Do you sit in your kitchen in the evenings?

[mistressploppy]

We're thinking knocking the wall down between the two back rooms and having an extension as well, giving one lovely big sunny room which faces southwest.

Our living room (at the front) faces east and is a bit dull in the evenings.

Anyone have a sort of sofa-y bit in their kitchen? Do you use it? It feels a shame to sit on the non-sunny side of the house in the evenings.

Just wondering if it would work or if I'd end up sacrificing a big chunk of kitchen for a sitting area that doesn't get used, iyswim

Yes we do. We had a decent sized kitchen and a small dining room which we knocked together.
We hardly used the dining room as it was such a squash but we now have massively comfy sofa in that space and we use the space all the time. Kids do homework while I cook, if kids friends are over, they take over for hot choc etc.
If friends are over its where we always end up.
We use the space exactly as I'd visualised we would and don't regret a penny of it

We plan too, once extension is finished.

I did in a previous house, we had a formal living room that got used oh maybe twice in the whole time we lived there. We had a big open plan kitchen/dining/living room and that is where we lived.

It was quite nice as I would potter around while watching tv, where in this house the living room is upstairs and so I just sit and only venture to the kitchen for snacks!

We have a sofa-y bit in our kitchen, just as you describe. We use it all the time. Sometimes I don't venture into the lounge for days at a time, because the kitchen sofas are such a nice place to sit. I wouldn't be without a nice big living/dining kitchen now since having this one, and we've ruled out houses on this basis a number of times.

No, we always move to the sitting room (NE facing) just because that's where the big squishy sofa and TV are.

We do have a sofa in the kitchen but it's small and there's no TV...

In future we are planning to redesign the ground floor layout for this very reason - we want a big "family room" with space for a proper sitting/TV/computer area as well as kitchen and dining table.

So I'd say do it... just be prepared that you will never use your living room...

This is all really helpful, thanks.

We have two front rooms; the living room and the dining room. The dining room is already pretty much abandoned....I might turn it into a playroom. Kids don't need daylight, do they?

We have a large house and a beautiful living room with great views, lots of space etc.

We still sit in the kitchen every evening!

We decided not to have a separate dining room and so have a large live in kitchen with TV, rug and sofa at french door end of room, we use this area on weekday evenings so sitting room is normally weekends only unless kids (big ones) are on holiday.

I'm not sure the kids would play in a dark-ish room - mine gravitate like cats to the sunniest spot in the house, which changes according to the time of day.

We don't use our living room really because it's a bit cold, we just go up to bed! (tiny kitchen which we do sit in for a drink before dinner because the sun hits it at that time of day).

No, tbh we never sit in our kitchen really.

Hpwever my plan is to move our kitchen downstairs (we are in 3 storey, kitchen on 1st floor). We will know through the garden room and utility and add an extension and make it one big room which will be a kitchen, dining and room for a sofa, with big doors straight on the garden. Hope to do it in next year or two. Then we will sit in their, esp on a nice evening.

I used this company and they were good and the prices were competitive.
www.onlinelighting.co.uk/

Dh likes to sit in the kitchen with a cup of coffee and listen to the radio. I never to. I much prefer to be in the living room or outside on the terrace.

I use the kitchen for cooking, and that is it. We have almost completed our kitchen extension and most people who see it think we should use part of it for sitting. But if I sit in the kitchen, I will think of all the food-related tasks that need doing. Much prefer the living room with books and music and a lovely fire

We sit in the kitchen at weekends when we stay up later drinking and playing board games.

We have a lovely big kitchen but we never sit in it. I don't know why, and if we move again I wouldn't be averse to having a very small kitchen as obviously the large family style rooms are wasted on us.

SOrry just realised I posted on the wrong thread last night.
But we dont sit in our kitchen in the evenings really, its a bit dark.
We tend to use our sitting room which gets the evening sun.

Sitting in the kitchen right now. At the table though. Sitting room is off kitchen so no need for sofa's in here. Both south facing and it's too feckin sunny in there right now! Love a big kitchen. Ours is biggest room in house.

I'm sitting at the kitchen table right now too, with my laptop, as DH is using the computer in the study. We don't have a sofa in here, though I do sit here sometimes because it's brighter than the living room and there are windows/patio doors facing onto the garden, whereas at the front we face onto the street and so have blinds closed mostly.

We stay in the kitchen/family area most of the day and move into the living room after dinner usually. Its a bit more comfy for lounging.

i used to sit in the kitchen during the day (with one baby), and move to the lounge for evenings.

now i don't sit down much during the day, and it is lounge for any sitting.

i do love a big kitchen though. gives so much choice for organising children (much better feeding kids in kitchen with hard floor, and for doing paints etc..) and dog (her sleeping room) and babies (playpen in kitchen for when i cook)