Advice on kitchen plan - breakfast bar or kitchen table?

[Starrynight0]

I'd love some thoughts and advice on our new kitchen design. We're particularly undecided on whether to incorporate a breakfast bar or whether a small kitchen table would be better (no room for both).

I've attached a rough plan for each (ignore the detail, just trying to decide which overall layout is best). I've drawn in a table and breakfast bar roughly but these aren't to scale. We wouldn't have wall units along that bit of the kitchen.

I love the idea of a breakfast bar but was concerned something only big enough for two people would look a bit silly and a table would be better.

On the other hand a table may look too bulky and squashed in, and partially block the route from the hallway to the conservatory/garden. (We are changing the layout so need to use our imaginations a bit here - there is currently no kitchen where the American FF / larder units are, the whole space is a dining area.)

Any thoughts??

Table every time.

Do you have kids? Might you in the future? If so, table. I got a lovely fashionable breakfast bar and loved it. Now I have a child it is a PITA!

If you don’t have a dining table elsewhere you are going to need it there. Even if you do have a table elsewhere you still need it there, especially if you are going to have kids

For me I'd be annoyed having to go over to the other side of the room and navigate round the table to get in and out of the fridge.

But yes - table over breakfast bar.

Do the patio doors exist currently? If not, I'd do a full u shape kitchen down the bottom part, then that top smaller part have dining table and patio doors

Table, but I don’t really like breakfast bars! Love having a big kitchen table for eating, playing games, making things etc.

Agree with the PP regarding fridge placement. Ours in next to the food prep area and it’s so much easier.

I'd go for a small table to seat 4 every time. Kids can sit up there to do homework. I used to have a breakfast bar but found it did not get used much.

Table - gives much more flexibility. Big or small (extending?) depending on what you need /much crap you want to be able to dump on it.

Yep, fridge needs to be near the food prep area. That would be a priority for me.

I actually really like a breakfast bar if there's enough room for it and it's in a place where you can sit and chat whilst someone is cooking.

Only if I had a dining table too though.

Table every time. The kitchen table is the heart of the home.

Table.

In your breakfast bar design is the washing machine somehow under the breakfast bar?

Agree you need the fridge closer to the food prep area

Can you swap the washing machine and FF ?

Thanks all - looks like a consensus here that the table is best!

Responding to a few specific replies:

We don't have children yet but are planning to have them.

We also have a table in our living room.

The patio doors (actually doors to a conservatory) already exist and there is a window above the sink.

Ideally the fridge would be nearer to food prep areas but it's not a huge room anyway and where else could a fridge go?

Possibly but would involve re-plumbing as there is no water supply over that side of the kitchen at the moment - I don't know how much this would cost.

I also think putting an American FF there would close up the room a bit but I might have a play on an online planner and see what it looks like in 3D.

Do you already have the American ff? They are really massive, unnecessarily so, and eat up so much room.

I'd put a standard on built into a cupboard to the right of the patio doors, have the washer and dishwasher further up that u shape etc.

Then, on the wall to the right of the dining table, have a wall of floor to ceiling cupboards and shelves. This can house all your crockery, dried goods, stuff like mop and vacuum etc.

Means you then need less storage over in the main kitchen, but is all stuff that's grabbed pre cooking / for laying the table / for cleaning.

No we don't have an American FF at the moment but everyone says they are useful. I am not 100% committed though.

OH is insistent he doesn't want an integrated FF though (I can't see the big problem myself and we've had one before, it was a nightmare replacing it once but aside from that it was fine).

Your idea is not bad though - I will have a play on the planner...

Table. I think you will have about 7.3 feet from the front of the FF to the conservatory doors. Tables are about 3 feet wide though you could try and get a smaller one or have a smaller one made. You'd have a little over 2 feet either side if you had it central. Not ideal but better than a small breakfast bar and a whole heap of empty space. I'm also not sure the dishwasher and washing machine will fit where you want it to go if you have the breakfast bar.

You could have a 2'6'' piece of wooden worktop on table ends instead of an actual table - this extra 6'' saved means you get around 2'6'' either side of the table. Then get chairs which properly tuck under when you're not using them.

I loathe sitting with my feet dangling so am the wrong person to ask. Table all the way for me!

I also agree with comments re: fridge freezer placement - would an undercounter fridge work? You could possibly then put a run of units in dining areas for storage of infrequently used items (serving dishes/ fancy dinner service etc) which includes an undercounter freezer... or re-jig the whole thing to fit in a full height fridge freezer.

Is there any scope for a utility cupboard elsewhere in the house to get the washing machine out of your kitchen. It makes a big difference in my small flat.

I have an island and instead of having a breakfast bar I simply have narrow undercounter cupboard to hide my wine/ booze.

Cold you have both? The plan with the bb in it seems to allow room for a table too - maybe a smaller round table. The bb can then be used as extra worktop as it doesn’t look as though you have a lot of that.

I agree re American FF - we have one now and it’s ok because it works well in the space we have but I’m not wedded to it. In our previous house we had an integrated full height fridge plus separate undercounter freezer - this worked really well. And if you have to keep it where it is you could put both in as part of just a whole wall of full height units. I’ve seen this work really well. You could store some plates and crockery over there too.

And I think a round table might be better overall in that space

I'd rethink the american style FF and have a full heigh fridge on top of freezer - stick doors on the front of a normal one, looks loads better. Then you can have an additonal separate fridge and/or freezer along that non-plumbed wall by the table if you need it.

Glad you chose a table- little kids and infirm guests would not be easy to manage with a breakfast bar, I always find the corners on rectangle tables and breakfast bars are a real bruiser to the kidneys when chasing a small child. A round table is friendlier for extra guests too. Would you consider moving your fridge into the U and the double ovens into the other half? If you have a full height larder in the corner, then your ovens and then be sure to have a bench between the ovens and the door as a landing pad for hot stuff. In the U you have the magical prep triangle of hob/sink/fridge. It depends on if you are a hob-pot cook or a big oven user whether you'd let the ovens get further away. And it saves you money moving pipes. Did a terrible plan for you. See pic.