Help with kitchen layout

[Pepperwand]

Hello, I would appreciate some help with kitchen layout in the house we are buying as we want to open up the kitchen and dining room. Option 1 was my first thought but DH has proposed taking the corner walls down to open up the space without disturbing the current kitchen (which is very nice and wall against dining room is where oven, fridge, dishwasher etc are all built in). It would mean however that dining table was round the corner if you were at the sink for example but I do think it's a novel idea. Or is it ridiculous? I tried having a google for images of what's in my head but didn't really get anywhere.

Yes I like that idea. You wouldn’t need to take down much to improve the flow I think.

I like the idea. Is the plan you’d take down the wall above the cabinets to create an island? If so, I like that idea even more!

That's the hope as the house needs a lot of work and money would be tight, that it could open up the space in a more cost effective way.

I'd love to take the wall level cabinets down, would just need to think about how things were relocated as there's an eye height oven, large integrated fridge etc there.

I'd just be a little careful about opening up onto hall because it would make the house super noisy.

I'm with your husband, open up that corner. However, the current door from hallway to kitchen - I wouldn't open that up completely. I'd leave a bit of wall to increase the length of hallway.

I'm not sure it's a great solution, sorry. I'd be worried about smells and noises travelling upstairs and what happens if there's a fire. Is the kitchen new and worth saving?

I think it'll be annoying, I'd want to have the full wall opened up and peninsular or island.

I don't think knocking the corner out is a good idea at all as you won't get an open plan feeling with the dining room but it it will feel open plan to the hall.
You won't be able to shut the door on smells and noise.
There is practically no where you would stand in either room and see the other room.
In some areas (this happened to me ) if the kitchen is open plan and there isn't a door between stairs and kitchen the new building regs make you put in a sprinkler system.
I think do the work properly. Get the structure right.
Don't design a house layout round something that's not permanent and will need replacing.
I'd knock the wall out between kitchen and dining room and open it up properly.

I like your husbands idea as it will still give you a slightly separate space, just with more flow, especially if there's already a good kitchen. I prefer the separation generally though as I am a messy cook and I enjoy having a little peace from everyone when I'm making dinner or things.

In the spirit of saving money, would it be possible to swap the cabinets so the integrated appliances go on the external wall to enable you to take the internal wall out to make the peninsula?

As per pp's advice I don't think opening the kitchen onto the hallway is a good idea. A hallway isn't the most important aspect of a house to me, I'd put a doorway in level with the utility wall across to the stairs to be able to shut the kitchen diner off to the rest of the house.

Some excellent food for thought here. Option 1 is what we did in our old house, block up a doorway between kitchen and living room and take the wall down between kitchen and dining room and it made such a huge difference.

In reality we're going to have to live with the current layout for a while anyway as the whole house needs redecorating (terrible 80s wallpaper and manky carpets.) The kitchen is the only part of the house that's new and it's well laid out for what it is, it's just I prefer a kitchen with table in it and the current dining room feels a very odd room with a little table and a door or window on every wall!

Does he mean this sort of layout?
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I wouldn’t remove everything you have highlighted, just the corner of the dining room wall that juts into the kitchen. Then block up either the dining room or kitchen door to the hall. But short term just take the dining-to-kitchen door off its hinges, and put something in front of one of the hallway doors, and see how you like that flow before you start any building work.

@SolitudeIsHighlyOverrated yes that's exactly the sort of image I was trying to find.

@Whatthebloodyell that's a good idea, thank you!

What about knocking down the top half of the wall between the kitchen and dining room down so the base units are undisturbed but you get your sight lines through to the dining room (almost like a peninsular)? I would block up the dining room entrance from the hall, see if you can take out that bottom right corner of the dining room. I'd also then lose that little peninsular in the kitchen (facing the utility entrance) and just continue the units all along that back wall of the kitchen.

I wouldn't open the kitchen up to the hall. It will mean that cooking smells will fill the whole house, and it might not be permitted in terms of fire safety.

As Whatthebloodyyell said, if you just open the door & corner from kitchen -> dining room into a bigger archway (but keep the hall door), then that might work.

Also, I might keep one door from the living room to the dining room, otherwise the living room would be very cut off from the heart of the house.

I'd take the wall down between the dining room and kitchen as you suggested and block the door through to the lounge. I'd also put huge bi-fold doors along the back. However, I would change the door from the hallway to the new room. I wouldn't have it on the right where you've suggested. I'd have it in front of you, so that when you walk into the house you can see ahead through to the garden!