Best layout for family kitchen / dining space in 5.5m x 3.2m room?
Hello,
We are planning a knock-through from kitchen to dining room to make a modern family kitchen/dining space (see approximate current layout below). There is an external back door (at top of picture) and 2 internal doors - one from hallway and one from lounge. There is also a large triple window on the front wall (bottom of pic), which starts at 77cm height, so too low for cabinets below (there is also a radiator on that wall).
My thoughts at the moment are to have one long run kitchen cabinets along the long wall, and double the width of the back-door opening to put in some form of glazed doors. However, I'm wondering how to best get a decent sized family kitchen table in without it blocking the doors or getting in the way.
I'm a fan of contemporary design style and am thinking of having only base units with plain fronts for a streamlined look. Then embellishing with splash backs, wall colours etc.
Our neighbours with the same layout house knocked through but kept the U-shape kitchen layout and dining area as it is. We didn't like it and prefer to try to make it feel like one open room.
Any thoughts would be appreciated!
Comments (11)
A B
5 years ago
PROHome By Design Ltd
5 years agoRelated Discussions
Layout for kitchen/dining/family area
Comments (13)Thank you all for your comments. Maria, I think you are quite right saying that the corner where the kitchen is situated in the drawings will get dark by mid afternoon and to add a bit of extra light to that area, we are planning to add some glass on the roof as half of it is an extension. If you look at the end of the utility room you will see that this was the original back wall of the house. The ground floor was extended by the previous owners but they put a double conservatory in order to extend which is not practical at all (too hot in the summer/too cold in winter) so we are looking to re-roof and to add some glass on the roof to allow extra light to come into the darker side of the room. We are also removing an internal wall. I am attaching the drawings of the house as it is now for your information. The current layout is quite different. As you come in from the hall into the back of the house we have quite a large dining table and after that the family seating/tv area. From here there is a wide opening to the left that takes you to what currently is a big play area and then the kitchen to the back of this. This layout is relatively new as I needed to find out if I could live with the toys so close to the kitchen and family area. What used to be the play area, a separate room at the front of the house, is now a "grown up room". The access to the house is from the front, into the hall and then you have the door that will give you access into a large room at the back of the house. I don't need (or want) the two doors showing on the drawings. To be honest at this point nothing is set in stone so the room is a blank canvas. The drawings we have are very basic and do not really reflect what we want but maybe is that we weren't clear enough when we gave our instructions to begin with and that's why I thought I should post here to get fresh ideas and then go back to the guy. As you said, this is going to be quite an investment and it needs to work now while the kids are still small but also in the future. We enjoy having friends and family over so the big open plan space will be great. I just need to make sure the layout we decide to go for is the right one. Many thanks!...See MoreLayout dilemma - best use of space and rooms? Save me !!
Comments (19)Hi memyshell, Having rooms to let with en-suites is only going to increase the money that you can charge for each room so I think it is something you should try coming round to. (I have been in this sort of accommodation before) I do however having a toilet that is shared would be a massive plus to you as what happens when you or any of your housemates have guests do they use the en-suites? Does't sound practical to me however I have a plan using one of the plans that was already attached to the thread of this posts I will try and explain as best I can. Create a corridor that runs from the front door straight through to the wall at the back that be the wall of the kitchen/living and dining area. On the right of the wall make it a full length glazed screen so that when you walk in you can see straight to the garden but are keeping this a separate communal space. The space that is shown as reception room can be transformed into a small functional toilet (which I think is all you need) this will give guests a room to visit without entering a bedroom. The wall of the kitchen would run 3/4 of the way along the wall creating a opening rather than a door giving the space more of a flow. Make sure the door of the new bathroom is hidden behind the wall (almost in the center of the house) when standing in the kitchen area. If you require any other help don't hesitate to get in touch. May I ask where your project will be taking place as it may be something we may be able to work with yourself on? FMA...See MoreThoughts on kitchen/dining/family extension layout?
