Extension layout - kitchen/dining - help please!

[Jessie30]

Hi everyone, looking for your advice on my kitchen layout please!!

We are a 30s couple with two dogs, currently trying for kids. We like to host parties and BBQs so would like to have a sociable space.

We cook a lot, and enjoy chatting with wine in the kitchen at the moment. Would love a comfy seat/sofa but I couldn't work out how to fit it in. Ideally the bench will be a banquette/bench style dining area, made into a corner bench if we can. Hubby wants a decent seat to watch rugby while I'm cooking (haha), we also have a separate TV room for films etc.

We are considering island vs peninsula, but also having the kitchen vs dining area next to the bifolds/sliding doors to the garden.

Outside the bifolds will be our patio with a corner bench table and chairs and views to the garden. Our garden is SW facing, and we currently have a conservatory here that gets SUPER hot and bright in the summer. This makes me a bit concerned about having TV or dining table there.
There will also be two skylights in the room so whole room will get some light.

My main questions are:

• Should I put dining or kitchen at the garden end?
• Does it matter if I have inside dining table facing outside dining table, or is it better to split them with the kitchen?
• Is it weird to have a corner seat in the back of the room where it is darker, or will this feel more cosy?
• Does anyone have peninsula vs island experience with kids/dogs and can share what's better? Peninsula has more workspace, but the island looks so lovely and open.

I'm driving myself mad going round and round so I'd really appreciate your advice and suggestions! I've added floor plans below...

Peninsula but swap the 600 units either side of the sink for 400s and forget the breakfast bar and stools bit. The room isn't large enough for stools and a decent sized dining table. I'd ditch the bench and have chairs for more flexibility too.

The 600s are the bin and washing machine so I need those to be in there somewhere...

I'm surprised there's not room for a breakfast bar as it's 5x6metres

I'm not keen on the fourth option, just because you'll have dogs and children running through the kitchen to get in and out of the garden.

The peninsula one looks like it has more cupboards, but maybe less counter space? And the U shape does feel more cut off.

Personally I have had a linear kitchen with a double width island, and loved it. So much so we are doing the same again in our new kitchen. So a run of units on the back wall, and then a parallel double width peninsular or island, with full size pan drawers on the kitchen side and full side cupboards on the seating side. To me, I love the expanse of countertops, masses of storage, and it feels very social. There's plenty of space to lay out snacks and wine on the seating side of the island, and guests can lean on the island talking while you're cooking. You can lay out big roasts and buffets on the island, and people can self serve from the dining side of the room for bigger parties without coming into the kitchen bit. And for safety, all of the hot cooking stuff is the other side of the island, so away from the children and dogs.

i'd go for this version - peninsula but with the table turned around so you have a bench seat on the wall. then there would be space for 2 chairs in the other corner too. I think this type of plan works well with kids because the 'cooking zone' is separate from the rest of the room and the cook can move around without tripping over kids / dogs etc.

Also, I'd have a half-height wall behind the hob (red lines) to keep the dining area somewhat separate from the kitchen.

Also, I would think VERY hard about any way to get the washing machine out of the kitchen and into a utility room - even if that is part of a bathroom upstairs or a hall cupboard or something. Washing machines are noisy in an open plan space and have piles of clothes around etc, all of which is best out of the kitchen.

Thanks so much for your advice!

@A1b2c3d4e5f6g7 I would love a longer linear kitchen but I couldn't work out how to fit it in with our door openings - that's what I was trying to achieve with option 4 aim a way.

im a bit stuck because the entrance door bottom right is not movable and the sliding doors to the garden open from the top right, so I might struggle to get the chairs in there I think.

@parietal sorry I made a mistake, i meant to say that's the dishwasher, not washing machine! WM is in the utility luckily.

do you think having the kitchen at the end with the sliding doors is a bad move then?

I loved the peninsula option to start with, but then I felt like the breakfast bar was quite squashed in and I really wanted to have a breakfast bar as well as a dining table so there's different options.

keen to hear any other ideas or if there something I might have missed here to do a breakfast bar and dining table in?

