How useful/nice is a snug area in a kitchen diner extension?

[Bubblesallaround]

We are planning an extension and it will be L shaped. Ideally, we’d like 3 zones - a kitchen, dining area and snug. However despite the architect drawings which look ideal, I’m sceptical that they would all fit and be big enough in real life (the kitchen would only be about 3.2m wide so not much bigger than our current one).

Attached is original extension idea. I’m now thinking maybe get rid of the snug and make a bigger kitchen on the other side. Any ideas I’m going crazy trying to think how to fit things in the odd shape! (We can’t move the utility room wall in the middle as that’s supporting).

The reason for the snug area was mainly for my young kids so I can keep an eye on them if they’re watching TV etc whilst I’m cooking.

It's super important for me and allows the whole family to be together in the evenings while cooking, watching TV, doing homework etc. We spend most of our time in this room. In my previous home, we were all in different rooms in the house all the time and I consciously made a choice to buy a home with open plan kitchen diner and snug.

I was fearing someone may say that 🙈
we do have a separate lounge area just not sure how to fit one in the extension bit!

We have a small snug area in our kitchen diner and I'd say we spend most of our time there. The living room is rarely used - only when one of my dd want to watch something different really.

We did a kitchen extension with dining space only & didn’t like it. We ended up spending the majority of our time in the space, especially when socialising. Got really fed up of everyone standing around in the kitchen.

This time round we got an independent kitchen advisor to design the whole room - including where the sofa and TV will go.

I think that looks a bit squashed. Could you scale back the corner sofa (eg just have a smaller sofa and chair ) so that it becomes a smaller usable area but not the main living room? Otherwise what's the point in squashing it all in if it then means you don't use the living room?

I am writing this from the sofa in the small snug area of the kitchen. I love it, spend most of my time here and when the kids were small it was brilliant for all the reasons you listed.

We spend most of our time there.

Really useful. Ours is a different layout but we have a separate lounge and a dining/living area attached to the kitchen. When the DC were younger they would play or watch tv in there while I was cooking, and now that they're older it's nice to have two living areas when they have friends over

The first thing that jumps out at me is the proportion of the bi-folds seems off - way too big for the space imo and it's compromising the kitchen by taking away valuable wall space.

I'm a terrible artist but how about something like this?

I’ve never had a kitchen with a snug area, so feel free to ignore me! I do, however, always wish our kitchen was bigger, had more storage, more counter space etc (and it’s a fairly average size really, not especially small). So I would definitely go for the bigger kitchen space. Do you need to have the separate dining table, or could you combine the snug and table into one? I’d put built in seating against the wall (could have storage inside too) and then add a big square table in front. That would give sofa seating and lots of space for homework etc. You might be able to hang a tv from the ceiling or maybe a projector if there’s a clear wall opposite, otherwise I’d just use an iPad.

Where's the bifolds gone though?! 😬

I would go with the original plan with the extra little bit of kitchen that @iknowimcoming drew, but I don't like the sofa having it's back to the kitchen.. no solution to offer though I'm awful at this!

That’s exactly what we thought with the peninsula bit and they did do a design for that actually. It’s the size of the kitchen - I don’t think it would be very wide. 3.2m across

I'm not keen on these open plan spaces, and I don't think my family are either because they spread themselves round the downstairs so there is one or two in a room. But I have teenagers not small children. The thing to remember with small children though is that in a blink of an eye they will be teenagers and noisy and taking up a lot of space and constantly preparing themselves food. A room that's a kitchen, dining room and sitting room will either be constantly noisy and untidy or will have sections that are underused as people disappear off to more private spaces.

Do you have to have the bifold doors where they are? If not put the kitchen where the dining table is the dining table and bi folds where the kitchen is and keep the snug where it is then you can see snug and dining table from the kitchen and get a bigger kitchen. I would go for big kitchen area as you have another living space.

I bought a house that was laid out like your original plan and I'm completely changing it.

The kitchen area is too small and crowded. I like to spread out when cooking. And I like to talk on the phone with my sister, which is not compatible with the dc hanging about making a racket.

We are now going to have separate kitchen, dining and living areas. And the kitchen will be much bigger.

It's one of the reasons I'm buying my next house. I'm moving 120 miles away. When I saw the property and the snug area, I knew I'd be spending a lot of time in it.

Swap the kitchen and dining table around? The sliding door location can be anywhere I guess! Another idea to add to the pot. Thank you. Although I can’t see how the kitchen would be much bigger in that location?

Are you extending or putting the new kitchen in the original space?

Not useful at all. A large kitchen with separate walk-in larder is a must though.

Ours was set up like that but I ditched it In favour of a bigger table and space for a tumble dryer. Dc can be sat at the table whilst you cook

In that layout you ant see the people in the lounge area, so it would annoy me. I'd make a smaller lounge area with no TV and put the kitchen area in the middle so you can see both.
Personally, I'm not bothered about a sofa area, but if you want one, go for it.

Not extending, just reconfiguring the ground floor (it had some other rooms as well as the kitchen/diner/seating area, and we are adding some walls and knocking down others)

Does the kitchen need to go there? Could you swap the kitchen and sofa areas around?

If you lose the return on the sofa and have a tv on an arm you might get an island in? I’m assuming your front door is in front of the stairs? If it is I would like my kitchen a straight line from front door for bringing in bags. Here is my stab at it…. The black blob is an occasional chair or you could keep cupboards for storage.