Anyone else has a kitchen at the front?

[Dancergirl]

Our kitchen is at the front of the house and my mum says that's 'wrong'. Although it would be nice if it overlooks the garden, I like it in some ways. The sink and hob are both under the front window so I can look out the front, see dh coming home etc....

Where's yours and why are kitchens usually at the back?

depending on the house design round our estate, some kitchens are at the back (mine is) and some are at the front facing the road.

facing the front. I like it as it's the room I'm in most and I can see what's happening on the street. But then I'm a nosy bugger!

I don't have a kitchen at the front but do have a bathroom with a big window!!! Upstairs. For privacy and light I bought a blind that pulls up rather than drops down. Brilliant

one of my barmy neighbours has her kitchen at the front.

She has taken to haranging neighbours about the neatness of their front gardens or the arrangement of their bins or flowerpots, saying "Every time I stand at my sink and crane my head to the side and lean forward I can't help seeing..."

I've got a kitchen at the front, it's great as I'm also a bit nosy
Also, it means my living room is at the back with French doors onto the garden. We don't have any curtains or blinds either so it means the living room is more private and doesn't matter about the kitchen as we are opposite two empty houses and not a lot of through traffic. The only downside is that people can see when the kitchen is less than clean

My kitchen is at the front and to one corner of the house, but on a quiet suburban road in Oz, so people can look in if they insist in the 2-4 seconds it takes to walk by, but the few passersby mean it's quite private (American levels of driving).

The other windows to the front living room are secluded.

The whole house is about a metre and a half above the pavement and four meters back, so still away from outsiders having a dekko.

I'd love to see more of the street, but then would lose the fab front yard, sheltered by trees, and a haven.

my parents have a kitchen/diner in the front and it is great for snooping on the neighbors , shopping doesn't have to be carried through the whole house. also makes the back of the house pleasant with the direct access to the garden. they are in germany though where this is the norm.

Our kitchen is at the front (as are those in the whole street). I like it as we spend a lot of time in the kitchen and you can see people going past, coming to the door etc. Also it is completely north facing, so conversly our living room at the back (south facing) is very bright. Luckily we have a fairly open design so can see right out into the garden from the kitchen. The only thing I don't like is in the winter evenings it does feel like you are a bit on show (it's a faff to pull the blind as there are plants on the window sill!).

We had an extension built three years ago and totally remodelled the house, putting the kitchen in what used to be the front room. Even after 3 years or so people walk past and take a double look if we are washing up by the window! I wonder if they think we have a bowl on the sideboard to wash up in or something! It was talk of the village for ages!

We did it as we have forestry commision land behind us and that is where the views are so the patio doors face that way.

I wouldn't buy a house with the kitchen at the front. Rented with one at the front once and hated it - felt like living in a goldfish bowl. Also we have dogs and cats so need access constantly regularly to the rear garden.

Doris - we have a utility room at the back with a door to the garden and a cat flap. Also the Kitchen window is high enough above the road for people who are walking by only to see from chest height up so not really a goldfish bowl effect. If that were the case would you rent/buy then? (Just interested in the answer not judging or anything like that!)

cafe curtains would perhaps help

I have a kitchen which runs the full length of the house - best of both worlds IMO as I can look out on the garden whilst washing up (which I don't do often ) and then see the street when I'm facing the other way cooking and preparing food. Unfortunately I live in the dullest village imaginable so very little of interest happens anyway

It sort of works for us cos we live in a quiet cul-de-sac and the house is set back from the road so privacy isn't too much of an issue. The window has a blind which we pull down in the evenings. There's also a door to the garden down a path down the side of the house which is handy for eating outside in the summer etc.

Lounge and playroom are at the south facing back so nice and sunny. Didn't realise though how unusual a front facing kitchen is though!

No, Foxy sorry, still wouldn't. In the summer I always have the back door open which I love.

Kitchen back door.

OK Doris - I won't sell you my house!!

I suppose it makes a difference of where you "live" in a house, if you spend lots of time in the kitchen/dining room as opposed to the lounge or whatever you want to call it, for example. Since we had the house remodelled it works much better for us, but I accept it wouldn't suit everyone.

I have a kitchen at the front, never really thought about it and it's fine. I love having the living room at the back though.

Ours runs from the front straight into a conservatory at the back, so it's like the whole length of the house, if that makes sense. We have the sink at the window at the front, the units and cooker etc at that end then the dining table in the conservatory end which looks out to the back garden. Our front door comes directly into the kitchen. I quite like it, because our living room is at the back so it's really private, and it's a quiet street anyway. Our old house had the living room at the front, and it felt much more overlooked and spied on!

I really don't like kitchens at the front.

We spend most of our time in the kitchen/diner and when it's nice I like being able to potter around the kitchen with the doors to the garden open. It means the boys can play in the garden and I can still keep an eye on them while sitting at the table, drinking tea and MN cooking & Cleaning