Active discussions

Meet the Other Phone. Flexible and made to last.

Meet the Other Phone.
Flexible and made to last.

Buy now

Please or to access all these features

Talk
Property/DIY

Join our Property forum for renovation, DIY, and house selling advice.

Original poster

new kitchen...to breakfast bar or not?! need some ideas and advice...again!

33 replies

chimchar · 13/05/2009 07:06

building new extension to house a new kitchen/diner.

room internally is about 3.5m in length and about 6.5m in width..it runs in a long rectangle across the back of the house iykwim?

we're having kitchen one end..(shaker style cream/white in colour if it makes a difference!) and a comfy battered white and pine table in the other end.

we're also having 3m bifold doors in the dining end.

so, my question is....would you split up the space with a breakfast bar to make the kitchen more enclosed and square, or would you leave it open and just have kitchen on 3 outer walls?

i'm not sure if the space will be more versitile and allow us to put maybe a setteee in the dining end and kitchen in the middle of the room, or whether to stick to my original plan of separating the areas...

please help!!!

OP posts:
BonsoirAnna · 13/05/2009 07:14

I'd split it with some kind of bar - either a breakfast bar, or an island with some of your kitchen appliances in it. 3.5 x 6.5 is a big room and you don't want a sofa looking straight towards the other end of the room with a view on appliances.

stubbyfingers · 13/05/2009 07:23

I think I would split it, mainly for the extra cupboard space you could get.

lalalonglegs · 13/05/2009 11:42

Island, not breakfast bar.

Original poster
chimchar · 13/05/2009 16:47

thanks for the input...

should mention that we'll have a separate utility room, so all the appliances etc will be hidden, apart from the fridge and cooker.

any more?

OP posts:
nowwearefour · 13/05/2009 17:09

lurking as plans to have something similar in house about to move into. i had been wondering along similar lines. island seems good to me...

MrsMattie · 13/05/2009 17:12

We have very similar kitchen to yours@OP

We split it with a 'return' with worktop and cupboards, but not a breakfast bar, as I honestly couldn't see any of us poncing around on those tall stools

FiveGoMadInDorset · 13/05/2009 17:13

Go for an island if poss.

Tinker · 13/05/2009 19:10

Is a "return" the same as a "peninsula"? Does anyone ever actually eat breakfast at a breakfast bar?

GreatGooglyMoogly · 13/05/2009 19:36

I would have a peninsula with lower cupboards only; no breakfast bar.

smittenkitten · 13/05/2009 19:43

we are planning something similar and are going with a breakfast bar to break it up and give extra storage.

Who are you looking at for your bi fold doors? I'd like them but think they're going to blow the budget (as DP has decided she wants to redo whole ground floor in real hardwood floors!)

annieshaf · 13/05/2009 19:43

I would definitely go for an island. Would you really need a breakfast bar in a kitchen diner where you also have a dining table. We did a similar thing last year and put fullheight cuboards on one wall, worktop height against the second wall and a large island with cuboards on both sides and hob on top. This gives massses of cuboard space without taking up too much floor space and left space for a corner sofa in the kitchen.

noddyholder · 13/05/2009 22:32

could you move the table up towards the kitchen end ie central and fit a sofa at the other end for a family/tv area?

Original poster
chimchar · 14/05/2009 07:34

noddy. thats what i'm thinking!

i'm feeling a bit sort of pressured to get it right, and its a bloody big mistake to make if i get it wrong! i'm concerned that if i have an open kitchen (on the 3 outer walls iykwim?)in just one end of the room, that it will look disjointed, so i could put a dresser or sideboard in the dining half end, with a setteee or seating there too,AND a dining table in the middle, i feel like i maybe trying to ask too much of the space....HELPPP!

so...why do i need an island? is it something that is a current trend, that the same as a breakfast bar, will stop our open space being as flexible?

i'm so confused! what are the pros and cons of having and not having?

smitten...the doors we're looking at are "easifold 3000" our quote for a 3m wide door was just over £3000 . it is over our budget a bit, but we decided that the things that are staying are worth spending a bit more money on to get right. we're having a cheaper kitchen to make up for it! we chose these doors because they are neat, fold well, and give pretty much the most glass in the smallest frame (apart from another brand which were lush, but over £6.5 k for the same size!!)

