Open plan layout help please!

[Linguaphile]

I'm working myself into a tizzy over deciding on a layout for our new build home. Kitchen, plumbing, electrics, etc will be going in soon, so I need to decide.

Wall A has big sliding glass doors onto the terrace/garden and a window. It's a lot of light, but the only natural light in the room as the house is built into the side of a hill. The entrance to the room is on wall D.

My concerns are as follows:

• I prefer the long kitchen with an island as it feels most modern, and I love a social island space for entertaining, but the island eats up precious floor real estate and makes living/dining smaller.
  
• I like the lounge in the design with the u-shaped kitchen, but don't know if I'll fancy walking straight into the kitchen and I also am not convinced about the kitchen being away from the windows. BUT, it's a very functional and practical kitchen and would admittedly be nice to have some separation between living and dining. And I suppose I'd have a direct view out to the terrace.
  
• Another option is to have the lounge closest to the entryway, but the space isn't huge and I can't really work out how to juggle furniture to make it so the sofas don't block light or walkways as you come in the room. Also, I worry it will feel weird to have this huge open space leading to stairs just off to the side of the living room...like it's a waiting room or something.
  

Thoughts??

[Iwantaunicorn]

I like the kitchen with the Island on the left, but would have the dining table up in the top right hand corner and the sitting room area where the u shaped kitchen is. Our house is open plan and I've got the sofa as far away from the kitchen as possible so people can watch tv/chill out without the noise of cooking / washing being annoying, and the food smells don't get in to the furniture either. Congrats on the new home though, very exciting!

[namechangedtoday15]

V similar dimensions to you and almost identical layout to your first layout.

Kitchen and dining area - where we spend most of daytime maximises light. Great to have social / casual island seating overlooking garden (lovely view). And I absolutely did not want corners in my kitchen (think any kind of corner cabinet is useless) so a U shaped kitchen was a no no.

The back of the room (where you have sofa) is where we have TV and spend time there in evening. Darker part of the room, makes it quite a nice cosy space (with lamps etc) and away from the bifolds at night - again I didn't want any blinds / curtains on the bifolds so being seated away from them in the evening feels we're not in a goldfish bowl.

[minipie]

Of your 3 I think the first layout is the best for the reasons given by pp.

Is there any chance at all of swapping the entry to wall C instead of D? That would improve it I think. You might have to have a shorter island to give space when you walk in, but then you could put TV on wall D and have a more enclosed seating area.

[JoJoSM2]

Agree with Minipie completely.

I'd also add that it is nice to have a darker sitting area as you can make it cosy. However, you wouldn't want a dark kitchen or dining area, especially if you might use the dining table for work/homework.

[JoJoSM2]

And you don't want your TV by the window to avoid glare.

[5rivers7hills]

Ah I disagree. I much prefer the U shaped kitchen lay out - the others feel to me like you are always in the kitchen and I prefer the seating and kitchen to feel a bit separate.

[Linguaphile]

What about something like this??

[BubblesBuddy]

Your first one is sensible. The dining table tucked into the corner on drawing 2 makes little sense to me and it's some distance from the cooking area so furthest to walk to and fro with food. Always have your kitchen looking over the garden with lots of light and it's not so far to go outside with food either. Your terrace should be part of the house ideally and another eating/relaxing zone.

Keep the soft furnishings away from the cooking area if you can.

You don't want to be walking around an island to get anywhere so your latest suggestion doesn't work in my view. I would be wary of the U shape in idea 2 also. They can be annoying and your bar stools are facing walls with no windows which is not the best view. You want seating to look towards light if you can. I think bar stools and a large dining table are taking up a lot of space. Do you need both or could you have a built in bench and table at the back of the island to save space? Add more chairs for extra seating. It would be an integrated dining area but you could be a lot more creative with the island. It's all very linear at the moment. Do you need both eating areas in a relatively small space? Plus another outside? I have had darker kitchens and would never ever design one. Light, light and more light is best!

Sounds like an interesting project though.

[5rivers7hills]

Yes I like #4 a lot - you don’t have the same peninsular issues.

Most new build flats only have windows on one side and almost always have the kitchen at the back with no windows and prioritise the living space by the natural light.

Our last flat had a lovely big open plan living space with a U shaped kitchen in the back corner - but the hob was on the peninsular so you didn’t need actually really face away from the light much, or from the social space of entertaining.

[JoJoSM2]

I like #4 a lot. Keeps the door in the right place and the kitchen doesn’t dominate the space. It also accommodates more people in the sitting and dining areas. The only downside would be having to pull the curtains when you watch TV.

[guilty100]

Personally, I'd like the dining table to be close to the kitchen. I think it makes sense in terms of your workflow. Plus, you can use the dining table as additional space for prep (my BIL does this, and everybody pitches in with chopping as a kind of social thing!)

I would lose the island unit but keep the kitchen along that left hand wall, and curve it around wall C (and wall A if need be). This will give you similar space (with more wall space) and allow you to use the floor more effectively. I'd put the dining table the other way round, with the long side parallel to the windows. This will mean that you can keep some space to the top right for getting in/out of the doors, which you may well want to do in the summer. You can then use the darker part of the room in the evenings.

[Jellybabies123]

I like option b personally. Depends on how you use the space as a family though really. Although i like the idea of an island! On another point...where did you find this floor planner? I am currently planning an extension and want to find a floor planner (ideally free!)

[Believeitornot]

I would only put an island in if it isn’t a squeeze. Which it looks like it is.

I would go for option A but have wall units along wall C and have the dining table closer to the kitchen. People can sit at the table and socialise there.

Otherwise I would have the door moved from D to C and tuck the kitchen in the corner where D is. Again put dining table near the window. You could have a bench along the wall B which means the table can move closer to the wall, giving more space for the living area x