God knows whether anyone will be bothered enough to read (and process) all this….
My DP and I have just bought a house. We plan to knock through from the dining room to the kitchen to create one big family kitchen/diner. However, the two rooms are on different levels. The dining room is two steps higher than the little kitchen. We’re also going to knock the kitchen ceiling out because it has a pitched roof above. The higher part of the pitch is on the dining room side. We’ll put in big Velux windows, creating a nice high, light ceiling.
We’ve had two builders who have both said raising the kitchen floor is the right thing to do, in term of how it will look and how it will be to live in. They say that one level for the whole room makes more sense. We have small children so I can certainly see the practical advantage.
However, my step-sister, who works in something like interior architecture (I’m never altogether sure), likes the idea of the split because the height and light of the kitchen ceiling will add drama / interest. She says we could have the steps at one side and the breakfast bar /slim island straddling the rest of the height difference.
It’s a three-bed semi, so just a modest property.
Things we’re considering:
• If we keep the split level there will be a smaller food preparation area because the island part of the kitchen will only be able to be positioned where the step down is. It will sort of straddle the steps (higher on one side, lower on the other) so people in the kitchen will be a bit lower but able to see into the diner.
• In fact, this smaller food prep area will be the size of a small kitchen… which rather undermines the idea of having a big kitchen / diner…
• If we raise the kitchen floor to the height of the dining room floor, obviously we will lose height on the ceiling. Is this going to make the room that bit less interesting?
• What will future potential buyers prefer? What would you prefer? A step down, slightly dramatic, slight subterranean feeling kitchen or a no-step down big, clear room with a lower ceiling.
I’m not really thinking about cost at this point – just trying to work out what might be better.
I realise this is a funny thing to try to visualise… I just wanted to canvas opinion. Personally, I think the raised floor would be better but I feel sad about diminishing what could be a big feature – that high sloped ceiling with the light coming in.
This has been really fun to write with a crying baby and a nuts three-year-old hanging off me…. ha.
Yes - Keep the split
No - Get rid of the split