Comments (10)Hi. I think as you have said that you are a bit messy, the kitchen is in the right place, slightly hidden from the lounge/dining area. If you moved it to the other side of the house, you would change that nice flow from dining to lounge area that you have at the moment. Both will be bright airy spaces, I would think, so that shouldn't be a consideration. If you are going to stick with having your sink on the peninsula, I would also consider a double height worktop to partly hide all the bits that always seem to gather around a sink. You seem to have the space there to do that, could perhaps add shallow units behind the sink and a small breakfast bar. Whereabouts are you? Let me know if you need any more help! Kate....See MoreKitchen, diner, family room layout dilemma
Comments (5)Thank you for your suggestions. We’ve got an architect coming round tomorrow so hopefully he’ll be able to tell us which walls are possible to take out. That’s a good idea to dig out the ground and maybe put glass doors along the back. I’d really like to be able to step straight outside without steps and it would let a lot more light in. The downside is the loss of wall space to fit kitchen units. Both rooms have large chimney breasts so i think it will either have to be a bespoke kitchen which is fitted around them or take out the chimney breasts. Not sure which one would be in our budget. I was also thinking a large island unit, but then that would block the view of the glass doors from the dining and sitting area....See More- PRO
User
5 years agoThere are a few problems:- If you run the units right down the right hand wall, you make the space in the dining room narrower. You need approx 7ft plus across for dining table, that's 3 ft for the table and 2 ft for a chair either side to be pulled out in order to sit down. This leaves you with about 1ft between the side of the table and the kitchen unit next to it.
Also, you will have a nib on the left hand wall where the dining room ends and the kitchen begins due to the steel that needs to sit on top of it, ( the size of the nib will be dictated by the construction of the wall & what it's supporting above ) so the space will still look divided if you don't disguise it with units above.
( Don't forget the party wall agreement ! )
I don't think you have space for units right the way down and the table and chairs. Plus you are limiting yourself to just over 6 metres of units, once you start putting an integrated fridge, then freezer, washing machine, dishwasher, you won't have much left for all the food plus pots & pans, drawers etc.
All this and the dining table is not near the garden, where it would be better off.
( in my opinion )
You also need to consider the windows at the dining room end as they look quite close to the wall, will you be able to fit a unit in there without going across the window?
You also need to consider the windows at the dining room end as they look quite close to the wall, will you be able to fit a unit in there without going across the window?
If you could overcome the plumbing and it should be possible, then maybe you'd be better of with this:-
Move the kitchen to the dining room and have the ' U' shape in there. You can still have just units on the bottom, you'll have over 9 metres of wall space for units so a third more.
You won't need to worry about the nib being in the way.
The dining area will be plenty big enough for the table and chairs, and you'll be able to eat and look on to the garden.
You should be ok with the plumbing, it's only water feed and water waste from the sink, dishwasher and washing machine. It has to go under the floor further but at least it's not a soil pipe!
Tom H
5 years agoJonathan
5 years agoTom H
5 years agoA B
5 years ago
PROOnik Build Ltd
5 years ago- PRO
User
5 years agolast modified: 5 years agoIt would be best to post a layout of the whole house so that we can see what the storage room is for, the position of the conservatory and the lounge.
Yes you can dig up concrete floor.
Yes you can reduce the nib ( buying more steels and bolting them together & placing them on a large pad stone adds a lot to the budget ) -
You can put the units on one wall and finish before you get to the window, but it leaves lots of wasted space and provides only around 6 metres of wall. You couldn't possibly fit everything you need in that one run with no wall cabinets.
Out of interest how many quotes did you get for your extension ? I would always advise at least 3. Shop around, I think you may be able to get the price down. Where there's a will there's a way.
p.s Don't forget to post the floor plan
Tom H
5 years agoThank you all so much. This is the first time I have used a forum and am amazed how generous you are with your precious time.
Here is the floorplan of the house as it is...
...and what we had hoped to do, before we decided we couldn't afford to do it comfortably.
I'm now thinking of keeping the WC/laundry part of the extension, (probably a different arrangement), and using the remaining back wall of the house for wood storage shed etc.
The "storage room" is a pain - it's the space under the turn on the stairs, which is too low to walk under (see photo from dining room doorway looking towards the back door - excuse the mess!)
Ignore what I said about base units only. You've convinced me that it won;t be practical.
I'm interested to here your thoughts on "wasted space" versus "space" that provides a feeling of spaciousness and openness.
Thanks again for your interest!
A B