I have (or should say, will have) a similar set up, however there is actually a hallway between my kitchen and dining room and the my dining table is turned the other way.

I'm not sure how we will seperate it yet, however is my eclectic collection of inspiration photos.

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[Traditional Kitchen design[(https://www.houzz.com/photos/traditional-kitchen-ideas-phbr1-bp~t_709~s_2107) by Charleston Interior Designer Alix J. Bragg

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[Traditional Dining Room design[(https://www.houzz.com/photos/traditional-dining-room-ideas-phbr1-bp~t_722~s_2107) by Minneapolis Architect Murphy & Co. Design

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[Contemporary Dining Room design[(https://www.houzz.com/photos/contemporary-dining-room-ideas-phbr1-bp~t_722~s_2103) by Austin Interior Designer PPDS

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[Contemporary Kitchen design[(https://www.houzz.com/photos/contemporary-kitchen-ideas-phbr1-bp~t_709~s_2103) by Austin Interior Designer PPDS

This one connects to the living room, however it is the same concept

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[Modern Living Room design[(https://www.houzz.com/photos/modern-living-room-ideas-phbr1-bp~t_718~s_2105) by Austin Architect Cornerstone Architects

Depending on your layout, this one looks great without any seperation, just some changing ceiling definition

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[Traditional Kitchen design[(https://www.houzz.com/photos/traditional-kitchen-ideas-phbr1-bp~t_709~s_2107) by Minneapolis General Contractor Stonewood, LLC

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[Traditional Kitchen design[(https://www.houzz.com/photos/traditional-kitchen-ideas-phbr1-bp~t_709~s_2107) by Minneapolis General Contractor Stonewood, LLC

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[Contemporary Dining Room design[(https://www.houzz.com/photos/contemporary-dining-room-ideas-phbr1-bp~t_722~s_2103) by Vancouver Interior Designer Claudia Leccacorvi

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[Contemporary Kitchen design[(https://www.houzz.com/photos/contemporary-kitchen-ideas-phbr1-bp~t_709~s_2103) by Vancouver Interior Designer Claudia Leccacorvi

Not sure how helpful ours will be, but here it is.
Our old home has a separate, fairly large living room (27 x 14 or so) with a pocket door that opens into the kitchen. The door is barely visible to the right of the fridge in some of the pics. Very separate spaces.

Last year we remodeled the kitchen, which also opens to the family room (which a previous owner created from the garage.) through a large square arch. The family room is huge by our standards--25 plus feet square. While we had to vacate the kitchen for the remodel, we moved the fridge, cooktop, and table to the family room, where we found we loved eating. When the remodel was finished, the dining table moved in there, and the old separate dining room (reached through an 8 foot hallway, past a pantry, from the kitchen), which seemed cramped and uninviting, became a tv room. Here are some pics to show the way kitchen, dining, and family room areas are now.

The kitchen and family room, as seen through the carport entrance
Picture A

To the left of what you can see above is the DR table
Picture B

To the right of what you see in Pic A are french doors to the garden and a seating group.
Pic C

To the right of the carport entrance as seen from the kitchen is a huge fireplace wall.
PicD

In the kitchen proper, a small table that has been in my family for three generations seats four. All of this works wonderfully well for us.
The kitchen is separate enough that people can congregate and talk elsewhere, but open enough that they can wander in and out and I don't feel as if I am in a cage.

I really like that the kitchen and family room and dining area are divided into functional areas that are separate and comfortable but not confined.
Sandra

Laura12, thanks for the eye-candy :) There are some nice ideas there, even for our traditional home. I really am drawn to some of the ceiling treatments, but not sure that we could pull that off with our 8' ceilings. I also like the beadboard ceilings in the kitchens I've seen, so trying to think if we could do that in the kitchen and not the DR. I think we could, but I'm not good at picturing things--I need photo examples.

Bellsmom, thanks for sharing your pictures--what a beautiful home you have!! I love your french doors in Pic C. Do you have screens on those, or do they just open to the outdoors? WE are also trying to find a way to put attractive and functional screens on a featured pair of french doors.

Happy to help, your inspiration photo was already in my folder on houzz so I just shared the rest.

Our house is more contemporary, though this is one issue I haven't made a decision on. Still finalizing the floor plan right now! :)

This is a breakfast room rather than dining room but the separation is similar. This is an MCM house with a contemporary feel.

I don't have a shot handy from after our recent family room remodel. The table is out of the room because furniture had been moved out to get ready for replacing the wood floor. The wall is now painted rather than paneled:

Looking from the breakfast room to the kitchen:

The open hall way of the house goes between the kitchen and the breakfast room which also contributes to the separation. There are two large bifold doors that allow the breakfast room to be closed off from the kitchen family room area. We use them pretty rarely, but they are out of the way when open and convenient on occasions when we had something on the table that we wanted to keep a toddler out of or to make the table a quiet area separated from the hustle and bustle of the house.

