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AIBU?

Share your dilemmas and get honest opinions from other Mumsnetters.

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Original poster

To not understand why people love kitchen diners so much?

51 replies

TwinkleCrinkle · 12/11/2015 17:31

I like open plan living but don't fully get why everyone seems to love a kitchen diner?
We have a semi open plan layout with an island and sofa seating and dining table around the corner.
Every time I cook it looks like a bomb has gone off... So I can't imagine having my dinner (let alone guests) surrounded by what can only be described as carnage!

Why do you like yours so much? How do you keep things tidy when entertaining?

OP posts:

insameboattoo · 12/11/2015 20:35

I tidy up as I go along etc and there are pros and cons. Have separate lounge and utility room.

Foxyloxy1plus1 · 12/11/2015 20:43

We have a large kitchen/dining/ living room and a separate sitting room. There's a central counter, with shelves on the dining side and we have a large corner sofa at the other end. We spend the day in there and move into the sitting room after dinner.

There's no washing machine in the kitchen, so that reduces the noise.

Original poster

TwinkleCrinkle · 12/11/2015 20:44

I think I need to work on cleaning as I go!
I have an island with bar stools so I do get what everyone is saying re: ease of use for breakfast and lunch and not being shut away from everyone else.
Before moving into our house we have been lived in an open plan apartment with the kitchen across one wall of the living room. After living there I needed some separation!

OP posts:

Garlick · 12/11/2015 21:10

Yes, I've seen apartments like that. I think you need a psychological separation, if not actual walls. In some places you can achieve it by putting a big sofa with its back to the kitchen area; more usually you'd have a shelf unit or island/peninsula run of kitchen units.

That said, my nicest kitchen so far had units all round the walls, so was 'all kitchen' with a table and a sofa sort of in the middle. But it was quite a big room, and the cooker & sink were at the far end from the sofa. It worked perfectly for me: if it'd been bigger I probably would have put my bed in there & quite happily lived in one room!

bertsdinner · 12/11/2015 21:31

My old house (new build town house type) had a kitchen diner and I really liked it. I liked cooking and then being able to just sit at the table. It had patio doors that openned onto the garden, I loved it, especially in summer.

My new house is a 70s build, its got a small kitchen that leads into a small dining room. If the door is open (sliding glass 70s thing) its like having open plan. And I can shut ( or slide, in this case), it if I want and have separate rooms.

WanderingTrolley1 · 12/11/2015 21:36

I love ours. Everything to hand for the big and little people.

KatieLatie · 12/11/2015 21:41

This reply has been withdrawn

This has been withdrawn by MNHQ at the poster's request.

Bambambini · 12/11/2015 23:21

I know what you mean about the mess but I like a big kitchen with a table. It's just lovely for a family. I think a separate dining room is a bit of a waste and a pain if you have to carry everything to it like some I've seen. We are lucky, we have a big kitchen with an island with stools and a sort of separate room for a big table that has double doors you can close to shut the kitchen (and mess away). I hardly spend any time in the living room.

CakeNinja · 12/11/2015 23:31

We mainly eat at the island now, the dining table seats 16 when not extended and feels a bit big for just the 5 of us so it's rarely
Used but so useful for parties as we have large families.
We have a front room (lounge?) but never use it any more as kitchen diner has a large sofa aswell - it's the best room in our house by far! So useful

Wobblystraddle · 13/11/2015 05:41

We have a compact four bed house so will be here wth dds for the duration.

When we moved in, kitchen, dining and sitting were three separate rooms - now they are all one. I love it - not shutting me out while I cook for everyone, encourages us to be tidy, we can all be together and doing different things. Washing machine is in the toilet, though.

We have a snug/playroom/guest bed as our fourth bedroom and I think that will become important as the kids get older.

UsedToBeAPaxmanFan · 13/11/2015 05:56

We had an extension built a few years ago and now have a kitchen diner. Our old dining room is now a second sitting room/ study. I much prefer the new arrangement as it's more sociable.

I know what you mean about the mess when guests comd for dinner though. If we're having a formal dinner party, I try to prepare/cook as much in advance as i can, so i can clear away. Then, when serving, I chuck all the dirty pots and pans outside the back door and retrieve them when the guests have gone. We also have a utility room, so can put things in there as well.

I think the benefits outweigh the negatives.

TheDowagerCuntess · 13/11/2015 06:23

It's better atmosphere in a kitchen diner, than in a separate dining room, and it's more inclusive. It basically boils down to those two things, for me.

