Kitchen at front or back?

[Scandikitchen]

We’re looking at a house that needs much more renovations that we’d ideally like to do. The kitchen needs to be completely redone and I started thinking about moving it completely. I’m originally Swedish and have been used to other styles of houses, but living here for 25 years have made me more British it seems when it comes to house planning!

Swedish houses normally have the kitchen at the front, near the entrance, and then the lounge would be at the back, towards the garden. Often with two doors, one from the hallway, one to the lounge. Privacy in the evening, nice to see the garden, easy access to the kitchen with shopping bags etc.

UK houses often have the kitchen at the back. So I’ve always thought the Swedish way is more practical but now that we’ve potentially looking at redoing it I’ve started wondering if there’s anything I’m missing. If anyone has any ideas or input about why it’s better to have the kitchen at the back it’d be great to hear (or more reasons why it’s better to have it near the entrance). I know it is more unusual to have it at the front but resale value isn’t that relevant, planning on living there for a long time. (On current street there’s actually a house that’s redone it and I think it looks really nice when I walk past :-) )

I’ve added a pic to explain, left one English, right one Swedish (random pictures). So the kitchen would either be in the ‘L’ but probably with an island so would have some of the ‘back room’ as well as a kitchen. Or it’d be at the front with a wider lounge towards the garden. It would all be open plan.

Thanks to anyone who has any thoughts :-)

If you eat in the kitchen it should get the morning sun. The lounge should then get evening sun.

Where are you during the day? If in the kitchen most of the time then I'd put that in the back.
Mine is in the middle, but is open plan to the dining area overlooking the garden. I spend half my day at the dining table working/eating/socialising. I can enjoy the view of the garden that way. I use my livingroom only in the evening, so it's generally dark out and I don't need access to the garden.

Lots of people like the kitchen at the back so when occupied with other stuff, e.g. preparing a meal, it's possible to continue supervising kids in the garden.

I've lived with both and I I prefer he kitchen out the front and having the living room at the back. Depends where you spend your time and which view you prefer.

Living room at the back overlooking the garden is ideal, especially if you have a door to the garden.

Also depends on age of children. Our kitchen is in the front and I was concerned when we first moved here that I wouldn't be able to supervise children in back garden.

That was a brief stage and it has actually been much more useful to have the kitchen where it is so I can watch them playing out. Although we live in a cul de sac, so they may do this more often than others.

We are just about to move our utility room
and knock through to the back, so will be able to do both.

FWIW, I really like the privacy of the living room at the back (and being able to nose out of the window when washing up!).

Thank you very much for your comments! I hadn't thought about the idea of having it in the middle @mondaytosunday so that might be worth considering too.

Re where we spend our time - varies a lot. No need to supervise anyone in the garden so that's not a factor :-)

Also good point with checking the direction and the sun @StarTrek6!

Nice to see that several people have had the lounge at the back, I've been wondering if it would be seen as odd here... Yes, my thought has also been that it'd be really nice to be by the garden in your free time...

My kitchen is at the front. The house was built in 1970 and has a similar layout to the Swedish random picture. I don't like that the kitchen drain can be seen from the front of the house and the kitchen feels a bit boxy. My plan is to open-up the wall that separates the kitchen from the lounge to let in more light as the front of my house is south facing. It would also give me a view of the back garden from the kitchen. But I like living in a house that's a bit different because as you said, UK houses often have the kitchen at the back.

Hi I'm an architect so have designed and redesigned a fair few house layouts in my time. some have kitchens at the front, some at the back, some upstairs and some downstairs and even a few in the middle!
I would say it doesn't matter about convention think about how you will use the space - it's your home so the primary driver should be how you are going to live in it.
Mostly on redesigns there's often an element of existing services and windows dictating positions.
Consider drainage - can often be moved however it can be a PITA
Consider water & electrics - easier to move but still takes some consideration.
Consider access and flow in the house
Kitchen windows often have a higher sill (due to worktops) so moving kitchens within existing buildings can cause clashes.
Often in the U.K. people like to change kitchens into more multi purpose family spaces so connection to the garden is preferable, however if you aren't going to use it that way then this will be less important. Is it a purely functional space, does it have dining space or is it a more sociable space?
We have a rear kitchen with a back door. We tend to use the back door for access from the driveway so dropping shopping isn't an issue.
We do have a plan to move the kitchen but to the middle of the house on the other side from its existing position with an extension to provide family space between it and the garden, it's a big project for us so is purely being planned at the moment. We will also still have a functioning kitchen space throughout the works as our current kitchen will become a utility room which can happen once the new kitchen is fitted.

