Bigger kitchen + separate dining or Kitchen diner with extra reception?

[Itsnotforsale]

Which would you prefer -

1. Livingroom, Dining Room, kitchen with no eating space apart from breakfast bar

1. Livingroom, (sittingroom or tvroom or diningroom), kitchen with space for small table and chairs for 4.

This would be a 4 bedroom house with the future possibility of a garage conversion. Kitchen floor area is the same size in both scenarios, just less units in the second. The diningroom in the second can then have a flexible use.

All opinions welcome!

I would prefer to have proper size table in kitchen. My ideal would be eat in kitchen with space for sofa/sitting. Sep adults living room and sep playroom! Small study room also added bonus!

Table in the kitchen.

Table in kitchen

I really like having a seperate dining room. It makes it easier to leave the mess from serving up and concentrate on sitting down to dinner with the kids.

Table in the kitchen

Table in the kitchen.

We had a dining room in our old house and never used it. Let's face it many meals are eaten on laps these days.

I think it depends where the dining room is in relation to the kitchen. Harold house we had a kitchen diner and separate dining room across the hall. In 6 years we used it twice. It ended up a junk room. In our new house we have nowhere to eat in kitchen and use dining room for every meal. We have to walk through dining room to get to kitchen though

When we were looking for our current house I dismissed lots of houses because they didn't have a big kitchen diner. Now I love being able to close the door to the mess

* Harold?? Our old house...stupid phone

Definitely Kitchen diner. We currently have a small kitchen and dining room next door. I hate the dining room and would love to take a sledge hammer to the wall in between if only it weren't holding the rest of the house up.

It's no good with two small children, either we are all piled into the kitchen with them trying to help and me worried someone is going to get burnt because the room is so small or I am in the kitchen and they are painting the walls of the dining room with pasta sauce. Grim.

Kitchen -diner all the way.

Table in kitchen. Although also depends on the age of your kids and how long you're planning to stay in the house. If you'll be there with teenagers a second reception room will be invaluable as you won't want to hang out together all the time

I am in the same position as yawningbear, a seperate dining room off the kitchen with a load bearing connecting wall that I would love to knock down. Kitchen diner all the way!

Kitchen diner.
Our kitchen is small and the dining room is across a small square hallway. It's a nuisance when cooking as the DC disappear to watch tv and I can't chat to them, supervise homework or referee squabbles easily.
And when we have guests for some reason everyone stands in the kitchen doorway looking at talking to me and I have to say excuse me over and over to ferry things back and forth to the table!
Trivial, really, but the flow of our home would work better with an open kitchen diner.

I would prefer the kitchen diner but a small table wouldn't work as we would then need an additional dining room for when guests are there. I would therefore probably go for the kitchen with breakfast bar and separate dining. Although if you could knock through and have space for both together possibly with a seating area too, that would be even better imo.

Definitely kitchen diner for me. We have moved a lot and tried every layout and find our new house space works best for the family. We have sitting room, dining room which is being made ready to use as a playroom and kitchen with space for a table for 6/8. Can't stretch to sofa in there which would be my dream but managed an ikea armchair :)

Definitely kitchen diner for me. We have moved a lot and tried every layout and find our new house space works best for the family. We have sitting room, dining room which is being made ready to use as a playroom and kitchen with space for a table for 6/8. Can't stretch to sofa in there which would be my dream but managed an ikea armchair :)

I would always opt for an open plan kitchen/dining area with some kind of dividing island/peninsula thing. If that was not possible though, and it was the choice of having a small table in the middle of the kitchen or having a separate dining room, I'd opt for the separate dining room, or a lounge/diner.

I wouldn't bother with a breakfast bar if it has to face a wall. In my experience they are uncomfortable and anti-social and non-one uses them apart from parking their bum for three minutes to neck a bowl of cereal. the space would be better used for extra worktop and cupboards.

I think the ideal thing is to have interconnecting spaces with a wide opening, or double doors. that way if you are having guests they don't have to look at the bombsite you left the kitchen in, but it will work as an informal family space as well, without staying empty except for Christmas.

Thank you everybody for the valued opinions, looks like its almost a unanimous vote for table in the kitchen. I could interconnect the kitchen and dining, but it will be expensive for glass door dividers. The house is to sell on, so I don't want to make any expensive mistakes! Thanks again.

I have a smallish kitchen and a separate dining room and hate it. We do have a small table in there but have to have stools etc for space. The wall between the kitchen and dining room is a load bearing wall, but incorporartes a huge (6ft) chimney breast so is a big job to remove. PLanning to do extension at some point so putting up with it for time being.

We had friends over for bbq yesterday - inevitably it rained - 9 people crammed into our little dining room with me separated off in the kitchen. Its not social, its not good on a day to day basis with children and as everyone has said, although we do use the dining room, just a waste of space compared to how we could use it.

I think the vast majority of families want a family friendly space and a separate kitchen / dining room just doesn't work for every day life imo.