around) is so amazingly helpful before you spend all that money!

We used an amazing lady called Gina Everett from Create Perfect and I can't recommend her highly enough; as I said, you'd be amazed at the help you get for a very small investment.

It took us 3 months and about 6 different layouts to decide on what was best to do and without the 3D images of how to plan it all, i hate to think what we'd have ended up with- it could have been a very expensive mistake!

I've put some of the images below of what it looks like at the moment and what Gina's helped us design. I can't share the completed pics yet as all in process at the moment but it's a huge transformation.

Good luck whatever you do
Nisha thanked Claire Nicholson
Nisha
Original Author
7 years ago
Claire - wow thank you for sharing that. The 3D plans for your home look amazing!

I really can't see how our space will work at the moment but hopefully with a designer that'll change! Thank you for the recommendation - we really had no idea where to start with getting a designer but it is something we definitely wanted to do.

We will contact Gina and a few others to get a rough idea of price first. Hopefully the cost will not be too much, we were hoping not to spend more than £500 on design. Of course I know it will differ for each project but is this realistic from your experience?

Thanks, Nisha
Claire Nicholson
7 years ago
Hi Nisha,

You won't be able to see at the moment because the thing she helped with most was working out what walls to knock down and how to configure the space! I've attached a second picture of one of the other rooms we're knocking through to achieve the total space and also some of the early designs we discounted when trying to work out the layout, so you can see how far we've come using a designer to help us!

My husband and I had spent hours staring at plans and trying to work it out and she had a totally different perspective and made suggestions that we hadn't even thought about but achieved the space we needed. Most importantly Gina saved us a fortune on architect design fees and also building costs as her suggestions involved less steels, less major building work; we're ending up with the same space but a £10k building / structural fee not the £40k we started with!!!

I think your thoughts on what you'd like to spend are achievable and a good designer will absolutely work with what budget you have available and advise how you can use that to achieve the most important things to your project.

I always thought designers were about sofas and paint colours and although that bit is fun, it's 100% worth spending the money on the bits you can't do yourself like the visualisation of the space and how to configure the space. They help you prioritise what matters in the space for you and how you live, so you end up with something functional and beautiful!

I can't work out how to send you private messages on her but super happy for Gina (Create Perfect) to share any of our videos and images to help show you what a difference it made to planning our space and all the different options we considered.
Nisha thanked Claire Nicholson
Nisha
Original Author
7 years ago
Claire - thanks for your further input! It's been so valuable! I have contacted Gina so hopefully she will be able to help us in the same way within our budget! We will share our updates as we go to help anyone else out.
PRO
OnePlan
7 years ago
Nice to read along - looking forward to the next stage ! ( loved the bay seating idea !)
This is the sort of design work we do too ! :-)
Nisha
Original Author
7 years ago
last modified: 7 years ago
Hi all! I wanted to update you on our design process.

Further to my last posts - we decided to go ahead with the Claire's recommendation to use an interior designer. Gina has been brilliant! (highly recommended if anyone is considering an interior designer).

We now have 5 layout options:

Please note: (the extra space in options 1 and 3 may be used as a reading corner or for us to grow into later as a child's playroom)

Option 1:

Option 2:

Option 3:

Option 4:

Option 5:

Please let me know your thoughts and views!
Claire Nicholson
7 years ago
Hi Nisha,

Great to see how far you've got and that Gina was so helpful; she's made our renovation about a million times less stressful and far more enjoyable!

There are a lot of pros to them all but if I had to pick one I actually really love Option 3! But I don't know too much about your lifestyle, so will explain my thinking a little.

I really like that your living area is tucked away and isn't a through fare, so whatever else is going on in the space you're nicely tucked away.

I think walking in by the dining table is nice and not too imposing, so you're not really having to walk around anything too much. I also think the distance from the kitchen to the table will be super practical and connected as this is your only dining space.

I also like that for summer your kitchen is just around the corner from what seems to be the exit to the garden, so great for taking drinks / food etc into the garden.

It also gives you the flex for another small seating area, so if you have people around if the boys want to watch tv after dinner and the girls sit and chat you've got options not to all be sat on top of each other

Make sure you post some pictures of it all when you're done! Would love to see it!!!
Nisha
Original Author
7 years ago
last modified: 7 years ago
Hi Claire, completely agree with what you've said and it'd be nice to have the flex for another small seating area.

The only concern we have is we want our living space to be bigger as for us we think we'll use that more. That space is only 2.3m wide which means we are very close to the TV (approv 1.6m from wall to edge of sofa). This is the only thing we're struggling to visualise at the moment because it's quite narrow. What do you think?