Our family room faces south (kitchen/dining/ sitting, so it’s where we spend most of the day. It’s at the back and has sun nearly all day. We have a separate living room that has a bit of morning and evening sun and that’s at the front.

@MG1412 good point about the drain, I'd never have thought about that, external drains still feel odd to me :- ) (They're always internal in Sweden.)

@wonkylegs So many good points, thank you! Can you come with us to the house and tell us what to do please too :-) (A 'your home made perfect' thing would be ideal but we're too private for that!)

Hadn't thought about the kitchen windows' height at all but now you said I remember seeing some programmes where the window sill is kind of under and behind the worktop so great point, that might be a bit odd.

We have actually thought of bringing a builder there to tell us what would be possible / good, but then started wondering if it should be an architect we bring instead. Any thoughts?

You want an architect if you are thinking about design.

In general, people nowadays use their kitchens as the primary "hub" of the house, where most family and social interactions take place. That's why contemporary designs often call for a large open plan kitchen that includes a dining/lounge area and direct access to the garden, ie at the back of the house. Which also makes practical sense if you are cooking/entertaining outdoors because you need to access the kitchen without having to traipse back and forth through the whole house.

Another advantage of keeping your kitchen at the back is you don't have people entering the house and immediately encountering whatever noise, mess or smells your kitchen is producing.

I'd hate to have the kitchen at the front as it would feel like an invasion of privacy. I might be (for example) pottering around in my pyjamas first thing in the morning or making a last cup of tea in my dressing gown. I also like the window open, sun coming in with no blinds or curtains, direct access to the back garden, and the ability to make a mess without worrying about anyone seeing in from the street. Having said that we mostly live at the back as we have a kitchen diner with a sitting area. As a result we don't actually use the front sitting room very much - I might feel differently if the kitchen was smaller and more 'functional'.

We are lucky enough to have both the lounge and the kitchen on the back of the house. The dining room is at the front as are the garages.

The best thing about the lounge on the back is we are in control of what we can see when we sit here, ie no cars parked on the street or a campervan or delivery vans going past, just a beautiful garden to look out onto and at this moment, birds taking lovely baths in our bird bath.

The upside of a kitchen at the front is that is where the front door is and most people use to bring in food shopping.

Loads of great thoughts, thank you all! @Reugny , thanks! Initially we were just thinking of a minor revamp (knocking down one wall and an opening in another one) but if we consider more than that it'd be an architect, noted!

Yeah flow is the hard bit to foresee... I really don't mind anyone seeing me in my pyjamas, if they think that's interesting, feel free to look (or in my underwear to be honest but my partner has put a stop to that ;-) ). We want it all open so that 'all of it' would be the hub, but the actual dining table (ideally a big one with space for 8 people to allow space for various activities), the kitchen stuff and the sofa + coffee table will kind of create three different areas.

@GuilianaDeFrysTable Definitely second the watching the birds from the lounge! I love that in the morning now and seeing more birds etc would be great, we tend to watch the news when we have dinner...

Really appreciate the food for thought everyone :-)

I havent read the whole thread but i live on a modern housing estate. The thing that really puts me off a kitchen at the front, and i would not buy a house like that, is the lack of privacy.

I walk my dogs every morning and evening and although im not remotely interested in their goings on, its impossible not to notice all the goings on every day. Pyjamas, underwear, arguments, etc etc. Even some cooking and eating going on. Its like someone put peoples lives on display for the street to see. The kitchen is the hive of activity for most houses and moreso these days is usually a lot more open plan. I just think its better at the back of the house with the privacy that comes with it.

I grew up in a house that had the kitchen at the front of the house and I'm now living in a house that has the kitchen in the back.

