Would you rather... (design advice needed)

[MusicMum80s]

We have bought a house we are doing up and are changing the downstairs layout considerably. We the option of:

Option A: Two large reception rooms at the front of the house. The can be connected or closed off from each other and we'd use one as a lounge and the other as a playroom. We'd then have a large utility room with side access and then a 35sqm kitchen-diner. The kitchen diner would have a large island with seating, a large dining table and space for a small sofa. Ceiling heights would be 10ft high.

Option B: Create a larger open plan space of 50sqm by connecting one of the reception rooms to the kitchen-diner so it was a fully open plan space with a proper living room area, plus the kitchen with island and large dining area. We would still have the front lounge separate but lose the flexibility to have contained playroom that could transition into a teenage den in time. Ceiling height for the kitchen would be 8ft high due to how the spaces would be connected to each other.

So the question is would you prefer two reception rooms and a kitchen-diner or one reception room and a larger kitchen-diner-living room given the choice?

Can you used pocket doors to section areas off?

Two reception rooms definitely. I like cooking but the smell can get a bit much sometimes and I like clean air in the other rooms.

Not really as that would further limit furniture placement.

I'd go for separate rooms.

Kitchen smells will stay in the kitchen, your sitting room will be more snug, and it will be less expensive to heat

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Definitely separate rooms, but DH would undoubtedly vote open plan… so it really is personal preference

Kitchen diner separate, definitely. We are looking to movr at the moment and I don't mind a large kitchen diner with other spaces to sit but one big room just puts me off.

What if you are cooking something strong smelling? Or really dont want to tidy the kitchen but have no choice as you can see it from the sofa? Or want to cook while listening to music and sing along g but everyone else is in the living area and do t want to hear you and your music? What if you want to eat something really tasty but also want to hide it from dc!

Separate rooms. I don't like open plan.

Separate rooms definitely.

Option A.

Absolutely option A. With open plan the noise just reverberates. That good bit on a programme, boom, there goes a pan clattering and you miss it. I don't think you can ever switch off unless everything is spotless either.

Give the kiddies their room! Everyone's then got space and privacy for later years.

Definitely two separate reception rooms. We’ve been house hunting recently and haven’t even bothered to view houses that have huge open plan areas. It’s different with modern houses I suppose, but I think it’s such a shame that so many people butcher lovely old houses, make the ground floor open plan and stick a huge featureless box extension on the back.

Even in the open plan we'd have a separate lounge so its if two lounges would be better than one but I tend to agree with everyone. My kids play multiple instruments which we keep in the play room. I like having more walls to put things against like a piano and acoustic privacy is important when people have hobbies that make noise or require quiet! I just was wondering if I'd be destroying the house value if we had to sell by not having a big kitchen-lounge-diner which seem quite popular at the minute

I so relieved people agree with me as its my preference as well! Really large rooms aren't cosy and you can't ever get away from mess and noise.

Option A as I wouldn’t want 8ft high ceilings also more flexibility,

Surely its lifestyle of your family that dictates?

Our first home was a 2 up 2 down mid terrace and we used the under 4 meters rule to get around planning. We also had to step in from the boundaries so ended up with a large kitchen diner - kitchen in the original gallery kitchen area - just re imagined, and a huge every day living area ( back in the day of one big computer in the house ) , so a desk tucked into a corner below the tv, a huge big table used as desk space at one end and sofa and chairs. A room we lived in, the kids did their homework there whilst dinner was being cooked. Our living room was the room we went into to watch tv on the big screen, and the sofa in there was a sofa bed, in case parents were staying

Now I have 2 seperate receptions because now we have mother living with us. ( different house ) So she has her own sitting room which is pretty formal, we have a huge family room and we have a kitchen/diner - again kitchen is one end, the rest is a family coming together area , comfy sofa, an extending table - can sit 8 and ten at a pinch . Means mum gets her peace and can retreat when we have kids and grandkids here

So think about your needs as a family. For me its always about the table, Id never ever have an island for example because that doesnt work for US

We have a table and an island. Its not really either or or as we've had that before.

We have B and it’s amazing. I can fully foresee separate lounge becoming teen den, or us having that lounge.

We like the playroom in the kitchen anyway because you can keep an eye on the kids. Massive table makes it really multifunctional. They can play, be building their Lego. In the future I imagine homework although no idea if that’s a pipe dream 😂

I’m a bit over the popular big kitchen, dinner, living room spaces with the huge bifolds. So I’d go for keeping the two reception rooms. It’s nice to sit somewhere comfy and warm that doesn’t smell like cooking, without the sound of the dishwasher being loaded and unloaded.
BUT it is whatever works best for the individual family. If you’re a big family then maybe you need a big communal living space.

Thanks all. We are a normal size family and can easily all be together in the reception rooms or the kitchen diner. Even when entertaining in the kitchen diner we would have seating for 11 to 14 between the table, island seating and a small sofa / armchairs

We're part way through a renovation with this exact dilemma. We've gone for a separate reception room but with interconnecting doors because although it does limit furniture placement a bit, we previously had a similar arrangement and it worked well.

I really like the look of a massive kitchen/dining/living set up because of the sense of space it gives you. But when I've ever actually been in a house with this setup it feels weird to spend the whole time in one room. It reminds me of a bedsit somehow.