Separate dining room or kitchen diner: which is better?

[SooPanda]

Hope this is ok to post here. It’s not a room decoration issue but a purpose one.

I’d like to hear from people who have a dining room that is separate from their kitchen, vs a kitchen diner with dining table and chairs in.

If you have a separate dining room is it what you wanted and is it used often?

I am torn between buying two lovely houses, both similar in price, bedrooms etc, but one has a small kitchen and a dining room across the hall, the other has a larger kitchen with a dining table in it. I’m not sure what I prefer and would love some love/hate stories about each option please!!

For context if it matters - family of 5, kids ages 5-12, 2 dogs.

Kitchen diner definitely, especially with kids. They can sit and do drawing or homework in the same room while you cook, plus it's more social for parties when you prepping food and drinks

Forgot to mention I’d be able to get a bigger table with more space for chairs in the seperate dining room, so be able to host more people for Christmas etc. Don't know if that’s a reasonable factor for consideration as it’ll only happen once a year at most!

A kitchen diner, it's more convenient with families.

I've owned a house with a separate, formal dining room previously though and quite enjoyed that too.

It’s personal preference but I much prefer a separate dining room! I only looked at houses with separate rooms, it was a deal breaker for me. It’s lovely at Christmas and I’d hate sitting having a meal whilst looking at dirty dishes. I believe you can contain smells better with separate kitchen as you can have windows open even in the winter without being freezing. I really feel like it’s each to their own and personal choice though.

I have a large worktop in the kitchen with stools that we eat at. I also have a separate dining room that I currently use as an office. People also use them as bedrooms or playrooms.

We had a separate dining room and kitchen, we knocked through and now have a kitchen diner, we get so much more use out if it.

My sister has a big house with kitchen/diner, she converted her dining room into a home office, which is fabulous. If you don’t host formal dinners, I don’t see much point in them.

Is there a separate utility?
Having had both... i prefeted tge deparate dining room away from the noise (and heat) of the kitchen. Washing machinh, dishwasher,extractor fan etc...

Separate dining room, kitchen is ok for breakfast and snacks but not proper meal

We had a separate kitchen and diner and I hated it. I felt like some kind of servant, cooking away in the kitchen while others sat at the dining room. We changed the layout of the house and now have a very large kitchen diner and I love it - I love large dinners but would take a combined room as a priority.

Kitchen diner, just makes everything feel more sociable and the space larger

We have a kitchen diner but have arranged the room so that you can't see the sink area from the dining table so we don't have to look at mess while we're eating.

Kitchen/diner vs separate dining room is v much personal preference: people mainly like one or the other and, as a floor plan, it's likely to be non-negotiable. I wanted a separate DR and DH did too.

What do you have now and how is it working for you?
What do your DDogs do at mealtimes? Where do they 'hang out'?
As your DCs grow bigger, literally, you might like the space of a separate DR. In 3-5yrs time, they will be spending most of their time in their rooms or in the living spaces.

Separate DR means that the DR could be used for other things, especially if there's room to squeeze a table/chairs into the kitchen or is there a 'breakfast bar'?

Definitely a kitchen diner. We have a dining area in our current house that is in living room and I just hate it. Serving food is a nightmare, if you have guests and are cooking you’re shut away in the kitchen, carrying plates back and forth is annoying. Can’t wait to move, we are knocking through the wall to make one big kitchen diner, I can’t wait!

I have a kitchen with an island with seating for 6 (very unpopular on MN but we love it) and a seperate dining room.
We find it works very well. Informal family meals at the island, formal or with more people in the DR.

I much prefer a kitchen diner. More convenient when serving/clearing up and keeps everything contained in one room. I like looking out the patio doors at the garden. Also nice to have the kid at the dining table doing homework, colouring etc while I cook.

When we moved last year, we planned to knock through between the dining room and kitchen in any houses it was possible. If knocking through wasn’t an option, I’d never buy somewhere with a kitchen too small to fit a table in, as I’d always want to use a separate reception room for other things.

We have both as we extended our kitchen but I would never buy a house without a separate dining room. I grew up with a lounge diner which is marginally better than a kitchen diner.

Depends if there’s another living room. And utility space for noisy washing machine/dryer

We were lucky to have the space for both. When the children were young, we had a table in the kitchen and we turned the dining room over to a family / play room. Once the kids were older and past playing with big plastic junk toys, we redecorated and got a bigger table for the dining room. I don't think I'd buy a house where there wasn't the possibility of having a dining space that wasn't the kitchen.

I have had both. If you entertain a lot it's quite nice to get up from the table, shut the door and leave it all to clear up later. But, you will be cooking and serving on your own probably with just a glass of vino collapso. If you entertain/eat normally in the kitchen the mess is on view during your meal, but you have company and don't miss out on the children's chatter.

Would either house have the dining room/area a little separate but connected or able to be easily arranged as such?

I like a separate dining room. It stays relatively tidy and can be used for homework or other things. I like to be9 able to shut away the kitchen mess, or listen to what I want to in the kitchen without disturbing whatever the person in the dining room is up to.

I'm lucky enough to have both and mainly use the kitchen diner for day to day purposes. The dining room is used for entertaining and hosting Christmas dinner and larger meals where we wouldn't want to sit looking at pots.
In my previous house we just had a large dining room with smaller kitchen. If i had to choose i would go with this option again as I like the flexibility that this offers.

I have a kitchen with a breakfast room and we use that for breakfast and lunch. We use the dining room for dinner and entertaining. I much prefer a separate room as it doesn’t need to be a dining room all the time. We use it for dining but we have our books and music in there along with two comfy chairs in a reading nook. When the children were smaller, it was lovely to have a quiet space to escape the chaos during the day.

Kitchen diner is more convenient. I have both and only use the dining room for Sunday Lunch, the odd dinner party and Christmas. If I were to downsize, I’d just want a kitchen diner.

It depends on your space needs - if you want an office or an occasional spare bedroom, the separate dining room might be better. But what can happen is that the dining table doesn't get used as not in the kitchen and people go for trays in the lounge instead.
Evaluate how you would use the space in reality, not just once a year at Christmas and then decide.
I voted kitchen-diner but this is my preference if it is a large area and not too cramped.

My last house I had a large separate dining room. Great for holidays and dinner parties, which was about four times a year! I much prefer my current set up which is kitchen in the middle, open plan to the dining area overlooking the garden and dividdd by double doors to the living room at the front. I now use my dining table daily; to eat, work at, and to have a tea and chat.