Would you always open up kitchen diner?

[thismusthappen]

Hopefully will be moving in months to come, finally after a year of collapsed chains and stress…

our soon to be new home, has a separate kitchen (12x12), with separate living/dining room knocked into one large space.

me and OH have different views on whether to open up kitchen into diner. And brick up the living room so only keeping that separate.

is open plan kitchen diner always the best option? Is 12x12 a big enough kitchen space to also have an eating area?

so many houses renovated in more recent years have gone for this open plan living we just can’t agree right now whether it’s always the best option!

would love to see any 12x12 kitchens with eating space if anyone has one in their house!

thanks

The best option is always the option that works for you and your family!
I've seen countless posts about how open plan kitchens are no longer in vogue, but still it is the best option for me and my family.
I think cooking and eating are a social experiences. Having a separated kitchen from the home's social life would make me feel like the house's maid. I can't really understand British homes with a front room so segregated from the kitchen, but I grew up in a different culture, where cooking is the center of the family. We lived in the kitchen even when we were not cooking! Also, since I work full time, the only time I share with my DC are the evenings, so I make sure we cook and dine together.
That said, I would love to be able to have some sort of sliding or French doors to separate the kitchen from the living room because of the cooking smells, but not possible given the layout of my home. That said, a good exhausting fan and scented candles work miracles! I also close all the bedroom doors before I start cooking. So it's not really of an issue as people say it is.
So, if you can add a door or a glass partician would be a good compromise without the need to brick up the living room.

Thank you, it’s helpful to hear suggestions and views of what works for others. As others have said I think it comes down to preference!

hopefully the move happens and we can take some time to think about what will work for our family!

I think a lot of what dictates fashion is about people trying to emulate large house styles, in smaller properties, but having to make compromises about the space.

Eg i live on a road with some quite large houses (250 -300 sqm). They will typically have a large kitchen (eg 6m by 6m or more), but then will also have a large separate living room, another decent sized separate reception room, and a study.

Then you get smaller houses locally (135sqm) where people have tried to create that large sociable kitchen family space by knocking through rooms (& extending) often ending up left with the large kitchen & then only one other modest reception, and a garden that wasnt big to start with has lost a slice to the kitchen.

Same with ensuites. Larger houses have always had them because there is space for extra bathrooms without compromising bedroom size (my parents house bought 60 years ago had a master ensuite), but the ones shoehorned into 3 bed semis etc can feel awkward, often they have no window or are very tiny.

Knocking through most of the downstairs of a small house is definitely getting a bit less fashionable because people have done it, lived with it for a few years and realised the downsides - large spaces are harder to heat, food smells impregnate everything and when kids get older you want some separate spaces.

I don't think anyone is going to start making the kitchens in large houses any smaller though, or remove the ensuites there.

I've seen countless posts about how open plan kitchens are no longer in vogue, but still it is the best option for me and my family.

They definitely still are. The majority of younger people definitely want space for a table in the kitchen which invariably means knocking the kitchen & dining room together in many houses.

The majority also want a separate living room, I don’t really know anyone who has those 2 rooms knocked together.

But loads of 1930s properties, Edwardian Victorian have galley kitchens hence why people knock through to the dining room/extend.

Currently we have all separate rooms but plan to own up kitchen and dining room soon. It will help with light and flow into the garden for us. We would still have a separate lounge and family room though.

I only would if the rads were big enough to heat the space. We moved to a kitchen/ diner and it’s freezing but it is easy with kids/ dinner time/ entertaining

"i think I would be inclined to have the smaller reception as a nice living room- for me and hubby to chill in the evenings! And the larger could have a table, sofa tv etc for us to spend family time together, kids do homework etc etc." This sounds perfect to me, and is the layout at both my parents and in laws. It gives best of both worlds. In my home I have a breakfast kitchen with separate dining and living rooms. I love decorating the dining room at Christmas, using the "posh" vintage and delicate stuff, that dogs and teenages don't get near in the daytime. It looks like a museum. I've got a vintage drinks cabinet in there with the fancy antique crystal glasses and an open fire. The kids used the big table as a quiet space away from the distractions of their bedrooms to do homework and assignments.

