How important is a kitchen at the back of a house?

[mumma24]

woukd you consider a kitchen at the front with the lounge at the back over looking the garden?
or do the majority prefer the other way. Looking at a house to buy but thinking of resale going forward in 5 years time

@BreatheAndFocus yes, my living room is wooden floor with a rug, I need to protect it!

I like the idea of sitting in a living room looking at my garden

I think it’s because people in general spend more time in there than other rooms. It’s not called the heart of the home for nothing & the kitchen is normally a key selling point for a home.

Oh ok! I spend very little time in my kitchen, it's literally just food prep / washing up.
I guess people are talking kitchen diners? Otherwise what are people doing in the kitchen? I've never heard it called the heart of the home. I've only ever lived in places with tiny kitchens though. My lounge is definitely the heart of my home 😀

Nothing wrong with a kitchen at the front.

In my house we have the kitchen at the front, the living room at the back with windows and patio doors into the garden. It's lovely in hot weather to have the doors open into the garden while you watch TV in the evenings.

Wouldn't bother me but then I only go into the kitchen for food and drink prep. As long as the house has a good flow that works for me.

Because as a woman you spend all your time in the kitchen???

Mine's dual aspect, it had been a kitchen at the front and dining room at the back. Are there any walls you can knock through to create something more open plan?

@WoahThreeAces you have never heard a kitchen being called the heart of the home? Perhaps I watch too many renovation shows!

The only homes I have been in with a kitchen at the front is the odd new build air bnb. Where I live in London most houses would have traditionally had a galley kitchen at the back & people have knocked through to the separate dining room. I definitely spend most of my time there so does DH & the dc.

Yes, this is the pro but I’ve found it only works if the lounge is separate from the outside, eg if there’s a hallway or another room exiting into the garden.

I'd prefer the kitchen at the front. Sitting in the lounge overlooking the garden and away from road and street noise is brilliant.

So for me, it would be a selling point.

My last house had the kitchen at the back and my current one has a kitchen at the front. There are advantages to both, but as I spend more time in the lounge and love my (back) garden, I like having the lounge at the back. I've got patio doors looking out on the garden.

Our house is long do both kitchen and front room are at the back. The front room is a front room/diner but the lay out means it has to be the way we have it. It does mean we kind of have best of both worlds. We have conservatory at the back to so when it warms up, where ever I'm be, I'll see the kids in the garden :)
Only bad point is the sun blinds me for a bit in the morning from the back (east) then in the evening from the front (west) 🤣

Our kitchen is at the front. Living room at the back with French doors out into the garden. Utility room with side door access. Wooden flooring throughout.

Pros: shopping can be brought in and put away without going through the house to the back; view of street when washing up; spying on neighbours (😉); cooler when cooking as sun at the back; privacy and peace and quiet when in living room; garden becomes extension of lounge area rather than kitchen; nice for socialising!

What does everyone’s neighbours do that it’s fun to spy on them?! I feel like I’m missing out.

If i’m in my living room during the day all I ever see is people parking, walking, delivery drivers. Perhaps my street is just very boring!

Women are not permanently chained to the kitchen. Hope that helps.

See, I would hate to be relaxing in my living room on an evening and have to see or hear all these comings and goings!

I think it really depends how you use those rooms. Our kitchen is small and not used to hang out in. It's for food storage and prep only.

On our street, all of the houses have the kitchen at the front. I have considered a few times whether we could change the layout to have the kitchen at the back but then what would we have at the front? I wouldn’t want the lounge or the playroom to be at the front and visible from the street whereas I don’t mind the kitchen at all. Like a PP, I like looking down the street when doing the dishes and cooking.
It was a bit annoying when the DC were little but there were plenty of hours for them to be in the garden and still
be inside if needed when I was cooking & things. Both of my DC have always been rule followers and got on well
so I was happy leaving them outside by themselves from a fairly young age and would sometimes put the baby monitor out there so they could
talk to me & me to them. We also have a giant tray to minimise trips in & out when we’re eating outside but, with the kids roped in, even for a BBQ with a lot of condiments and all the sides, it’s no
more than two
trips each. We further improved the situation last year by getting a bit of an outdoor kitchen set up
in the garden so now have a cupboard with glasses, plates and various things in as well as a suncream, sunhat, spare sunglasses and things. DH thinks that having all of that out there is ridiculously lazy of me!
I also love the fact that the sitting room and the playroom lead straight into the garden.
I’ve also realised over the years that people expect a kitchen to be a bit of a mess and therefore, if people call in unexpectedly and you can confine them to the kitchen, it’s less embarrassing than if your whole house is a mess. It’s also much easier to get rid of them - and the neighbour’s DC - as you can demonstrate that you are in the middle of something (well, if you actually are!)

The best house I ever lived in had the kitchen /breakfast room at the front and a living room/diner at the back along the whole back of the house. Big patio doors leading onto the garden. It was lovely in summer to sit outside and even in winter it seemed much quieter to be sitting at the back away from the road. The other good thing about that house was that the hallway was completely square, getting furniture in was so easy.

Never even thought about where the kitchen is before. Mine is at the side but I have a huge garden and it’s a detached house so there’s garden out of most windows.

This has baffled me too. Lounge at back with wide opening doors

Everything is going to depend on your house. Our living rooms are at the from and the back, the kitchen is in the middle sort of.
There’s no coming and goings at the front though, our access and are neighbours access are quite far apart and very separate. I would never know if someone went in to my neighbours house.

We specifically bought a house with the kitchen at the front, living/dining room at the back with french doors to the patio. The garden is a really important thing to us and we want to be able to look out and see it from the room we spend the most time in. It also means the living room is more secluded, it’s more convenient for bringing in the shopping, and this way our indoor and outdoor dining areas are next to each other. The kitchen has a side door to the garden so you don’t have to walk through the house.

I don’t think the argument about watching children is so relevant in the modern era now we have dishwashers, washing machines and modern cooking gadgets (slow cookers, air fryers etc). Most of the time I spend in the kitchen is in the evening so not the time they would be outside anyway.

Lounge at the back is one of my main criteria when looking for a home to buy. I rejected many houses where you can't see the back garden from the lounge. I have found this layout works best for me after living in lots of different types of rented properties.

When I am working in the kitchen I'm busy and can't be bothered to look out the window/patio to see the garden. But when I am in the lounge, it's wonderful to be able to look at the garden and relax.

I wouldn't mind if there's room for both the kitchen and lounge to be at the back, but lounge overlooking the garden is non negotiable.