We’ve just completed what you’re doing. SW facing, removed a conservatory and put in an extension instead. We put the kitchen in the garden end and I love it so much!! I spend way more time pottering in the kitchen than sitting at a dining table so I love being surrounded by the light and garden views in there. Similar to your number 4.

A friend has a layout very similar to parietal’s, it works well. She has a sofa where parietal has armchairs and the TV is on the wall above the dining table (which I don’t love personally as it’s quite dominant, but could work better with one of those new tvs that looks like a picture or mirror). I think she does have an overhang on her peninsula with a couple of stools underneath - just about fits.

Thanks so much @notafraidofthebigbadwolf i was hoping to find someone who had done this and was happy with it! How does your extension look now? I'd love to see any pics.

@minipie I had that idea too but I felt the same, something about the tv over the dining table felt like the dining table would be swallowed by it... but I love the idea of the frame TV!

Sure! Completed a couple of weeks ago. Just one skylight, angled to avoid direct sun other than 1 hour a day. Ours is narrower than yours, so we just have one barstool at the end of the island. We decided against billfolds and a whole wall of glass. We have picture windows instead which allow for seating beneath as walls have to be so thick with insulation now. Quite sociable.

@Jessie30 do you have a separate dining room? Is this a breakfast table or full dining table?

I would say we have had the hob on the island, and it's not very good for sitting on the other side unless you have a bigger ledge for the other side. The hot oil splashes etc, steam, so you want a bigger space than allowed for in the diagrams if people will be perching there while you're cooking. Small arms will be able to reach for hot pans also if there isn't enough counter space inbetween.

Looking at your plan 4, if the glass doors open from the right, and you keep all the hot cooking stuff on the left, I think that'd work well. Because you can half open the doors while cooking to allow guests, dogs, children to go in and out there.

@A1b2c3d4e5f6g7 no we don't have a separate dining but rarely have very formal dinners, so I'm planning to get an extendable table and put a curved bench banquette on the whole back wall somehow. Then we can keep it small for family then make it bigger if we're hosting any big meals.
With the hob, we have a 30cm cabinet directly behind it and then a 30cm overhang, so will be 60 cm between hob and stools - do you think that's enough? DH also wants an extractor which raises a panel of glass behind the job which will be like a little guard hopefully.
yes you're right, the doors are planning to open from the right and I'm considering a tall window near the TV which can open similar to a door (there's a patio with pergola on the side return) but not sure if that's necessary, could be useful for dogs maybe?

@Jessie30 sorry I didn't realise that the dotted line was an extra ledge! In that case yes I think that would be enough space. Sorry I was just looking at the cupboard sizes. In that case personally I would go for one the the island ones, and possibly the fourth diagram. Think it's much more usable counter and seating space

Awesome thank you!

@notafraidofthebigbadwolf i love your kitchen it's beautiful! Absolutely love the different colour island, such a nice feature and lone round dining tables too!

We've moved into a house with a breakfast bar in the kitchen- diner.
The ONLY person who uses it is DH when he has lunch when WFH. Are you sure you will use one?

Our big windows are on a different wall to you, but I love the table infront of the big windows. Is there a backdoor out of the utality? ie does the rubbish need to go through the doors marked in the plans? That would be my decider on which end the kitchen goes. If the bins get emptied through the glass doors, kitchen that end. Otherwise dining table at that end.

Looks like this is something you want, but I hate cookers on islands/without a back wall.

Our kitchen diner is a similar size with a living area too. That table you have on from the DIY kitchen planner is absolutely massive, and it’ll be skewing things unless that is the size of table you actually want. When finished we will have a U shaped kitchen with peninsula, and a 6-8 seater dining table. We have the living area next to our sliding doors, this is where the children spend pretty well all their waking time at home if they’re not in the garden.

@CatOnTheChair me and DH both WFH so I think we will use it a lot, and DH hopes to sit there while I cook with a wine in the eve. The hob on the island was the first thing we decided! I hate just being stuck looking at the wall when people are over, but everyone's different. The range ones on the wall look nice too.

