I am not going to cast a vote, but would just offer some advice on thinking about the ergonomics of the space you want to create. People have mentioned the Golden Triangle in the context of the kitchen, which is a good guide for the kitchen layout, but thinking about the wider layout it is really important to think about how you, and others who share your space, actually use the space. How many of you will be "working" in the kitchen at any one time? Don't give up a disproportionate amount of real estate to the kitchen area - if storage is the driver then think of other ways of storing items, such as contemporary dresser in your dining area etc. Think about where the majority of occupants want to get to most frequently when they first enter the space; to a sofa, a dining table or a kitchen counter? Apply the 80-20 rule and maximise efficiency for the most frequent activities. What is happening immediately outside the space? Is it a space that looks better lit up in the evening when you are dining, or is it a space you want to gaze out at during the day? What else do you do at the dining table? Does someone work at it during the day? Is light a consideration? Will you have a TV on the wall? It may be good to have a wall away from direct sunlight as this can impair the visibility of a screen. So much to think about, but it really pays to spend some time upfront thinking about the use. Good Luck and enjoy the design process.

Well, the wall is out now. To give you an idea of what we're working with, this is the space we have left. View through to the dining room. View through to the lounge. This is the lounge door (on the right) that we're thinking of blocking up. You'll see from our floor plan that this will mean the entrance hallway leads to the kitchen and dining room, and entrance for the lounge will be through the dining room. At the moment we have a sofa in front of the door to live with walking through the wall for the lounge to see if we can do that. If so, we'll block it off and make the lounge more secluded from the house, but more open from the dining areas. So, onto what to do with that space. We really like these doors: http://www.wickes.co.uk/Wickes-Newland-Internal-French-Doors-Pine-Glazed-8-Lite-1981x1170mm/p/208500 but I'm worried about the fact that they're unfinished. So when painting white, I wont be able to get the wood behind the glass very well, which means when looking through the glass, you'll see the back of the wood (if that makes sense?) I'm very fussy like this. So, thoughts? We have decided on Pavilion Grey from Farrow and Ball for the lounge and dining room, the architrave, skirting and coving will be like this: https://www.houseofhome.com.au/dbimages/news/fn_large/435/wide/Architraves_and_skirting_profiles.jpg Would love to hear your opinions. Adam

Thanks urban space - we don't have under floor heating and the wood floor we had fitted about 5/6 yrs ago has been a nightmare. We did have an expansion joint but had so much movement and warping. We had the company back out beginning of this year and we had wanted to have a new floor at that stage but they said they could put right the existing one. Not sure on the technical term for what they did but they effectively relaid/ straightened it and used a resin with wood chips in to fill the gaps so you couldn't see them but within 5/6 months we have movement again and now all this resin is starting to rise out the top. For that reason I'm just not prepared to have a proper wood floor again - it might be down to the fitters but it has been extremely costly. By the time you add our dog into the mix and the scratches he has added to it I think a fake wood effect is the way to go for us

Hi Amber I can see why you’ve been wrestling with it as it is difficult to figure out the best options with such a long stretch of kitchen and lounge. An extension could make both these rooms appear longer/skinny and maybe darker. My friends added a similar extension with a large window on one half and patio doors on the other, with both the side walls being solid brick. This did make their original rooms darker so if you did decide to go down this route, perhaps consider a design incorporating more glass than brick? I did come up with an idea similar to what you had in mind but i don’t know if it is possible (I have left tiny parts of your dividing wall between your existing kitchen/lounge still in place in case supports are needed). There’s a rough drawing below to help you (and me!) visualise it. the kitchen is moved to the front of the house, the yellow rectangle represents a chair that you could tuck under the counter, or if necessary lose the counter and place an armchair here; alternatively you could place an armchair / swivel chair where yellow circle is? this could be whatever type of glass opening you like or combination window/door (you might be able to reuse part of what you already have?) dining table area this could be whatever you need it to be – a sofa with side tables, a sideboard with wall hung TV above, a floor to ceiling storage wall, etc bi-fold doors to close off the lounge (could go for half glass for added light) again, whatever is needed – another sofa, a media wall, a mix of units/desk and open shelving above this could be a place for a wall hung tv or fire or both! (if you did need to retain part of the original dividing wall to support a beam, you could make a shallow false wall behind 7 which would be great to hide any wiring, sockets, etc) could leave as original window if this works or make it into a glass door patio door to garden/bi-folds - match up with 8 a longer section of wall here may be useful depending on how you intend to use the space At the very least, i hope this offers some inspiration and stops the wrestling! Just consider what your family’s needs are and when you have decided on a layout, I would draw a ‘to scale’ plan with the actual size of your furnishings (incl. 5). This will make sure you are putting walls and sockets in the right place and help to determine what type/size openings work best. Best of luck and would be great to eventually see the final product