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

Kitchen at front, lounge at back. Like PP I love being in the lounge looking out into the garden as well as the privacy it gives in the evenings. We had the opposite in our previous house and I didn't like it, I much prefer our current set up.

It wouldn’t even be a factor for me. Most houses here have the kitchen in the front. Our kitchen diner runs the length of the house so have a window at the front and back but the kitchen bit is at the back. Last house was at the front and we could still eat outside or with the doors opened as the dining table was in the lounge diner so at the back.

Why would you have to see or hear lots of comings and goings whilst trying to relax? , Do you stand at the window a lot 😆

My only preference is sink under a window, so if that’s at the front, that’s ok. I’d rather sit looking at my garden than the front.

My kitchen is at the front overlooking the driveway. The previous owners however did knock through to the dining room behind it so technically now it runs straight through to the back garden as well. So it’s kitchen, an island, dining table, back doors. My living room is at the back to the side of the dining room. It’s lovely and peaceful and not really overlooked so I like it this way. I don’t really hear traffic noise and I can watch the birds/wildlife. It’s also very cool on hot days!

I wonder if it’s very location specific because its really not common where I live but it’s the norm for so many on the thread.

My kitchen is at the front, but has a utility room which leads into the garden, so can see into the back garden from the kitchen.

We’ve just bought a house and immediately discarded ones with a kitchen in the front regardless of the positioning. Didn’t even bother viewing.

I’m guessing that by the time you get to sit in the lounge, they are in bed 😁

Why are you reselling in 5 years?

We have the kitchen at the front, lounge at the back. Our road has a primary school on it and is a route lots of secondary kids take to school.when my dc were little and I was a SAHM, I used to feel a bit lonely at half term of school holidays when there was no one walking past!
My biggest complaint is how dark our kitchen is. You basically need a light on at any time of day.

This. We have a large open plan kitchen, with huge kitchen table and sofa and french doors into the garden and open plan with large sofa etc . We have a study at the front though.

I've never really given this much thought. All the houses I've bought or rented had the living room at the front, usually with big bay windows, and the kitchen with small windows at the back.

I do like the idea of having a living room at the back with patio doors onto the garden (I'd an auntie with a rear lounge like this but their kitchen was also at the back too), lovely in the summer evenings. But we only use our kitchen for food prep and making tea so don't spend a lot of time in it. If we had an extended kitchen diner with nicely heated lounge space with sofas, we probably would.

I like our current layout; the living room looks over the front garden and the street and faces north, it's quite cool in summer. Kitchen at the back looks over our south facing garden and gets roasting in the summer and very cold in winter, we just don't linger in it unless necessary.

I have only been living in houses with kitchen at the front of the house. North facing.

Living rooms at the back. South facing. I don't know any different 😂

In fact it would be weird if I lived in a house with a living room at the front now!

I enjoy the privacy of having my living room at the back.

I would be put off by any room in the house facing an internal wall, even a utility or bathroom.

In our last house the living room was at the front (South facing), kitchen was at the side overlooking the drive and wall and a ground floor bathroom and dining room overlooked the garden.

We had an extension and swapped the the layout so the kitchen/dining room was at the back and the bathroom went where the kitchen was. It transformed how the space was used and was so much better for keeping an eye on our then small children and hanging out the washing. (Kitchen being easier to watch children because I could get on with jobs and cooking meals at the same time.)

Current house the kitchen overlooks the garden (again north facing), living room faces west part of garden.

Both our kitchen and lounge run front to back. I don’t love the front window in our lounge as people could feasibly see in, so we keep that blind permanently closed. Our kitchen sink is under a front window, and we don’t have neighbours opposite so I love that and the view across the road. The main benefit of the kitchen at the back is that it’s easier to let the dog out.

If I had to choose though, in my house I’d have kitchen at the front and lounge at the back.

Surely every room has internal walls?

My kitchen is at the front of the house on one side of front door and the corner-shaped window looks into a completely enclosed and private front garden facing west. The dining area and living room are on the other side of the house, and all windows look onto garden facing west and north. In fact all windows everywhere in the house look onto garden. I love it.

I can see a bit of the street from where I prepare food and cook on the stove. The whole house is one and a half metres above street level, so passers-by can't see in easily - they'd need a small ladder.

The house was designed by the man who built and lived in it with his wife and children. There was a cubby-house in the back garden and I think that generation didn't keep an eye on their children in the modern fashion.

We actively looked for houses where the lounge leads onto the garden. We didn't want houses with the kitchen at the back, found it much harder with kids that way round.

I prefer the kitchen/diner to not be visible to the road personally and wouldn’t buy a house with kitchen at the front but it does depend on the house layout really. Some kitchens run front to back. Interesting to see how many people have kitchens at the front. Anyone with young children will find this awkward because it’s easier to keep an eye on children in the garden while preparing dinner etc. So I think it could impact on saleability in the future. I spend most of my day in the kitchen / diner and lounge in the evening!

Prefer lounge onto the garden.

@Cailin66 because for now the right location is within an hours drive to the airport for work and in 5 years time we can chose where we want to live which is more in the country

It's so cultural. Where I am is safe for kids too play on the street, so the kitchen is at the front. Handy to see deliveries and means you don't have to carry the shopping through the house. The kids shouldn't need minding in the garden and don't you want to see the garden when you're sat in the living room? I never understood why the front room was traditionally for best in the uk.

@mumma24 thats a really short timeframe to sell in this economic climate so you are definitely right to analyse. What is the norm for where you live?