Reconfiguration of kitchen/back of house - with pictures

[GatoradesDream]

I'm in the process of buying a new hom, offer accepted, survey, searches etc. all done but we haven't yet exchanged so I am jumping the gun somewhat.

However, I like planning and I had a bit of time on my hands today so I have started to think about how to reconfigure the downstairs rear of the house. For context it is a 3 story Edwardian house that needs a full top to bottom overhaul and reconfiguration having been knocked around rather unsympathetically in the past.

I'm not a huge fan of open plan spaces, I prefer a more semi open plan feel. There is a room to the front of this plan so it doesn't incorporate the living area spaces.

I think the two table approach will look odd to some but we have it now and I love it. As a family of 4 we sit around the round table and then the larger table is used for more formal meals, when we have visitors and for all the children's crafts/homework etc.

My main worry is the kitchen and potential lack of bench prep space. I currently have a large island but that wouldn't work in this space. There will be a pantry room and utility room so storage should be ok. The structural surveyor thinks that is would be easy for a 2 to 2.5 meter hole to be punched through the wall between what is now the sitting room and kitchen but any larger gap will be very expensive.

I will get an architect and I will be looking for an independent kitchen designer too but I would like to have a rough idea of what I want before talking to them. I may go for a Devol kitchen and might just use their in house designers. House design and decoration is something I struggle with hence the need for help!

I would be wary of going to the expense of Devol in what seems to be a compromise kitchen? Its narrow and the set up looks odd - an odd addition on the kitchen/dining room wall (towards the garden) and the door positions - having to walk into the dining room to walk througb to the kichen part, and having to walk past the dining table to get into the utility room.

It sounds like a beautiful house with lots of space - I'd see what the architect can come up with because your plan doesn't seem (to me) to make best use of space.

If it were my house and I was starting from scratch, I'd knock as much of the wall down between the kitchen in the dining room and move the kitchen into the dining room.

I actually hadn't thought about swapping the dining room and kitchen around. We have the budget to do that so that may be a good idea. What I don't want to do is increase the footprint of the house as we simply don't need more space, our current house is too big and the wasted space annoys me. I just want the space in the new house to work better as the layout doesn't work for me at all at the minute (the main issue being the stairs down to the cellar in the kitchen).

I like your layout. You don't have to walk through the dining room to get to he kitchen. There appears to be another door?

If you want an informal and and formal dining area but are worried about lack of worktop, then an island with seating around 2 or three sides could provide both. I don't like "diner" style seating with everyone in a row on one side.
Make sure that your bar stools can go right under the island when not in use - mine are v comfortable but they get in the way a bit when we are using the island for prep.

Never underestimate how useful a good kitchen designer is

The other door into the kitchen would mean walking through what I'm planning on turning into the pantry, so I think in reality the only proper access would be via the dining area. The stairs down to the cellar are the main issue preventing access being maintained directly between the hall and the kitchen as I really need to close them off from the kitchen (for both aesthetic reasons and to reduce heat loss)

Does anyone know how I go about finding a completely independent kitchen designer who will be able to visit the house? Google and Houzz has only helped me find ones who work for the various kitchen companies or ones who live far away and only work remotely (Warwickshire is where I need one if anyone has any recommendations).

Karen from OnePlan is highly recommended both here and on Houzz but I think she works remotely. Byt worth contacting her just in case she lives near you

Try designforme- I have used and was great!

I really like the layout. The only suggestion I could make for more benchspace is to remove the patio doors at the smaller table so it can go further away from the utility - which would give space for a bench right down to the utility door.