Toffeelatteplease · 13/11/2015 06:56

I have found trying to make sure the dishwasher is empty before I start cooking is a massive help.

Then everything that is dirty and can goes straight in the washing machine. I might have a few pots and pans in the sink.

At Christmas we go down the foil disposable roasting trays. And cos veg is only done in a stacker steaming saucepan it doesn't feel like there are too many saucepans everywhere, they are just stacked in the corner.

I know what you mean though it's not so nice if I have a disorganised cooking day. But overall I absolutely love it

allnewredfairy · 13/11/2015 07:20

We have a kitchen diner (three bed small end of terrace) but I would love a separate dining room at Christmas so it could be decorated beautifully and not have a utensil rack or fridge freezer in the back of every pboto.

dynevoran · 13/11/2015 09:21

toffee you put everything in the washing machine ?!

Toffeelatteplease · 13/11/2015 09:29

Yep it's amazing what you can do on the cold cycle. The Denby comes out fantastically clean in lots of little peices

Ahem I might have meant dishwasher

Original poster

TwinkleCrinkle · 13/11/2015 09:37

Toffeelatte I'm going to try and make sure the dishwasher is empty before cooking from now on!

OP posts:

Thestressofit · 13/11/2015 09:51

I love my kitchen diner and when friends come round we sit round the table chatting far more than on the sofa.

I was brought up in a very large house and the kitchen was huge with a big farmhouse table in the centre, it was the heart of the home. Maybe it's genetic as one of my great great grandmothers was a kitchen maid

CoffeeAndOranges · 13/11/2015 09:59

We have a standard pre-war 3 bed semi and next spring we're having the kitchen and dining room knocked through to make a kitchen diner. I can't wait. Expecting ds1 any day now and I just know it will be so much nicer to have a family space where you can be in the kitchen but still keep an eye on kids playing at the table or nearby. We have a separate living room so wouldn't be all open plan. Currently our dining room only seems to get used as a dumping ground and washing hanging space so it's too messy to eat in. We don't have a utility room and won't with the new setup, which would be amazing but would cost too much and involve too much work.

I love kitchen -diners, I don't think they are going to get any less desirable with buyers any time soon and as long as you have some'shut the door' space downstairs I think they're great for modern family life. I am looking forward to doing more entertaining although I have never had, and probably never will have, anything approaching a 'formal dinner party' so I would be much more relaxed about cooking pans etc.

TinklyLittleLaugh · 13/11/2015 10:00

It's easy enough to tidy as you go: dishes in the dishwasher, peelings in the bin, stuff like empty tomato tins rinsed and bunged in the recycling, the odd bit of hand washing up put in the utility. by the time the meal is ready I only ever have out the actual cooking pans and dishes the food is in. Lots go straight to table then anyway.

ChazsBrilliantAttitude · 13/11/2015 10:22

I like our kitchen diner too for the reasons others have said. The DC can be doing their homework whilst we are preparing meals. We have a sitting room linked to the kitchen diner and a separate one with the TV in. That works well for us as you can get away from the cooking if you want to. I think a separate dining room wouldn't get used most of the time so it would be wasted space.

80sWaistcoat · 13/11/2015 10:35

Like having a kitchen diner - max that can sit round the table is 6 at a squeeze.

We do have a separate dining room with a table that can fit 12 that only gets used about once a month and Christmas. We should have planned it better and made it into a kids' sitting room with a folding table so we could still have guests but it would have been used.

vienna1981 · 13/11/2015 10:49

I blame Homes Under The Hammer. Practically every home that Lucy Alexander visits she is determined to 'knock through' a wall and create 'one big, open-plan kitchen-diner (area)'.

Tomatoesareyum · 13/11/2015 11:39

I wouldn't even consider not having a kitchen diner. We've one which has a breakfast bar seating 5 and also a table which seats 6-8. I love that we can cook and eat and I can supervise homework at the same time or have the children playing In there. It's open plan to our living room and when we did it 9 years ago everyone said we were made and would hate it but actually we love it. We also have a playroom off the kitchen with double doors we can open so that there's an even bigger space and we have a separate office and dining room. DH uses the office but we rarely touch the dining room, although it's useful on occasion. I am a neat freak so no worries about mess

chocdonutyy · 13/11/2015 11:50

I've got a lounge/diner, quite long so its kinda separate but all carpeted so please don't spill anything lol!
My teeny kitchen is open plan onto the hall, no door.
I hate the fact I can't shut the door on the mess for a little while as you have to walk past it to get anywhere or have to crank up the tv when the washing machines on full spin.

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