Would you prefer a dark kitchen or a dark living room?

[HeadingForHome]

We're trying to decide between moving and upgrading our current home. We'd want a new kitchen if we stayed and I had considered the possibility of moving the room it's in. DH doesn't agree so I'm wondering what MN thinks!

2 rooms of fairly similar size. One sits at the back of the property and opens onto the garden. Is fairly light and bright.

One room sits the front of the property and is basically underground as the property is built into a slope. It has double doors to the outside but they don't let in a lot of light.

One to be kitchen/diner and one to be family room/playroom/TV room.

Which way round would you prefer?

Dark living room as you will mostly be using it in the evening and can make it cosy.

A lighter, brighter kitchen definitely.

Definitely the bright/light room as a kitchen. Opens onto the garden so makes practical sense for summer time too

Agree with 2 PPs.
Kitchen/ diner at the back, light and bright opening out into the garden is exactly what we have, it's fabulous in warmer weather - opening up the doors and pottering from kitchen to garden, hanging out washing, enjoying a coffee in peace.
Then a darker snug style family/ tv room.
We have lakps, fairy lights and blankets in our darker lounger. Very cosy and snug

We were more constrained by plumbing, but we've got it the other way round - light, bright dining/living at the front, and semi underground kitchen at the back. We've got LED lighting everywhere in the kitchen, with several switches, so nothing needs to be in annoying shade and it can be really quite bright - albeit an artificial bright, but that's OK in a kitchen where it wouldn't be in a living room.

That works for us, but we've got another snuggly living room on another floor of the (town)house.

Light and bright where you eat breakfast. So if it's a kitchen/diner vs a sitting room then the kitchen, if it was a kitchen without seating vs a dining/sitting room then the sitting room.

Thanks for the replies.

DH agrees with most of you - light bright kitchen opening onto the garden and darker living room.

I wanted it the other way round. In my head I can picture an ultra cool dark kitchen with smart lighting all atmospheric. At the moment the playroom is dark and we spend a lot of time in there with young children. I feel like I'm in a cave all day.

Maybe there's another solution we can come up with that works. Good to know the general consensus though.

Children can do cooking, playdough, drawing at a kitchen table?

I’d prefer your option OP. I spend a lot more time in the living room, and between the two I’d prefer the natural light to be in the LR and artificial light in the kitchen.

Where do the double doors lead to in the darker room?

We have a dark kitchen and bright frontroom.

Id prefer it that way, we don't routinely spend much time in the kitchen and its lovely sat on the sofa reading a book with the sun warming me up.

Bright kitchen, dark living room would be my choice but that's because I spend far more time in the kitchen and only sit in the living room in the evenings.

Where do the double doors lead to in the darker room?

To a path running along the side of the house. So if you walked along the side of the house you'd walk past double doors of the current living room, then the door to the hallway which goes between the rooms, then you'd get to the kitchen side windows. Turn the corner to the back garden and you'd get to the back of the house with triple glass doors from the kitchen that open to the garden.

Make the room you spend the most time in the bright room. Bear in mind also that this may evolve as your kids get older - we spent a lot of time in the kitchen when my kids were younger but as they’ve aged into different interests (more TV, reading, consoles) the living room gets more use.

Where do you spend more time in the day?

My kitchen is on the darker side of the house facing the back garden, I prefer it there because it's more private, my dining area is in the conservatory so it's bright despite being on the dark side of the house. I like light in the dining area but I don't think it's a must have in the kitchen itself.

The darker side can be nice for TV watching but I don't know whether the kids would want to use a playroom that's gloomy.

Bright kitchen, dark living room.

I find that guests tend to hang around the kitchen anyway if there's plenty of seating areas. I like a dark living room for cosy family movies and TV time.