And don't forget the heating bills.

I'm in a HA which suits me well but if I owned it I would move the door between the kitchen and living room and replace with a door from the hallway.

I have had a kitchen diner since new 25 years ago and have never used the radiator. I would prefer if there wasn't one and wonder why it was put in there the first place. It has never really been cold

We've been fortunate to have three houses previously with kitchens large enough for a table and sofa plus a separate dining room and other living room(s). One was a 3500 sq ft Victorian house, so pretty huge and absolutely no need to open up anywhere as the kitchen was 25' x 15', the dining room 20' x 14' and the living room 18' x 14'.

When we sold that house we did buy somewhere with smaller rooms (one architect we considered using referred to them as poky...he didn't get the job!), but it was a Georgian house so didn't suit open plan imo. However we did build a new kitchen extension that once again had space for a table plus sofa.

We love period buildings and would never choose a new build with completely open plan layout - even a barn conversion doesn't appeal to me as often these seem to comprise one cavernous living/kitchen/dining space.

However, when we purchased our current downsize cottage (which is Georgian but you'd never know it from the inside 🙄), the layout already included a lounge/diner with the kitchen off the latter. Tbh, the whole purchase was a compromise, as we wanted to be close to the sea on the south coast, but had a fairly crap budget having sold in a much cheaper part of the UK.

Anyway, I hated the lounge/diner layout - even though the two spaces are not completely open plan as there's a chimney breast with fireplace between the two, with 6' opening to one side linking the two.

We took the slightly radical step of moving the kitchen into the old living room and - having knocked old kitchen, utility and lobby together - relocated the living room into the snug space this created. It works perfectly now, as we can eat in a space not entirely open to the kitchen (although you can converse with someone at the table whilst prepping/cooking) and shut the 'snug' door to sit/read somewhere cosy, away from cooking smells/dishwasher etc.

I would always choose a kitchen I could eat in, whether that's a full kitchen diner or just space for a table.

At the moment we have a big kitchen with a table and a lounge diner (double reception knocked through). I'd much rather have a small sitting room and really big kitchen/diner/sofa area.

I've had a dining area in a living room and now a dining area off a kitchen and much prefer a kitchen diner with separate living room. The thought of one open plan living/kitchen/dining room just feels awful to me.

Open plan was a fad, but now many people are going back to wanting separately defined spaces.

One problem with open plan is that you lose wall space, which oridinarily you would have furniture and kitchen cabinets along. Open plan means you have less space for that type of thing..

A friend of mine used to have an open plan flat. I went there a few times for a movie night, trying to enjoy the film whilst the washing machine and dishwasher were running right behind me. I wasn’t a fan.

This is so interesting to me. I recently moved through mutual exchange to a 2 bed fairly new build on an estate comprised of mixed housing. Before I viewed the house I was looking online at the 2 beds for sale and they were all completely open plan apart from the downstairs loo. I remember remarking to my son that it was the only thing I wouldn't be happy with. Then we viewed the house and everything was separate, I was so relieved! That one fell through but we found another on the same estate. It was the same, all separate rooms downstairs. I was really puzzled by why social housing was different in this way. Apparently it's very popular amongst buyers to want open plan living, but now I have read this thread I'm not sure that's true. The reason social housing is built with separate rooms is for practical reasons and also it keeps heating bills lower. I cannot fathom how people want to live in an open space where the cooking smells and washing machine noise will intrude on your evenings relaxing watching TV etc.

My priority is a kitchen that can accommodate a good sized table - with enough soft seating to be comfortable.
I have two houses - one with a large open plan sitting, dining & cooking ( we have an additional living room & utility - so there's room to escape if needed) and one house with a dining kitchen (about 6m*6m) and a separate living - separated with doors. Both set ups are fine for us as a family.
I'd live in it for a while and if you're happy there do what suits you and your family.

We have a kitchen dinner and separate living room.

It’s lovely when cooking the children doing homework or just chatting and having the space to do that . We use the kitchen/diner for entertainment spent many an evening over a bottle of wine, never used the living room.

But movie nights, chilled Sundays having the seperate living room away from the noise of washing machine/dishwashers etc

My wish would be to magic enough space for a decent size utility room.