How to make our kitchen / living space cosier...

[lochmaree]

Our kitchen is large and open, a square shape of room with windows only on one wall. The only other room downstairs is a small room which was an office and we made it a playroom (2 DC). We do have a sofa in the kitchen, right in the corner at the back, seats 3 adults comfortably. And the TV is on the back wall then swings out and round on a bracket to watch from the sofa. It's all hard lino type flooring. I really would love to make there more of a 'living room' / cosy space within the kitchen but I don't know how to do it! Any ideas? A large rug?

Floor plan would help.

We have kitchen area, dining area and tv area. TV area, has a couch, rug, lamps and I light candles in the evening. It’s really cozy, we rarely use our lounge now.

Sorry, floor plan attached! Garage can't be modified into living space.

And there is a door from the kitchen into the utility room

If you are happy with the layout and just want a cosy feel, people use paint to zone things, even in the ceiling. A rug that you don't trip over can help. I also think pictures on the wall help a lot. A lot of people don't put them in kitchens.

Lighting. Lamps and under counter light strips.

Can you 'zone' the room using shelving, paint, and rugs? Something like this.

I would put something soft on the floor, yes a big rug.

Have velvet sofas and warm wood furniture for dining table/coffee table. Perhaps get a low storage unit to split the room into two distinct areas.

Lighting to be able to lower lights for a more chilled out atmosphere

I would paint living area a colour

That's a great idea

I have some led strip lights from ikea on top of kitchen cupboards (currently set to purple/pink), and some spot lights on the under side of the wall cupboards.

I also have pictures on the wall, the kitchen has always been a place you spend time in for me (even of its just sitting listening to the radio) so it has to be nice. I can also see it from my sitting room (it's semi open).

I've seen zoning with paint and am very interested but I am not very confident with bolder colours and shapes! It probably doesn't help that the more kitchen area is a bold red with the rest of the room 'natural calico', so I wouldn't know whether to zone the living area in more red, or something else, and if so, then what!

I really like this! But it would have to go in the middle of the room, rather than against a wall as in the example. So maybe something similar but less tall. And then maybe would need to be fastened into the floor somehow.

Would you have a coffee table in front of the sofa? Which would create a kind of 'corridor' into the cupboard / utility room (which I go in and out of a lot) or would you put it in front of / under the TV?

The kitchen area of the room is a bold red, still do the living area a colour? It is 'natural calico' at the moment. And red, or something else?

A couple of photos might be useful if you dare?

Definitely a rug, some table lamps, some bright light in the kitchen to cook by, but isn’t a ceiling light. So under the counter lights maybe?

Warm colours, plants. A small bookshelf? Cushions etc.

You could use some thing like low book shelves or the ikea callax that are 4 (2x2) to create a low barrier and zone. Then add a rug, etc.

I would probably paint the living room as well or a deep pink

We are actually away at the moment, this post has been inspired by the fact that our holiday cottage is far more homely than our actual home 😁

I'm not sure your kitchen is big enough to be zoned. It's quite annoying having doors in two adjacent walls so you can't put a sofa or a, table right up against the wall without blocking the flow through the kitchen. I presume your kitchen table is right in the centre of the room for this reason? Not much room for anything else is there without severely blocking doorways or cupboards?

Yes I also feel like this may be the case, and I suppose maybe why we haven't done it so far. The table is in the middle yes but more towards the kitchen area.

Take some photos of the cottage, then when you’re at home try to see why it is more homely, remembering that part of the reason hotels etc are so peaceful is because they’re not cluttered up with all the shit our own homes are.

You might find they literally have more lamps and rugs, it might be the colours, it might be you need a declutter (don’t we all?).

And Pinterest is always a time waster 😁.