The (not so formal thanks to our grandchildren's toys) dining room is on the other side of the door next to the wall ovens. (Mostly out of sight in the pictures but you can see its open baby gate.) That is open to the entry area, wet bar and hall way and the living room is partly open and partly closed off by the wet bar and powder room wall. In that case the separation is mostly by the flooring and partly by windows being lined up on the dining room.

When we bought the house, the breakfast room, kitchen and family room areas each had a different flooring (the entry tile continued into the kitchen and different colors of carpet in the other two and that didn't work but it works here. Perhaps partly because there was enough other separation in the family room/kitchen/breakfast room and because they were each different distinct colors while the living room and dining room have the same fairly neutral floor and the tile continues out the door onto the front steps.

Home4
I would prefer to not have anything outside the french doors. I love open doors and windows.

However, we have a big labradoodle who also loves to explore the great world beyond our back fenced area, so we must use screens and storms in this door which accesses the front of the house.

The craftsman who installed the french doors (there used to be a big closet there, with two small window seats to the side where the taller windows are now) also built beautiful mahogany storm/screen doors to match the mahogany beveled glass main doors. If you can find good wooden storm/screen doors which can be stained or painted to match your french doors, I urge you to do so. There is NO comparison between these doors and the expensive ugly metal screen door used in the new kitchen.

I can attach a picture of these doors if you want.

Sandra

My thoughts also relate to lavendarlass's thread on the kitchen being separate from the dining room and/or liviing room-from other spaces. We remodeled at least in part because we wanted to open things up. Our house was built in 1980 and is a "daylight rancher". The kitchen was small, but connected to a long, narrow kind of family room. The dining room was separate and the living room was (is) open to that. The spaces are defined by structural beams, a bar area, and a peninsula, for want of a better term.
Before:

Bellsmom, I would love more photos and info about your doors. I had a post about this very issue a week or 2 ago :)

Cloud swift, thanks for your pics. I like the doors between the rooms. I was pushing for the old-style pocket doors between the rooms for a bit, but I'm not convinced we would ever close them. I am just not a formal person, and really don't care too much about about hiding my cooking mess/evidence ;)

Leela4, I love the way you used furniture to define the spaces, rather than walls. It looks great, and is defineilty something we are hoping to do here too.

Here is a link that might be useful: French door screen post

Hi home4all6 - I don't have pics of cased openings, etc., but I do have a lot with halfwalls, cabinetry, etc. as that's what we did in between our kitchen and fam room... if you're looking for that too i can post some.

I have been looking to see if you had an update - where are you at with your house plan? How has it been going with the architect? Hope things are going well and starting to move along!

Wood flooring can change direction or be laid diagonal and be defined by a border in the dining area. Beams can also define the dining area - have them over the kitchen and not over the dining area, or vice versa. Run wood trim down the wall and change the paint color between the two areas. Any of these are very simple ways to accomplish your goal. People will sense they're in a separate room without really knowing why.

We only have one dining area right between the kitchen and great room. It is defined by beams and by the wall of nine windows (think Hollywood Squares but not that big) and the glass door. We kept the flooring the same but realize we will probably place a rug under the table which will accomplish same.

Not what you're asking for, but I thought I'd post it (don't think we had this on the other thread) just in case you were still thinking about the kitchen table option :)
{{gwi:1461259}}From Lavender Lass farmhouse pictures

We went through a similar debate when doing our kitchen.

With a wall separating the two rooms, the question was whether to knock it down or not. We liked the idea of opening it up to let light through, but also liked keeping the rooms separate and didn't really want to give up a wall of upper cabinets.

So, the compromise was to knock a hole in the wall. This also afforded us a 'window' over the sink, as the only other window in the kitchen is in a corner not conducive to a sink location.

The pass-through is aligned well with the real window, allowing lots of light into the rest of the main floor. It's worked out very well for us.

Our house is a typical Toronto semi - long and narrow. Only 15 feet across inside, and close to our neighbors so not much light in from the sides.

Changing the layout of the kitchen around allowed us to put the stove on the exterior wall, making the hood exhaust easier and gives a nice focal point at the end of the room.

We installed arches separating our kitchen and dining room. previously we had swinging doors.

before:

hi - we struggled with this as well (we were adding new space on the back of our 1920's house) - we copied the shape and trim of arches that are at the front of the home and I think it has worked well. The kitchen and DR are separate but still connected - mimicking the original arches have helped the new connect with the old (the kitchen and adjoining den are new space - our old/original kitchen went from the left of the DR window to the back wall, so tiny...).

Home, we don't close the doors to be formal. Our house fluctuates from empty nest with just the two of us to bursting with visiting family. The doors get closed when we need to isolate the space.

