Active discussions

Meet the Other Phone. A phone that grows with your child.

Meet the Other Phone.
A phone that grows with your child.

Buy now

Please or to access all these features

Talk
Property/DIY

Join our Property forum for renovation, DIY, and house selling advice.

Original poster

if you have dining table nearby, do you stil use breakfast bar/island/etc

39 replies

mum2015 · 16/05/2017 11:43

i see lots of kitchen diner layouts with dining table and some sort of sitting arrangement with high stool/chair and worktop. Are both really get used?

OP posts:
Parker231 · 16/05/2017 11:46

We use the stools at one side of the kitchen island for breakfast and snack meals and the dining room for all other meals.

cathyandclare · 16/05/2017 11:47

I'm having a coffee and working mumsnetting from my island at the moment. We sit at the table for meals, the island is more casual

minipie · 16/05/2017 11:56

Yes. Dining table gets used for family meals, small DC eating and craft type stuff. Breakfast bar gets used by adults having snack/quick meal (I expect DC will use it for the same when they are older) and for ipad/admin time, plus sitting and chatting while the other person is cooking.

Original poster
mum2015 · 16/05/2017 12:06

currently we have neither and we eat in living roof sofa+coffee table watching tv Blush
in new layout, tv can be seen from dining table, but not from breakfastbar/island. also the cook will be facing wall and not the island/breakfastbar. i am wondering if it will still get used?

OP posts:
kel1493 · 16/05/2017 12:12

Unfortunately we are not lucky enough to have a breakfast bad of an island, but if we did I think we would use the dining for table for meals and the breakfast bar or island for more casual things (we do stand in the kitchen a fair bit. Our table is in the dining room as our kitchen is a square and there wouldn't be room, and plus I don't like tables in kitchens really, so can't just sit at the table).

Original poster
mum2015 · 16/05/2017 12:48

why do you not like table in kitchen? i am quite fast cook, but at times of cooking large meals, i wish i could sit down for few mins without loosing sight of hob.

OP posts:
Bambambini · 16/05/2017 12:54

I have this set up (currently sitting at my non stop used islsnd/breakfast bar). We use both - table for family dinner and island often though only has 2 seats. People love to congregate in the kitchen round the island when they are round.

BluePeppers · 16/05/2017 12:56

Yes we do use both.
Island for b'fast, table for dinner in the evening.

BluePeppers · 16/05/2017 12:56

No table in the kitchen because there is no room for a table there....

Bambambini · 16/05/2017 13:01

Our table is in a seperate room but with glass doors you can close. Practically open plan. We are lucky we have a big space.

bojorojo · 16/05/2017 13:13

I have a circular "table" that is the same height as the work surface and attached to it. It has four bar chairs and we use it all the time. I have a large table in the adjacent sitting area and we use this for formal meals. It can also sit 8. I like both.

Original poster
mum2015 · 16/05/2017 15:21

I liked this picture with table in middle of kitchen. Ignore the open shelves etc, just think of layout. If I put a proper table for 6 (extendable to 8) in middle of kitchen,

  • would it come too much in way of work triangle
  • do I still need a breakfast bar sort of thing

What are the problems of a layout like that?

if you have dining table nearby, do you stil use breakfast bar/island/etc
OP posts:
Blodplod · 16/05/2017 15:31

I have an island with 3 bar stools and a dining table in my kitchen. The island is used 80% of the time, for all meals - I only use the dining table for guests or if there are more people round than I have bar stools for. I think my issue is the table is pushed up against a wall - if it's pulled out to middle of kitchen it takes up too much space. I have a large breed dog and her 2 very large dog beds occupy a lot of precious space.

dilapidated · 16/05/2017 15:34

Have dining table plus small breakfast table and both get used

User06383 · 16/05/2017 15:37

My parent have this but don't really eat at the breakfast bar, it's for coffee and newspapers. Dad might have a snack there but mum certainly wouldn't.

suzyrut · 16/05/2017 15:45

Have an island and a dining table next to it.

