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Kitchen Living Rooms

Charlotte Harling

2 years ago

Hello all. We live in an extended 1930s semi, the stairs run through the middle of the house due to the way it was extended in the mid 80s, before open plan was so much of a thing! We are replacing the kitchen as it's starting to creak but I would love to try and get a breakfast bar in, even a small one. We are getting the kitchen from Wren (please no comments on that) but prior to that we did try a couple of independents and can't seem to get anyone with any inspiration for us beyond what we can think of ourselves and I've found myself coming up with all the ideas.
My question is, does anyone have a true living room kitchen set up? We have space for the dining table in an adjoining but openish plan and it works well for that. We can't realistically move the kitchen at the moment as we have an external soil pipe running down the back of the house, limited budget for smashing any more walls down and we are trying not to cause too much chaos or upheaval for renovations as life doesn't permit right now. I've attached my not-to-scale drawing of the downstairs layout, the scale drawing Wren have given us and the potential kitchen as a photo. Any input would be so appreciated.

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Comment (1)

Avril
2 years ago
I have double doors off my kitchen to lounge and it would look fantastic if I removed the wall these are on and really opened the space up.
I have been tempted to explore this.
However, the reason I haven’t, is I find they are usually kept shut.
Otherwise the noise from cooking, extractor fan, kettle etc spoils sound from tv or is just annoying.
And I like to listen to a podcast or may receive a phone call when I am cooking in evening and family may want to watch football!

But aside from tv, space gets steamed up (although there may be better and quieter extractor fans than I have) and also when open and not cooking, one big room takes longer / harder to heat. I also prefer cooking smells to be confined to kitchen. These things though, probably could be overcome.

I’m not sure if this is the type of information you were asking and you know more than us how you use your kitchen and how long you spend in it, but i’d say open spaces look great, are undeniably hugely popular and may be very practical for young family, but definitely consider noise which is harder to overcome.
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You have a lovely home to work with. I would say don't underestimate mirrors for making a room look twice as big. Have you considered giant mirrors, or mirroring an entire wall? How about the curved wall? I would pay attention to lighting also, as great lighting can make your home look a million dollars and more spacious. I would make a focal point with television resting on a gorgeous storage cabinet, place wall picture frames on wall where tv is placed, this will draw attention to the art and cabinet rather than the tv itself. I would get highback armchairs and use them for both dining and lounge seating with a sofa. I like those Victorian card tables on wheels, that fold up, multipurpose. Only buy furniture you absolutely love, don't follow trends, follow your heart, after all you want to feel good at home. Don't be half-hearted follow your dreams, be confident. When you fully execute your interior passion you'll be happy and others who come to your home will sense you and credit your style as being authentic, true to you and they will love it as much as they love you.
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Hi Laura. Congratulations on the new home! Have you thought about putting the sofa on the back wall and moving the TV to where the sofa is? I think it would work nicely with the shelves. You can then add a floor lamp and picture gallery on the back wall similar to what's pictured with a tall potted plant in the other corner to make a nice focal point. I'd go for a pale grey For the walls, dulux dusted moss 2 is nice but check undertones with your sofa. Your dining chair looks more of a deep coral so would bring a little in for cushions (maybe white and coral patterned to lighten the sofa) and also some texture, a faux sheepskin is always good for a scandi look. You could then add splashes of green or blue for art etc. Some faux stems would be great on the dining table (I like cox and cox's eucalyptus in their glass bottle vase for something simple and they give height). Hard to tell from table pics but could you add an arc light to zone the dining area as you don't have any ceiling lights? Your kitchen looks great, I have to admit if it were mine though I'd be tempted to paint it a soft white and remove some of the wall units and have some shelves instead.
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Hi! I studied architecture in Edinburgh! If this is not your longterm home and ensuring return on investment is important to you then I recommend getting some sketch designs and talking them through with local estate agents who are familiar with the local housing market. You could show them a couple of options and get their opinion on which is likely to get the higher resale value, or which is likely to sell quickest - sometimes you don't get a lot more money but it's a configuration that is more sought after so it sells faster, which can also be a benefit when you come to sell. Most of the work I do is creating more open plan living, this is the general trend and has been for the last 20 years or so. I redesigned my Edinburgh flat to have an open plan kitchen dining lounge and it sold for the highest price achieved in that tenement or that street, though I did get lucky selling at the height of a market bubble at the time. I have a free Design Your Home Vision Checklist that is a good place to start with a home redesign: https://www.i-architect.co.uk/dyhvchecklist.html Good luck with your project! Jane :)
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