My husband likes to set the table ahead of time for Friday night dinner. One of my grandchildren will get into his seat at the table if he notices the table is set, but it might be 20 minutes or more before dinner time. If we let him just sit there and wait, he will want to get up shortly after we start dinner. It was hard to explain to a toddler that it isn't time to sit down yet so it was easier to shut the doors when he was too persistent about it.

Or sometimes one of our son's or daughter-in-laws would use the table to study while we helped watch the grandkids and closing the doors provides better quiet uninterrupted time. Usually they study in one of the bedrooms, but sometimes it is convenient to be able to spread out at the table.

We don't close the doors very often - perhaps a few times a year, but it is kind of nice to have them there when we want them.

We opened up the wall between our kitchen and what became our dining room, which allowed us to get an island in on the diagonal. Our dining room is only about 13'x13'. The pony walls provide a separation and the posts with the opening keep it open.

Looking from dining room into kitchen

Looking from kitchen into dining room

How fun looking at all these ideas! We're in the middle (hopefully toward the end) of construction. We opened the wall up between the d/r and kitchen, but did an arch with a peninsula, for our small 1940s colonial. We had the contractor match the other arch in our house, and also match the molding to continue into the new space. That way, it all feels connected...yet the arch defines each space. It's hard to get a real picture of the d/r and kitchen together, because right now a temporary wall is between the two spaces (to keep the mess - and my little munchkins - out of the construction zone).

Home4
Sorry, I missed your request for these pics.
This shows the entire doors. I opened them so you can see the storms. Both of the storms also open, so the whole six foot span can be open.

This is a closeup of the bottom edge.

And here, for scale, the open french door and the storm door corner.

We still have the storms in. I have a lot of other windows and doors I can leave open or use screens, and I like the greater transparency of the storm doors here.
Obviously they need a good scrubbing, but I'll get there one of these days! They have been up for 20 years and are beginning to need a refinishing, also, for they are exposed to our midwest weather. However, they are still totally sound and beautiful. Immensely more so than the modern metal ones, at least in our old home.

What looks like rust on the frames of the storm inserts is sloppy color correction. No rust at all.

Hope this is useful.
Sandra

aokat15, thanks for asking, we are plugging along, slowly but surely :) Our architect is working out the structural details so we will know exactly what our space will need soon, and then I will post here for input, of course!

mjtx2, thanks for the suggestions. I think we will end up doing at least one, maybe more, of those ideas. I recently attended a workshop with Sarah Susanka, and she showed some great photo examples of little changes that you can define rooms without walls.

lavender, thanks for the photo--I love that table in the kitchen! I don't think it will work out for us anymore--but I sure do love the idea, still!

torontotim, I love your kitchen! Your finishes are just what I'm imagine for our kitchen, too! We've considered doing exactly what you did, but I think we've decided to actually completely open up the 2 rooms to one another. Although I may change my mind about that a few dozen more times, haha!

pipdog and laurainlincoln, I love your arches (and your kitchens!) so beautiful! Our original arches are all un-cased, but I do love the look of the cased ones, like yours laura. ours will have a wider span, so that might be an issue. Also, I think that at least one side of it will have to house some plumbing and duct work from the second floor, so that may determine some of the measurements for us.

cloudswift, you bring up SUCH good points! Our DR is currently in it's own space, completely closable--and we close it off a LOT! It's one of my major concerns about using the DR as the eating space of our kitchen. Your comments have me thinking that maybe old-fashioned pocket doors ARE the way to go, so that it could be closed off, if ever the need arose, giving the DR the opportunity to double as "office space" or craft/project space if the need arises. hmmmm......

nhbaskets, your pony wall and columns are another possibility we are considering--thanks for the photos. Your kitchen is so gorgeous--classic!

This was another idea we were considering, while we are all sharing:

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[Traditional Kitchen design[(https://www.houzz.com/photos/traditional-kitchen-ideas-phbr1-bp~t_709~s_2107) by Boston Architect Battle Associates, Architects

I'm going to search a bit more for pix of pocket doors...see if anything strikes me as a possibility.

Thanks, everyone!!

bellsmom,
Thank you sooo much for sharing those photos!! I think that is EXACTLY what we will do! It's such an elegant and lovely solution! We are also in the midwest, so between the weather, the bugs, our kids, and our dog, I think this would solve all of our problems/issues. I don't know why I don't this more often, it just makes so much sense!
Thanks again!!!

In picture D of my first posting in this thread, you can see the storm/screen door the carpenter made for our entrance door from the carport. The door is to the left of the fireplace. The pic is small, but you'll get the idea. The screen insert is in this door. The screens have a bar across the center to prevent pushing hands from going through the screen.

The door itself is actually identical to the french doors. We were so lucky to have a fine carpenter who preferred to hang his own doors instead of using pre-hung ones, and suggested that he make the storm/screen doors rather than use commercial ones.

Sandra