We use the island for coffee/breakfast/casual and dining table for dinner/family meals at the weekend.

Also I sit at the island when wfh a lot as it's close to the tea.

I like your picture, I think the only issue with the layout is that a dining table is at the wrong height for prep space. I do the vast majority of my prep on the island but not a problem I guess if the rest of your kitchen has plenty of worktop/storage.

Original poster
mum2015 · 16/05/2017 15:53

I don't see many pictures of a kitchen/dining table in middle of kitchen. I see a lot of people have layout like this attached picture with a breakfast bar and dining table next to it, and I wonder what is advantage/disadvantage of each and why is second layout so much more popular?

if you have dining table nearby, do you stil use breakfast bar/island/etc
OP posts:
tatohead · 16/05/2017 16:15

I'm designing my kitchen diner at the mo and have deliberately not gone with a breakfast bar because I don't like the snacky/quick stop style eating. If we eat I want people to sit down and talk to each other, not sit in a row like we're on yo sushi and it makes me (as mum/main cook) feel like a servant behind the grill/almost like a serving hatch over the bar. I did grow up in a big farmhouse kitchen though so think that biases me

littlestar34 · 16/05/2017 16:34

Hi. Our extension was finished in January. We do use the stools at the island for breakfast, coffee, homework sometimes, chatting whilst someone cooking etc etc but do still use our dining room table for mealtimes. :)

Eatingcheeseontoast · 16/05/2017 16:38

We had the set up of kitchen table in the middle of the kitchen when I was growing up. Loved it. I could sit and do homework while whoever cooked. We'd sit and have a cup of tea and a chat round it too. It was also really handy as extra work surface.

Table at a slight remove in our kitchen now - more like your second picture so the table isn't so handy for extra worksurface. But we eat most of our meals sat at it. And when people pop in for a cup of tea we tend to sit round the kitchen table and also - even though have a dining room - quite often eat in kitchen if we have people round.

If I had a kitchen big enough I'd go for the first one though - the table in the middle.

Wiifitmama · 16/05/2017 16:41

We have just moved back in after a major extension and refurb that included moving the kitchen and redesigning the space. We have a massive (4 units long and 1 and a half units deep) island in the middle of the new kitchen. I very specifically did not put a space for stools at it (there are cupboards that side instead). Our dining table is in the new extension part of the kitchen at one end. That is where we sit and eat. I like to stand up for food prep and do it at the massive new island which is great. I don't want people sitting there while I do food prep. But to each their own. My mother's kitchen (where we lived while the refurb was happening) is massive and is arranged more like your first picture. Counters on the outside edges and table in the middle. She does all her food prep at the table sitting down. I hate it. It makes the room difficult to navigate around too. But she loves it.

gamerwidow · 16/05/2017 16:43

We use the island for Dd to chat to me and do her homework while I do dinner and the table for eating dinner.

Deux · 16/05/2017 16:52

We use both. Our island has an overhang on one short side and half of the long side and we have stools (with backs) there. There are sockets underneath the overhang for plugging in laptops etc. The stools tuck in completely.

We also have a 2m long table. We use the table when we're all together for a meal or have friends round otherwise we use the island. Can provide diagram!

AngelsWithSilverWings · 16/05/2017 16:53

We have an island with seating for four in our kitchen and a separate formal dining room off of the kitchen. We use the island for light lunches and snacks and for the kids if they are eating earlier than us. DH and I always use the formal dining table if it's just us or if we are eating together as a family. I relax more if I'm eating away from the kitchen as I'm not the tidiest of cooks. We purposely didn't do a full open plan knock through for this reason.

museumum · 16/05/2017 16:54

Our house had both when we moved in.
I had a joiner remove the breakfast bar as it was only about two metres from the nearest bit of the table.
Now our table feels more "in" the kitchen.