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Original poster

Should I knock down the wall between my kitchen and dining room?

28 replies

tessieb · 11/05/2008 22:09

My kitchen is approx 10'x 10' and the dining room is approx 11' x 8'. I'm thinking about having a new kitchen and can't decide whether or not to knock down the wall between the kitchen and dining room and create one larger room. I haven't got room for a table in my kitchen at the moment and do think it would be nice to have a larger family room. But would I regret losing a separate dining room?

Has anyone else done this? Any advice? Would it make any difference to the value of my house to lose a room (not that I'm thinking of selling for a long long time)?

OP posts:
pootleflump · 11/05/2008 22:17

Definitely! I'd much rather have a large family kitchen than a separate dining room.

maidamess · 11/05/2008 22:18

I've just done mine...and also knocked into my downstairs bathroom and added that space too. I love love love it.

Yes we've lost a reception room but in fact it was a glorified hall, no one wanted to spend any time in there. We love our new room!

Original poster
tessieb · 11/05/2008 22:26

Must admit, can be a problem having separate rooms. For example, in the morning when ds (6) is still eating his breakfast in the dining room and I need to go into the kitchen to make packed lunches/tidy up.

Is is expensive to make 2 rooms into 1 - the wall in between isn't a supporting wall (I don't think!)?

OP posts:
mumonthenet · 11/05/2008 22:37

Doubt if its expensive and I think it would probably add value if done well!

make sure one end is "eating" and the other "kitchen". In fact don't make the mistake of filling the room with kitchen units....you'll just end up walking for miles every day!

put an "island" in the kitchen part which visually separates the "eating" part. Maybe you can add a breakfast bar to the "island" so the family can perch there for breakfasts and snacks.

think carefully about lighting so that if you have friends over for supper you can lower the lights in the kitchen part so as not to spoil the atmosphere of your dins party.

Original poster
tessieb · 11/05/2008 22:52

Good idea about the lighting, hadn't thought of that.

Don't think an island would fit as current adjoining wall is only about 8' with door opening into it - would make the space between kitchen part and dining part too narrow.

Thanks for advice and ideas.

OP posts:
Original poster
tessieb · 12/05/2008 09:14

Has anyone else done this and been pleased with the result? Or any regrets?

OP posts:
edam · 12/05/2008 09:17

I think it's a great idea - haven't done it myself but have lusted after houses I've seen where it has been done. And all those property programmes say people don't want separate dining rooms anymore, they prefer big kitchen/diners.

Cosette · 12/05/2008 09:31

We have a big kitchen/diner, that may have been two rooms originally, and I love it. It really is the centre of the house.
I agree that you need to clearly differentiate between the 2 parts - kitchen units one end only, and have units coming out across the middle of the room to give it some separation.

I thought I'd miss having a dining room - but not at all..

Tommy · 12/05/2008 09:35

I am thinking about the same thing too - a few friends have had it done and the results alll look gorgeous. Mine is not wide enough to have a breakfast bar either but I would hope that it would make the dining room look a bit bigger - at the moment you have to really squeeze in if we have anyone else round for a meal plus the 5 of us

Original poster
tessieb · 12/05/2008 09:54

My dining room is a bit on the small side too. I'm also thinking of taking out the window and having french doors put in instead to make it lighter and brighter and feel more spacious.

OP posts:
Ledodgy · 12/05/2008 10:03

You could comprimise and knock part of the wall down to make a breakfast bar?

Original poster
tessieb · 12/05/2008 14:43

Don't think I could fit one in. I don't want the room to feel cramped - I want lots of space (just wish I had the money for an extension too!)

OP posts:
LadyOfWaffle · 12/05/2008 14:49

Depends how you would use it I guess - if you do dinner parties (or that sort of thing) alot I personally wouldn't like it, but if it's more a family eating type room I would. Knocking the wall down shouldn't be expensive if it's not supporting. You could always have french doors (extra wide?) so you have the best of both worlds - fold right back when it's a kitchen/diner, then close off if you are having a more formal meal and want to hide the burnt pans and block the smoke etc . THen you could play with options like frosted glass so you can't see the kitchen as much, or curtains/voiles tied back so you can draw them if you had guests? Then you still have a tiny bit of wall space on each side of the doors for wall lights/nice paintings etc. We had an arch from our kitchen to dining area and I have just widened (sp?) it and put in french doors - it really made the world of difference - I can have them right back so it's almost like a kitchen diner, or shut and the kitchen is nicely hiddden away. Sorry, waffling!

LadyOfWaffle · 12/05/2008 14:51

Sorry to keep going on - to section it more the kitchen has 5 spotlights and the dining area/room has one low pendant light.

MKG · 12/05/2008 15:45

Would you compromise and make a "pass through" I have a small home and our dining room and living room are one great room. The kitchen has a pass through which is great but I would love to knock down the half of the wall that is there and put in a breakfast bar.

rebelmum1 · 12/05/2008 15:50

Just done it and it looks great!

rebelmum1 · 12/05/2008 15:51

Typical I here that dining rooms are making a come back ..

Chocolateteapot · 12/05/2008 18:53

We've done it twice and has made a big difference to how we've used the house. I would much prefer this to a dining room even if they are coming back.

Original poster
tessieb · 14/05/2008 19:26

Anyone else done this and been pleased with the result?

OP posts:
princessmel · 14/05/2008 19:28

I would do it. We have done it. 5 years ago. Our room is fab. Much nicer and more family friendly.

Tinker · 14/05/2008 19:28

We're going to be doing this...one day. I think a separate dining room is a nice luxury if you can afford lots of rooms

jasper · 14/05/2008 23:32

Yes.
I did it five years ago mostly because I really wanted an aga.

It's a fab room , best in the house

Pavlovthecat · 14/05/2008 23:38

Do it. Absolutely.

Dining rooms are fine, but are a bit too seperate for me. I love the idea of a large family kitchen diner, if done well its great, kitchen area one end, flowing into a dining area the other.

We are looking at properties now and this is something we are looking at doing in some of the places. Most of them have supporting walls between so not really possible tho .

Chocolateteapot · 15/05/2008 00:00

It can be done with supporting walls Pavlov. Takes a good builder, RSJ and building regs but pretty straight forward.

Pavlovthecat · 15/05/2008 06:43

is it?!! I thought it was really expensive....? well, you might have changed the outlook on a few things for me and my DH!!! I might have to investigate ...

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