Because of this were thinking potentially option 4! But not deciding fully yet, still lots to consider..
Helen C
7 years ago
I would have the kitchen as laid out in option 3, the dining table as it is in option 4 and the living space as it is in option 5. This way you get the larger living space, the kitchen is a decent size and the dining table enjoys views of the garden.
Claire Nicholson
7 years ago
Hi Nisha,

Ah yes, I hadn't really looked at the dimensions nor appreciated that you haven't got a second living room.

We are going to have a cosy corner sofa in a narrow bit but we have 2.9m and that's fine but I probably wouldn't want to go any narrower, so I think you're right!

The great thing about Option 4 is that your kitchen is tucked around to the right, so it's the living space you focus on as you walk in the room and the way you've designed it, you don't have to walk through the middle of your living space to get to the dining table, you can skirt nicely around the outside.

I think considering what's most important for you in terms of what you want from the space, Option 4 seems like the best option.

Can't wait to see it when it's done!!
Helen C
7 years ago
Agree with Claire that option 4 works well too, just the compromise of the dining table being quite far from the kitchen.
A B
7 years ago
Option 5 for me! Because I spend my days in the kitchen, so I want to be overlooking the garden/able to see the children playing. In the evening when I'm on the sofa I prefer to be cosy, curtains shut, fire on (in winter) and it's often too dark to look out at the garden. I'd also have a little desk/study area by the front window in option 5. All great ideas though, and I can see how option 4 makes the best use of space.
Nisha thanked A B
Helen C
7 years ago
Re option 3 where the kitchen is I would have thought you could include a peninsular island too.
Nisha
Original Author
7 years ago
Campo73 - we considered your idea of having the combination of options 3, 4 and 5 but the living area would still be narrow (as you can see in option 5) that part of the space is 2.3m wide so whilst it would be long, it'd be very narrow from the TV to the sofa.
Nisha
Original Author
7 years ago
We also think Option 1 might be good (but moving the dining table in a portrait orientation and a bit closer towards the kitchen so its not so in the middle). Which would leave a very big living space and a nook in the corner for potentially another seating area/come play room in the future.
Helen C
7 years ago
Given you want to prioritise the living space, you could go for as I suggested above if you changed the door from the hall into the space over to the side. Then you could move the sofa further back towards the left hand wall. This would also give you space for a little nook in the bay window for a bookcase and reading chair. If you don't like that idea and given everything you've said I'd go for option 4.
Helen C
7 years ago
I'm not so fussed on option 1 or 2 as they are shown. Essentially now though the main priority is to get the kitchen in the right place and then if you include enough tv sockets the rest of the room can be flexible. I'd say go with what feels right to you when you're standing in the space.
Nisha
Original Author
7 years ago
Thanks campo. We wouldn't be able to move the sofa any further back as the stairs are there so that area needs to be kept clear for a walkway.

I think the fiancé and I will discuss some more and hopefully we can come to an agreement!

Would welcome any more comments in the mean time.
Helen C
7 years ago
Best of luck, I'm sure it will be fabulous when it's done!
Nisha
Original Author
7 years ago
I forgot to mention, I will be posting more on the process on my instagram (nisha__p) so feel free to follow my journey! (currently planning a wedding so have not had time to post much, but will be increasing the home related posts soon!)
Nisha
Original Author
7 years ago
Hi everyone, I'm back with an update!

I now have the 3D images for Option 4 (our preferred option) and also Option 1 so if kids come along in the future, we can utilise the nook area as a play space!

Let me know your thoughts :)

The next 3 images are with the dining table in the middle (and the breakfast bar bit removed).
Claire Nicholson
7 years ago
Hey Nisha!

I love your Option 4 and what a fab design- looks amazing!!!

I think Option 4 has lots of space and flow through the room without having to walk around furniture and is a great adult space with formal and informal dining with the addition of the breakfast bar.

If little people do come along in the future and you need a play space when they're a little bit older, you can always whip out the breakfast bar and move the table up closer to the kitchen at that point- it's a lovely flexible design.

In the meantime Option 4 feels light and open and spacious and looks fab to me.

What a long way you've come since your first post! How exciting!
Nisha
Original Author
7 years ago
Thanks Claire. I'm really happy with how it has turned out! Really excited to get on with the works but it won't be until July (we get married in June so lots going on at the moment with wedding planning!).

Would really like to thank you for recommending Gina, it has really helped us visualise what we want. Hope your renovation is going well!