Is 3m x 4m too small for a cosy family sitting room?

[BellaMoo]

We’re trying to figure out how to create a large kitchen diner for our family of 6 in our house without doing an extension. We’ve got a really large sitting room and a small kitchen/diner. We’re considering swapping the use of these rooms.

If we did we’d end up with a sitting room that would be a bit smaller than 3m x 4m. It would have French doors leading out to a patio so would be lovely and light and we’d be able to fit a large corner sofa in. We’d use it as a cosy tv room as I imagine most of our family and socialising time would be spent in the new kitchen which would have space for a large dining table and sofa.

Well it's bigger than my lounge.

We have a sitting room and snug of similar sizes to that. I have been considering extending the main sitting room as it's only just big enough for us as a family of 4, no room for guests at all. Wouldn't want to seat 6 in there to watch TV! But I guess it also comes down to the overall size of the house etc. Our previous sitting room was 6m x 3m and that was much better

Our sitting room is about that big, but we are only 3. It might be a squeeze if you have teenagers, but perfectly doable! Nice and cozy.

That's the size of our living room - I find it fine (family of 4).

I was thinking of a layout similar to this. Door into the room on the top wall and big doors to the garden on the left. The sofa in the diagram is 3m long and I imagine we’d have a couple of bean bags around for extra seating. It would just be a tv watching/relaxing space.

I think it will be fine but DH is nervous because current living room is so big (and would be so much better as a kitchen diner).

Is it just a family TV watching space? If you had guests round is there another sitting area?

If so totally fine for a snug style TV room.

I might be tempted to get a sofa that takes up all the back wall and has the L on the opppsite side to the door to maximise sitting space because I love to sprawl about on big sofas.

Sounds fine. I like a small cosy sitting room. We use what was our dining room, eat in the dining kitchen, and the big living room is now the study/sewing room.

I think if we had guests round we’d hang out in the kitchen/diner space. The other alternative is to block off the doorway and put some sliding doors in the wall opposite the sofa opening out on the kitchen diner. I don’t want total open plan but this might be nice when we have guests round. DH less ken on this idea...

Calling it a sitting room makes me chuckle (but at least it isn't getting called a drawing room ).

Not to derail the thread, though, I don't think that's an adequate space for a family of 6 as you wouldn't even be able to get 6 in there (and seat them comfortably). I suppose that size space would work in a 2 up 2down sort of house.

If the space where you'd like to put in the massive kitchen is big enough for a dining area and a sofa (but again probably not quite an actual open plan living area?) perhaps you could try to divide the space slightly differently. Have a kitchen-diner (no sofa) and then a sitting room large enough for the whole family to sit in there + some books/a bit of storage.

Could you turn the door around so it opens back onto the wall, making it feel a bigger room?

So when it is open it doesn't cut into the room

We did something similar. We split a large sitting room into a sitting room and playroom, and knocked the playroom through to the kitchen. The resulting sitting room is about 3 x 4 m a d is big enough for our family of 4. We have a 3 seater sofa and a two seater, but there is no room to accommodate any more comfy chairs etc. May be a bit of a squeeze for 6.

I think it's a touch on the smaller size for a family of 6.

Ours is 3.7x3.5m, so roughly the same, and we fit a 2 and a 3 seater sofa in there, plus 40" tv, side tables, bookshelves etc without it feeling crowded. The sofas are actually on the generous side, so at parties they fit 3 and 4, plus floor cushions and a stool brought in from upstairs, but it's a bit snug for 6 as standard.

I would seriously ditch the sofa in the kitchen. It surely won't fit 6, so what is it there for? I am a big fan of spaces with a defined purpose, not wishy-washy open plan personally.

(PILs have put their 60" tv in the kitchen/diner/snug, which has a 3 seater sofa in - instead of in their massive lounge. They still try to have us all sat in there on dining chairs when we go around.)

So general consensus seems to say it’s too small to seat all of us. It might be time to start exploring the option of an extension.

Oh and I find this site brilliant: www.houseplanshelper.com/

It's not to be taken too literally, but it has lots of guidance on hat constitutes good space around furniture etc

We had a sitting room of that size in our first house - Victorian terrace. Worked fine but was on the small / cosy side when we had guests (ok for 4 of us in the normal run of things).

Thanks thecats will have a look at the site and you're right about defined spaces - I'd much rather have a bigger dining table.

We've also got a snug/study space which is where are our crap stuff lives so the space I'm talking about would just be a tv watching and hanging out space.

If an extension is a possibility financially and technically, then it's sounds like a much better option. As your children grow, they'll only need more space. If it seems like a vast expense, you could always do some decorating yourselves and go with cheaper finishes.

Very much a piece of string question - you're talking about a second living area/snug that is bigger than some people's only living room. I think it sounds generous for a secondary space. You can seat more by choosing your sofa carefully - some are truly enormous in depth as well as width. One with narrow arms will max the seating space.

With a slightly shorter corner sofa you might be able to get a small sofa or "loveseat"/ extra wide armchair in at the end.