I prefer the table off to the side, just easier walking flow without going around the table especially if people sitting there and have the chairs pulled out.

Unless the area is quite large and you have at least 42" or so around the table when it's being used. We looked at a few homes for sale setup like this and the area was so tight with the table in between the kitchen and living room, but if there is room then it's also a beautiful look.

In our new build the table is off to the side and not in direct walking paths to kitchen.

I think this is why I prefer it to the side too. Like I said, we've never really thought about the other option until it was in front of us two days ago. He asked us about it and said some people are not OK with it at all and to think about it. So I've got a few things to stew over for the next week or so and this is one of them. I appreciate your input and am looking forward to hearing others' points of view as well!

I may of been a little exaggerating with the 42" but the more room the better. At our last house we had a peninsula with bar sitting located between the kitchen and the kitchen table. It looked great and roomy until people were sitting there and then there was no pathway. It was even worse if people were also sitting at the table.

I always felt stuck walking around through the living room to get back to the table as it was always " Excuse me, excuse me....... " Every time someone wanted to get up or walk by not fun, lol

Just wanted to add that about the bar sitting as I never thought about the pathway space needed there also when we were planning our last build. In the new build I made sure there was plenty of room, all the best. :)

It is really going to depend on how wide/long you want your island,(and will it include seating), how big your table needs to be and that's dictated by how many people you are needing to seat (is this your only eating table or will there also be a seperate dining room), what kind of aisle spaces you need and how big of a kitchen you want (do you want a 36" range or is 30" ok, double ovens taking up wall space, how big of a fridge etc). And your family/living room - is it just for sitting or also TV viewing - how many functions are you trying to fit into it.
You need to look at the space given, and how much space do you want/need to give to each function (kitchen, eating, relaxing) and that will help you decide what layout will work best. Gotta love compromises.

Sorry me again. I was thinking about this and it might help to actually see someone else's floor plan. I hope she won't mind - she's quite a generous contributor - but breezygirl was showing her floor plans for suggestions and it sounds quite similar to what you want. You might have to go 5 or 6 pages back to find her post/thread. It's quite long as well with lots of suggestions for her space. Might help you think about different aspects as well. If you can't find it give a shout out to her and she'll respond.

My breakfast room is adjacent to the kitchen, and the great room is right next to the kitchen. Sofa table faces kitchen. Approx 6-8 feet from island to back of sofa.

Here is a link that might be useful: my kitchen/breakfast room

Allison, your kitchen is gorgeous!!! Thank you for sharing it.

blfenton, this will be our main living space for tv viewing, sitting, eating...everything. We are not having a formal living or dining space. This is it. The dining/breakfast, kitchen and living space. The kids will have a playroom/media room of their own but this will be the main combined living area. We are very laid back casual people and want the space to be as functional yet comfortable as possible. I appreciate your feedback as well. I'm off to go look for that other thread. Thank you so much!

xc60, thank you for commenting about the spaciousness. In the sketches, he's allowed plenty of room. I'm not worried about that at this point as we are in the rough sketch phase. From what he's drawn we are way more than 48" right now. I appreciate that though as revisions and changes are taking place and things get overlooked. So I'll keep this notation as a reference!

I don't know if it will help to see another example of what you think you won't like, but Mamadadapaige also has her table between the kitchen and family room.

Here is a link that might be useful: Mamadadapaige's kitchen slideshow

Actually, I've visited both L-shaped as well as Great Room layouts. (Don't have either in my space). So, in each scenario I was the guest rather than the hostess. If you envision the casual scenario where your family and guests stay close by when you prep or cook, then L-shape is much better.

With a table between kitchen and living, you will find that you feel sort of disconnected with folks sitting in LR, because if you're in the kitchen they are too far. You will find yourself yelling a lot to be heard :-). Conversely, as a guest, if I want to relax in a cozy couch then I have to sit very far from the hosts.

In case of an L, IMO you can be close both ways.

Of course, this is a guest's perspective, and because I do entertain a fair bit with 6-12 adults, I find that what worked for me as a guest would work as a host too. If your lifestyle/preference is different then one may suit you better over another.

Just my 2c.

Perhaps off topic.

Ours is a two-person kitchen most days and is still under construction; most finishing is not done so no other people would want to eat there, except during entertaining.

We've found that the table nook in kitchen near dining room is not being used as anticipated--it's not being used for meals, but then, we're still getting used to the nook on path to dining room--a real change from past habit. DH eats breakfast at peninsula (functions like an island) most of the time and I breakfast in dining room. Suppers are at dining table; lunches move many places but not the nook. We've put a rectangular antique drop-leaf table into nook, which we can open up on each side when necessary, but the folded-down surface is like a sofa table. One thing I've noticed is that I use that surface to off-load accumulate stuff from peninsula, a good thing for life on the peninsula where I'm cooking regularly. I also lift one of the sides of the table surface when I do recipe reading, since my shelves with cookbook collection are right there. And houseplants! and flower arrangements! They are on nook table but seen from adjacent lobby. Right now there are 6 amaryllis pots in various stages of growth on nook table. Glad to have them away from the cooking area where they would otherwise be in the way of kitchen activities.

Tomorrow will be the maiden voyage of the new kitchen with a potentially large crowd. We expect historic reenactors to take over the kitchen to make historic punches and flips. I plan to serve the beverages from the nook table in crock pots, bowls, and pitchers; the nook has relatively washable surfaces (including non-carpeted floor), and, better still, it clears the peninsula for pot luck supper items so different cooks can be working on stocking the peninsula of food for buffet supper while others imbibe at table. Nook area is adjacent to dining room and on the route to deeper rooms of the house, so the beverage people won't hang out in the kitchen, a real change from past kitchen, if things work as hoped. Beverage cooks will be able to put out their beverages without disturbance and supper cooks will work separately within the kitchen, I think. Cross my fingers.

fyi: Yes, you're probably thinking that I don't cook quite the same things as the typical GW'er and I suppose I don't serve typically either. Tomorrow I'm serving "Yard of Flannel" (something like hot eggnog) from Napoleonic Era which requires hot ale, whipped eggs, spices and brandy, more. I hope to be able to monitor this offering without being in the way, because of this nook setup. More items that will be served: syllabub, another flip, homemade hard cyder, buttterbeere (will it be like the Leaky Cauldron fave?), and a concoction with booze and fruit. Entrees typically include wild game, historic cheeses and breads, puddings, wild rice, Boston baked beans. And of course desserts and more historic booze. Hope the weather cooperates or I will have a lot of stuff for the freezer.

Next month we will have a somewhat less eccentric crowd for a pot luck meal and the nook table will probably be used for hors d'ouvers, again keeping the frequenters of the nook table out of the working kitchen. We will serve their buffet meal on the peninsula much as we will tomorrow. Have already tried this serving option a couple times and it seems to work well.

I don't regret the nook table setup, but as I said, I may not be using the space as others might.

Hi again everyone! Since I posted my original post, our soft draft changed so that the "L" option isn't available anymore. We have decided that's a great spot for DH's "man cave" that will open to the back porch and living and our wet bar that's adjacent to the living room.

So now I'm kind of back to square one with "what do I do?". We have a long rectangular space at the back end will be the living room. We can either sandwich the table between it and the kitchen or put the kitchen in the middle and kind of halfway wall off the dining area. That kind of takes away my plans for a true breakfast area and eat in kitchen. But DH is concerned that if we eat at the island the tv and family room will be too far from the kitchen. It's only a ten foot wide spaces though. This is all so hard!!