Reno advice: Would putting the kitchen in the middle room be a mistake?

[HazelCritic]

Would I be mad to put my kitchen in the 'middle room'?

We are planning a rear extension to our 1930s semi. We've had the architects plans approved and have a builder lined up. BUT, I'm getting increasingly worried about the layout of the space, especially the kitchen placement.

We have been to Wren and IKEA and while I like the L-shaped wall run ideas which would overlook the garden, the island is feeling too big and blocky.

The idea of the extension was to take advantage of our amazing views and south-facing rear garden. Hence a bifold window (which I am not wedded to either - I hate bifolds and am trying to persaude OH to consider other options!). The extension roof will have two velux on either side.

I want a seating area at the back by the bifolds, so I can curl up with coffee and a book, somewhere the kids can hang out etc. I also want the dining table to be a focal point, where we do homework and crafts and host dinners. The island or penisula in the extension makes the space feel more cluttered?

We're now wondering if we put the kitchen in the space marked 'dining room', leaving the rectangle extension as an open flexible space for living, dining table and small play area? Our front living room is already a library/TV room, more like a snug where we have out desk as well.

The wall I've marked in blue has to stay as it is loadbearing and we asked to keep it to save costs. The downstairs toilet and utility also has to stay more or less as drawn although the doorways could be moved?

Would we be mad to put a kitchen in the central room? It'd need a good extractor obviously. We're asking our builder for costings re removing the chimney breast and moving utilities.

I'm open to ideas on how to better design the space too!

Included drawings which are currently under review.

A kitchen needs a door to the outside. Bit confused by the layout - is there a breakfast bar and a dining table for 6 in the kitchen area, and a separate dining room as well? Does the existing dining room have any windows?

Kitchens in the middle can work really well as the living is to one side and dining is there the other. It really depends on how much cooking you do . However on your plan the kitchen would become the main thoroughfare so not ideal. Think what it would be like if preparing a big meal and visitors arrive. Can you not put utility and wc by living room? This needs no natural light

I would put the loo and utility in the dark bit where the dining room is and then you can have a lovely sightline from the front door out to the garden and more space to play with for rhe kitchen diner.

Gosh, no one told the builder of our house (1980s) - we have no door to the outside, we have to go through the utility into the garage to get to the outside.

Ah. You might mean it’s best to, not it has to for building regs.

Take a chunk out of the dining room for a utility kitchen where the utility is
take full back of the house out
the cost will not be enormous to go for one big steel I’d just leave the utility empty with washing machine dryer and repurpose some of your existing kitchen units and use this money on a steel to take the back of the house out
at a guess your spending 35k+ don’t skimp for a few grand

The dining room in that configuration will just become a passageway. It's a massive waste of space. I'd put the kitchen in there. Do you use your garage for a car? If not, I'd be tempted to convert that for a utility, put the dining room at the front, knocked through into the middle bit (new kitchen) and have the back bit as a living room with zones. It all depends on your budget.

If there are things that you hate already, you need to rethink it before you start building. Don't compromise on things that are important to you to please someone else. You'll only resent them and end up hating your house. It will just niggle away at you.

You could not do an extension. Put the kitchen in dining area and have doors to outside, have old kitchen as utility and storage. Kirsty and Phil have done this in a terrace in Whitley Bay in LIOLI and it was stunning.

The “central room” being the current dining room? Sorry not clear.

would the kitchen have a window?

Is that a pain in the arse? For taking out rubbish etc

Yes. Too dark.

The attached drawing is my ground floor from when we bought the house. When we bought the house it already had an extension where the new kitchen was and the middle room, which was the original kitchen, opened into the extension like one big room. The labels on the picture show where the original layout was.
We decided to move the kitchen back into the middle, (in red) with space for a small table, had base units custom built along one wall of the extension to house a washer and dryer plus provide a space for a Tv with wall cupboards either side (in blue). We have a sofa (in yellow) where we spend the majority of our time especially in summer. We couldn’t have bifolds due to the location of the water pipe coming into the extension, so have French doors. I’m glad we didn’t have bifolds now as lots of people I know have had problems with them!
It’s quite a small house as there’s only 2 of us now.

It would be helpful to know dimensions….

I’ve never had this in any house I’ve lived in!

Just to clarify, the area marked dining room on Tuesday drawing would be tv/ play area.

This is what I think, re windows. Currently the area marked dining room is open plan with what is marked utility and so has a window

Garage is a studio space for partner so needs to be kept.

And thank you, I do feel really unsure. Partly I think it's just general jitters, but also lots was happening personally when we were working with the architect so I wasn't as on the ball as I should have been.

I love that! How do you find having the kitchen in the middle? Does it ever feel dark?

What’s the dimensions?

How about something like this?

https://www.instagram.com/reel/DW1otHgsc77/?stkn=c3MyNWtvYnAyNjU4

I am planning to do this - move my kitchen from the back room (facing garden) to the middle room - I want to have a more loungish room facing the garden!

The kitchen you are proposing would or would
not have a window and if it does - how big?

If we go with architects drawing the new kitchen (in the extension) would have a side door, window and bifolds.

If we move thr kitchen to the area marked 'dining room' then it wouldn't have a window but would be open plan out to the extension and bifolds.

100% no no no to a kitchen with no window

the kitchen is the heart of the family home.. I spend so much time in there… my children too. A window is a MUST.

Plus… kitchen smells, anything burnt etc… will just hang in the air

I think you're right. The middle room could become a TV/ play area. With no surfaces so it doesn't become a dumping ground!