OP posts:
noddyholder · 14/05/2009 07:58

I am not keen on islands or breakfast bars from a design POV but I know people love them and find them useful but they eat space and stop the flow.This is ok in a huge wide space but where space is tight they are unnecesary and you would do better with a couple of floor to ceiling larder type cupboards within the kitchen design if you need extra storage.A table with benches like the habitat radius is v good in your type of kitchen as it is big enough to use as extra workspace but the benches can be tucked under to give a good flow.Once the basic kitchen is fitted you may well have nooks and crannies left where you can have a carpenter build in little bespoke shelves and cubby holes which keep it all tidy.

GreatGooglyMoogly · 14/05/2009 09:36

IMO kitchens that are only 3-sided look incomplete and whoever is working in the kitchen always has their back to those in the dining/ sitting area. Also I never use the dining table as a worktop so would want the extra worktop space a peninsula has. Good Luck with whatever you choose!

Original poster
chimchar · 14/05/2009 09:47

thanks noddy (and everyone else!)

its good to talk about it...my mum is really anti breakfast bar for some reason, lol, so can't say anything nice at all about planning one.

am worried about speaking to some of my friends because two in particular are desparate to sell their too small homes, and are having trouble in doing so...i don't want to rub their noses in it or for them to feel like i'm showing off.

OP posts:
Doodle2U · 14/05/2009 09:53

Breakfast bar was suggested to us by the kitchen planner from John Lewis. He also told us we should 'lose' the table because nobody eats at a table in the kitchen any more

Another (local) planner came in and told us NOT to lose the table. Then we asked everyone who's been to our house and ALL have said they'd love a kitchen that could fit a table in or they have a kitchen with a table and would not lose it for love nor money.

So, I'd use a table like the one Noddy has described to break it up and create the idea of a separate area for sitting/chilling.

Original poster
chimchar · 14/05/2009 10:01

thanks doodle.

we'll have a table regardless...we love to sit around the table! (and our current dining room is being turned into a playroom..woo hoo!)

i think i'm erring towards having no island or breakfast bar, and instead maybe getting a small movable butchers block type thing if we need one when the kitchen is up and running.....

OP posts:
noddyholder · 14/05/2009 10:53

You must have a table if you can we spend hours round ours!It is one of the family

FiveGoMadInDorset · 14/05/2009 12:02

We are going to put an island/breakfast bar in as I find it easier for DC's to sit opposite me when 'helping' with the cooking.

agirlandtwoboys · 14/05/2009 21:15

We have 6m x 11m kitchen/lounge/diner.
We put in a 3m breakfast bar to break it up. It provides more storage space and is great for nattering at when cooking and people round.
We we readvised by our kitchen designer not to have an island as it makes it possible for kids to go round, and round, and round on their little scooter toys or even just run the circuit, and its unsafe if taking a joint out of the oven and the kids are doing the circuit. Our units are oak, surfaces black granite and the floor in the kitchen/diner bit is york stone. The lounge has an oak floor.

Original poster
chimchar · 16/05/2009 08:11

wow! 6x11m?
thats big!!

we did think about the island being a perfect playground for the kids!

i'm really stuck about what to do about this.
i'm going back and forth.

i'm leaning towards kitchen one end, with units around 3 walls, settee at other end, and big pine rectangular table in the middle, half in, half out of the kitchen space...

am really grateful to hear your ideas....

OP posts:
Original poster
chimchar · 26/05/2009 17:36

aaaaarrrgghh!
i'm still fannying around with this.

do i stick with an open, adaptable space and have a table half in and half out of the kitchen and a settee at the non kitchen end, or do i forgo my settee and have a breakfast bar and have two clearly defined areas...one kitchen and one dining???

pants pants pants!!

went to magnet earlier to get my kitchen designed (not to buy, but to borrow their experise!) and the lady wouldn't let me see a designer...it was "too soon!"

i just can't decide.

OP posts:
Original poster
chimchar · 26/05/2009 17:37

meant to say expertise! keyboard playing up again!

OP posts:
beaubeau82 · 30/05/2010 15:34

I have just recently purchased a small house which i was renovating, i wanted more space between my garden and the kitchen and wanted more light in my living area i needed a glass roof and aluminium bi folding doors and came across a family run company called double d installations in london.

They were on time on delivery and provided professional surveys with state of the art laser measurements to the tightest requirements.

They also offered frame sizes at no extra cost and after looking around so much were cheapest for a quality bi fold door.

They install there own doors and are family run so don't charge as much for installation they told us and what a great advice they would provide us and they did well done.

Swipe left for the next trending thread