Particularly if the house is south facing at the back, I'd most definitely have the living room/dining room at the rear of the property and the kitchen at the front.

Actually I'd prefer to have our kitchen slightly smaller than it currently is and have it to the front of the property and then be able to relax in the evening without being able to see all of our neighbours returning home and driving/walking around the estate. I have Venetian blinds in our living room because I really really dislike being able to see into the house from the street (maybe 15 feet from front door to shared pathway) and this makes the room quite dark. I value my privacy too.

Best of luck with whatever design you end up going for.

I have gone to see houses with potential clients before however I tend to come in after a sale because most people don't want to pay for my services until they know it's going ahead.
I would say if you are going to use one, pick your architect carefully - you need to find one that listens to you and asks lots of questions to find out what you need rather than one who just has a nice looking website, also someone you get on with, houses are intensely personal so its important to find the right person.
There are new building regulations requirements for clients (that's you) that have just come in at the beginning of this month that apply whether or not you employ an architect so make sure you employ a registered architect (arb.com) who can help you navigate this rather than just a plan drawer/ architectural designer - don't be afraid to ask them. We don't have loads of info about the changes at the moment but a good architect should be able to give you a broad brush of what it means for you and help you navigate your obligations.

We have recently moved to a house where the kitchen is at the front and I prefer it to our old house where the kitchen was at the back. It makes the living room seem cosier, somehow, and it is lovely when it is sunny, too. I also like the fact that we have French doors and can open them for cool air in the summer and walk directly into the back garden as well.

I live in a fairly new build estate.

About 17 years old.

All the houses here have the kitchen at the front and living area at the back!

In fact it seems much more common in new builds (last 20 years or so) than older houses ime. Actually - everyone I know who lives in a new build has the kitchen at the front!!!

@itsgettingweird Interesting that new houses are built that way, I don't think I've been to many/seen many!

@wonkylegs THank you for the advice :-) Would definitely choose very wisely, we're avid consumers of Which? information and recommendations, so would start with their 'trusted traders'! And yes, we would want someone to do 'everything' for us, the less we would need to be involved, the better...

I just checked the directions of the house and the garden is east/south and the front west/north, so that would argue for the traditional kitchen in the back I guess...

We'll keep thinking! Thank you all for your comments.

I've recently moved from a house with both the kitchen AND living room at the back.
I loved the living room backing onto the garden, thr privacy, and having gmasdive doors we could throw open.

I've never had a kitchen at the front. We never close the blinds on the kitchen, so would need a (simple!) change to the way we live. So, Iguassu orifice would be my first concern.

The newish houses round us that have the kitchen at the front tend to be 3 story. Don't know if thats significant or not.

I much prefer my kitchen at the front and in two out of our last three houses (and the other was only one room deep with all rooms overlooking the garden) we've moved the kitchen to the front.

However, these were all rural/semi-rural properties with a negligible number of passers-by. Also, our front windows are high enough that no-one can see in anyway as we have an undercroft at street level.

At our current 400 year old detached cottage the front door opens into a small hall with the stairs rising opposite the door - the hall doesn't extend beyond the door to the first room. When we bought the property the first room you entered from there was the living room, behind which was a dining room and beyond that the kitchen with a 'breakfast room' off that.

Although there were two side entrances in addition to the front door, neither of these were easily accessible if arriving home laden with grocery shopping due to the sloping ground/ number of steps. Therefore you'd be most likely to bring your shopping in through the front door then have to traipse through the two reception rooms till you eventually reached the dark kitchen.

Having successfully relocated the kitchen to the front in a previous (Georgian) property and loved that layout, we decided to do the same here. We knocked through the two reception rooms to make one large kitchen with space for big island or table plus sofa in front of a wood burner. The (three) windows in this space were already high so no issues with fitting worktops beneath them. Shopping comes straight into the kitchen to be decanted into larder/fridge freezer.

The old, dark kitchen is now an atmospheric dining space which again we opened up into the former breakfast room (a more recent extension) which is now our main living space. We added a wall of floor to ceiling windows at the living room end to give us the garden views the old living room lacked. It works perfectly for us but we don't have young DC.

I've lived with both, and prefer the kitchen diner at the back overlooking the garden.