@LATBOTG that sounds promising! do you have any pics or a floor plan you could share??

Sure, it’s all on my laptop so I’ll post it up in a bit.

We are in the process of an extension due to start soon. We have two dogs and a baby who will be 18 months old by the time of the completion. We've opted to go for a peninsular to zone off the kitchen somewhat for safety reasons so you know whether to expect them to come toddling out. We have tweaked the attached plan somewhat as we are having a sink on the peninsular rather than hob: friends who have the hob complain about grease splatter etc. we are adding some velux windows also so we can have ventilation without having to open a bit bifold door and have the dogs and toddler in and out all the time. Also adding a door in the utility (dog flap) for the dogs to use rather than coming through the bifold doors.

One version of the plan produced was having the kitchen in the bifold/garden area but we opted to have the breakfast bar / living sofa area where the garden is as we think that's were we'll spend most times.

Regarding bright overpowering natural sunlight, our builders have mentioned getting big folds eith in built blinds. We had these at a school I worked at and they were fab as they don't get wrecked by kids xx

Hi @flowergirl2020 your space looks lovely! Do you have a separate dining area further into the house?

Oh that makes me wonder about having the hob on the island but it's something I've always wanted as I imagine it's so much more social with people round etc... hmmm maybe I'll have a think. I always think the sink on an island will end up super messy with washing up bits.

Thank you all for your help and suggestions! It's so hard to pick your extension layout without the space built yet, so helps to talk it through!

@Jessie30 hi - yes we do we have a separate dining room. It's a room that is a a throrough fare to get to the kitchen and living room - have attached full plan... but we are closing up the archway into the living room and reinstating the door from the original hall so it's a separate room.

Yeah I've always envisaged the hob being on the island/peninsula also to make for more social cooking. I'm still a little undecided to be fair but should be getting a sit down with their recommended kitchen guys soon to talk through kitchen layout and make any tweaks. It's soooo hard isn't it as it's an expensive investment.

I've attached the two other plans the guy did also (they are in as detail) one with an Islam and one with the kitchen and living area flipped.

Bet you I end up changing my mind on the job versus sink idea xx

On the hob on the island, having had that before, I will def have that again. Loved it! It's very much more social. One of us would perch on the other side while the other cooked, and we could face each other and drink wine. Also can watch the baby while cooking. We had an integrated extractor (which I wasn't sure about when we bought it) but it worked great!

Plus there's so much worktop on either side for prep

@flowergirl2020 these plans are great - did your architect do them for you?

I love the island options especially option 3.
I think I have just committed to an island, I know the peninsula is probably more practical though. I'm also not pregnant yet so it's hard to be sensible about kids!

With the hob, we are having ours with a retractable glass extractor behind it to shield any splatter - this one
it is really expensive, but could be an option. i think there are cheaper ones but DH loves the glass 😅we also considered a little ledge with a higher stool area.

Not an architect he's a guy who does design and build drawings. We had to pay separately for a structural engineer to do the steel calculations but the guy who did the drawings sorted that out and all of the planning applications with the LA also.

I love the idea of a little ledge and the glass screen is awesome! Now you've defo got me thinking! I currently have a gas hob but plan on switching to an electric so this would make clean up and splatter a lot easier to keep on top off. I do love the idea of an island and I keep reminding myself he isn't gonna be little forever. I think I need to see what we can fit storage wise in the utility once washed/dryer factored in as I think leaning towards a peninsula is purely for extra storage at the moment. Xx

We went for an island with the hob in the island and the sink behind.

This was recommended by the builder who had a sink in his own home in an the island. He suggested we avoid it as all the pots get piled there and a tap is more intrusive than a flat hob.

At right angles to the island is a dining table that bits up to a wall.

I got away with a bigger island as the space gained from the bifold opening gave a little more room.

The island has deep drawers in one side and cupboards under the breakfast bar for longer term storage.

Hope this helps.

From your plans my preference is between 1 and 4.

Try putting your plan into the ikea kitchen planner as it gives you the option to view the room not just a diagram/plan.