Active discussions

Meet the Other Phone. Child-safe in minutes.

Meet the Other Phone.
Child-safe in minutes.

Buy now

Please or to access all these features

Talk
Property/DIY

Join our Property forum for renovation, DIY, and house selling advice.

Original poster

Kitchen Island and no dining table

96 replies

FigandHoney · 31/12/2023 14:23

Does anyone with kids have just a kitchen island with seating and no dining table.
We don't have a seperate dining room.
I can either fit a small 1.5m long island and a small table. Or a much bigger 8sland but no table.

OP posts:
Thread gallery
11
TeenLifeMum · 31/12/2023 18:55

@Dynamoat good to know it’s not just here that the kitchen is used for roller skating! Kitchen designer was horrified when I declined an island because I wanted space for skating and dancing 😂

allthevitamins · 31/12/2023 19:06

Is it just me or is that banquette-style seating just awful?!

UsingChangeofName · 31/12/2023 19:08

It's personal taste really.
Personally I'd not have any island, and have a proper table in the kitchen.

gonogo · 31/12/2023 19:08

allthevitamins · 31/12/2023 19:06

Is it just me or is that banquette-style seating just awful?!

It's a bit like a caravan

TheCraicDealer · 31/12/2023 19:09

My sister moved into a house where the previous owners put in a massive island to replace the dining table, and it’s just not nice. It’s a quartz top which feels very hard and cold and all the cutlery/plates make loud noises against, plus it’s just not for me sitting on a bar stool for longer celebratory meals. I don’t want to eat my Christmas dinner feeling like I’ve been palmed off with “a seat at the bar” at an overcrowded restaurant. Plus it’s also very hard to dress/style if you like to do that when you’re entertaining.

Also both my sister’s and our (small) island is a magnet for post and clutter, it’s always right in your eyeline.

The only way I would do what you’re planning is with the banquet seating option, which I agree does look class.

Princessfluffy · 31/12/2023 19:13

I wouldn't buy a house with a kitchen that had an island but no table unless there was a dining room too. Even then I'd prefer a table in the kitchen to an island.

If you need to consider resale value maybe ask an estate agents opinion.

allthevitamins · 31/12/2023 19:15

@gonogo or a cheap diner?!

gonogo · 31/12/2023 19:16

Roller skating definitely needs to be taken into account

Honeyroar · 31/12/2023 19:21

Does that mean if you choose the island rather than a table you can never have family round for Xmas dinner? Surely that would make the house undesirable to a lot of people?

ChristmasinBurrRidge · 31/12/2023 19:22

allthevitamins · 31/12/2023 19:06

Is it just me or is that banquette-style seating just awful?!

It doesn't look good at all - it seems to highlight a cramped space somehow. I would prefer a dining table.

SnowsFalling · 31/12/2023 19:22

Table.
Old house had an island. Didn't realise how bad it was until we moved, and got to eat at the table.
I think the only person who uses the island in this house is DH when eating alone.

Original poster
FigandHoney · 31/12/2023 19:27

Thank you everyone for your replies.
For those suggesting just a table that's not really an option for us due to lots of oddities in this period house meaning we can'tget a proper clear run of worktop. It's in fact what the space is like right now but it's highly unpractical leaving very little worktop space to work on between the sink and hob. So I do all the work at the table and it's uncomfortable. And we keep tripping over chairs

OP posts:
UsingChangeofName · 31/12/2023 19:35

Princessfluffy · 31/12/2023 19:13

I wouldn't buy a house with a kitchen that had an island but no table unless there was a dining room too. Even then I'd prefer a table in the kitchen to an island.

If you need to consider resale value maybe ask an estate agents opinion.

Me neither.

I agree with this , too

it’s just not for me sitting on a bar stool for longer celebratory meals. I don’t want to eat my Christmas dinner feeling like I’ve been palmed off with “a seat at the bar” at an overcrowded restaurant.

SnowsFalling · 31/12/2023 19:40

Given the island is going to be work surface too, I think it's even more important to have the table, otherwise you risk eating surrounded by used pans.

Original poster
FigandHoney · 31/12/2023 19:40

The onbuilt island / bench looks interesting
But the room simply isn't deep enough to fit this. It's smthg I already tried out.

The dropped island is pretty much the same layout that I have planned but with a move able table basically pushed up against the island for flexibility. It just means the island is quite small, so I was exploring alternatives

OP posts:
Original poster
FigandHoney · 31/12/2023 19:43

For context. Tye room is really awkward. 5m long 4m deep. With doors in 3 corners. None of these can be removed. A chimney breast on one wall thst picks up a 4 storey tall chimney. And a column in the middle of the other wall where the previous owners knocked through a wall dividing the space.

OP posts:
Original poster
FigandHoney · 31/12/2023 19:45

Here is a plan I made but was exploring alternative

Kitchen Island and no dining table
OP posts:
idontlikealdi · 31/12/2023 19:46

Bar stools at an island for every meal would be awful. I'd do what I could to get a table in.

Floralnomad · 31/12/2023 19:49

Personally I can’t stand stools so if there was no table it would be dinner on my lap on the settee every night .

Boomboomboomboom · 31/12/2023 19:53

Large kitchen island is what sold my house to me - seats 10 at a squeeze and like a poster above we only use the dining room table for special occasions, Board games and sorting the washing!
Kids have sat at it for almost all meals from babies upwards (we had a weesit I think it was called that screwed on)

Boomboomboomboom · 31/12/2023 19:55

We don't have a hob on our island, personally I wouldn't like that- ours is 2.2m by 1m long but it could easily be 75cm and sufficiently wide- barstool chairs all round

MNSlapperTwot · 31/12/2023 19:57

It’s really not good for your back to be perched on stools. I would go for the table.

You can definitely get more workspace out of that layout you’ve drawn. Where are the external and internal doors?

TizerorFizz · 31/12/2023 20:07

@FigandHoney Why do you need stools and a table? It’s not a great use of space. You could certainly get more storage into a better design.

I am attaching a photo of my double width island and it has a circular wood table at the end. It’s not dropped lower but it could have been. The island could have been shorter and the table” could have been a bigger rectangle on the end. Your design doesn’t maximise storage and looks messy, in my view. If you don’t have a dining room, you need to make the dining space look attractive and have a multi function. My other units are L shaped on the walls you cannot see.

Kitchen Island and no dining table
thinkfast · 31/12/2023 20:09

Would no island and a larger dining table work OP? I'd go for that if possible. Children enjoy sitting at islands but no one else does.

BobnLen · 31/12/2023 20:14

I would have a table, an island is where you perch for a quick snack or drink. Those seats upthread look just like in our touring caravan.

Swipe left for the next trending thread