Suggestions for open plan living dining kitchen for family of 6
We are a family of 6 squeezed into a small three bed and are finally building a much needed extension. Everyone will finally have their own bedroom but we have decided to make one large living area; opening up the living room (1) and kitchen (2) and extending out the rear which will be the area marked (3). I’d like the kitchen to remain in the existing position (2) as I’d like to ideally still have 2 other separate areas rather than a kitchen and one large sitting/dining area. We have 4 kids aged 6 to 17 so I still like the idea of them being able to use different areas of the room. We would be able to add a wood burner to area (3) but if this is used as a dining space it means there wouldn’t be enough room for a table and a small sofa. I’m needing a fresh set of eyes to help design how we could use this space. The second pic shows how I would like the kitchen layout. Definitely want an island but wondering if this is causing extra limitations! Any advice much appreciated:)
Comments (23)
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Need help designing open plan kitchen/living/dining
Comments (29)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!...See MoreNeed help with designing kitchen/dining/living room open living plan
Comments (10)Thank you for your response. We had plans pretty finalised until we found out that we can keep just that long wall into the large space as it is a load-bearing. There is an opportunity to put a door in though. I am attaching what it looked like with all the walls that we can now remove. We have also been tinkering with ideas which I am adding as well. I added some comments on the plans as well. What we want to have is a dining area with a large table that seats 8-10 people. We want enough space for two people to work and cook in the kitchen. Thus, we were thinking of an island or an L-shape workspace coming out. We'd like to have a utility room to have space for all the cleaning utensils. Washer and Dryer will be upstairs in a separate laundry room. The living room is nothing formal but an area to relax and watch TV. We'd like to have an L-shaped cough in there for a family of four (2 kids under the age of 10)....See MoreOpen Plan Kitchen/Living/Dining Design Dilemma
Comments (7)Oval dining tables are able to seat everyone comfortably and a good choice. Not so easy to come by however! Maybe a glass top table would add a bit of sparkle/bounce light around the area? If you have kids an oval or round extending to oval best. My dining table is oval with extra leaf added to round top and I keep it as extended. Might be easier to find round to oval than just looking for fixed oval top? Choose a sofa with neutral but washable loose covers (ie machine wash) and add colourful cushions to make a statement. As your wood in new kitchen is dark and warm tones, follow the warm tones with dining table/chair/sofa legs in dark wood....See MoreThe reality of a family living in open plan living room/diner/ kitchen
Comments (28)I agree with everyone saying that open plan is good if you have a dedicated enclosed space for a snug or second living room. My son is an architect and he has seen a major change with people requesting ways to separate spaces to revert back to a more traditional layout. What about privacy for those moments when kids bring their friends over, they really do not want parents listening and being in their space! Designing a space for a growing family means trying to future proof the footprint. No matter how quiet appliances are meant to be, they will end up irritating you. We have a coffee machine, extractor fan, washing machine, tumble dryer, microwave, kettle in our current kitchen and are lucky enough to be able to move the kitchen into a 10sqm study to create a separate utility and then build a rear extension with a kitchen / diner / snug. We also have a ground floor loo and living room on the other side of the house. The noise of appliances we find exceptionally intrusive, partitions and half height walls may help reduce the noise but won’t eliminate them. Have you also thought about where you will store the kids toys, books etc and how easily you will be able to hide food preparation and washing etc from visitor? I do like the idea of having sliding doors if that is at all possible to zone off spaces when you do want a quiet area....See More- 4 years ago
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Here's an example of what could fit in when choosing a kitchen island:
(imagine the oven going into the island)
Just enough for 6, but not much flexibility when having guests (as the island is fixed). - 4 years ago
And another layout. Plenty of kitchen cabinets and sofas, but not much open floorspace.
- 4 years ago
Thanks all for your replies. Rinq those images really help to see the different options - thank you! I’ve attached the current floor plan and the latest extension plans. As you can see it is quite a change! I’m currently thinking of building storage/seating along the right hand wall of dining area and using a drop down dining table so the area can be used for dining but can transform into somewhere to sit, if we are putting a wood burner in the left hand wall. I should say in the living room area we have built in storage/shelves running the full length of the right hand wall which I’m thinking about keeping as it helps define the area but open to all ideas.
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Emmanuelle's plan is great, but I guess there isn't enough space for it. Besides, it would require demolishing a loadbearing wall (as I assume the livingroom wall currently is) and then placing back a wall 55cm next to it. Still not enough room to place a sofa in the kitchen-diner, since an island would block table access..
- 4 years ago
Similar layout without island and without removing the loadbearing wall:
Again no extra sofa nor woodburner, as that would be too much packed in there. Comfy dining chairs will solve the sofa issue. And in this layout there's still some space for dining guests.
My personal pick would probably be the 'compact living room' I posted yesterday. Where the livingroom is in the new extension, compact and cozy. - 4 years ago
Peninsula with bar seats, central kitchen. Less demolishion. Sofa in the diningroom. Woodburner in lounge. Loads of kitchen storage. Semi-open concept.
- 4 years ago
And here's the last layout with the hallway addition too:
I'd keep the hallway more open too, at least 100cm walking towards the bedroom. If ever something should happen, you can still roll towards the bedroom and bathroom. I had no inspiration on where to hang coats and shoes, but I thought the staircase would be better off on the other side (is there a reason the architect placed it in the walkway from door to livingroom?). The bedframe in this layout is 210x170cm, besides 2x60cm and a 55cm deep closet. Shower is 80x150cm, bathroom width 230cm.
- 4 years ago
Emmanuelle