View from stepping inside the front door

This post was edited by erinraugustine on Mon, Jun 17, 13 at 20:42

One more....view from hallway

Is your living room your only living space? Is it really like your family room? I am not sure that I understand the reasoning behind having a kitchen completely open to the living room but closed off to a separate dining room.

You may have a good reason for doing it this way but I am not quite sure what it is.

In some regards it may make sense to flip the kitchen around and have the open side toward the former play room and keep the living room side closed up.

This is my personal opinion, but I usually dissuade people from having the kitchen in full view of the front door. I have intentionally moved kitchens to the location yours is in, and in the house I am moving into the kitchen is right inside the front door, but generally do not have them on full view in this location.

Thank you palimpset. Yes, not an ideal layout. I should have mentioned the garage is on the other side of my kitchen so there is no option of opening it up that way for our budget.

This post was edited by erinraugustine on Mon, Jun 17, 13 at 20:59

I don't see any problem with just the one eating space, but I grew up in a house with a similar setup, and to my eye, an even more cramped eating area (we kept the table pushed against the wall when we weren't using it to allow for foot traffic). I'm often baffled by contemporary homes that have seating at the island AND a breakfast nook AND a formal dining room. I also don't get formal dining rooms that only get used twice a year.

Maybe I'm not understanding your space, but I don't understand why keeping the playroom as is has to be a long term commitment. A playroom is a room with toys in it; a dining room is a room with a table in it. It seems to me that as the kids get older and outgrow the need for a dedicated play space (or those activities move to their bedrooms as they no longer need supervision) it would be a simple thing to repurpose the space.

Yes, cawaps, I agree with you on the formal dining space that only gets used on Holidays as being a waste. The dining space I am talking about, would be our only one. Either keep it as an eat in in the kitchen, or move it to it's own larger space around the corner from the kitchen. The need to decide now comes into play because if I do away with the table in the kitchen, I will be moving the refrigerator and a cabinet bank in it's place, and there will not be space for a table any longer.

This seems like a small enough house that 1 eating space would be preferred. What do other houses in your neighborhood have?

Ah, I thought the playroom was in that direction, but I guess it is that area toward the back.

Could the kitchen be moved to the playroom/dining space and the eat in area moved up to the front? If you aren't on a slab, it's easier than one would think. If you are on a slab it is difficult.

But I am still not sure why you want the kitchen open to the living room.

This post was edited by palimpsest on Mon, Jun 17, 13 at 22:19

This is just my opinion, not backed by science or any real estate expertise. I don't find having a kitchen visible from the entry appealing. I also don't find it appealing to have a peninsula or island in the living room space that's visible from the entry. If I'm understanding your pictures and description correctly, the peninsula and seating would also be in the walkway into the kitchen / dining / playroom area.

I see no reason a home has to have a "formal" dining room. Just one dining room will do. Ideally it should be able to comfortably fit your day to day needs as well as entertaining. The latter might require that the space accommodate and expanding table or full chairs all around. But there's no reason it has to be separated from the kitchen or that the table and seating can't be moved around and changed when you are entertaining.

Personally, I like having a family room, but I don't have kids. If I had a choice, I'd have island or peninsula seating between a kitchen and a family room rather than a living room. But that's just my personal preference. As your kids get older, they won't need a playroom any more and you can repurpose the room as you see fit.

Thank you for your responses. I believe I have confused the terms 'family room' and 'living room'. I am opening my kitchen to our FAMILY ROOM (I called it living, because that's where we live.....) The room I am opening my kitchen up to has our (only) sofa, TV and fireplace. It is where we spend all of our time, as it is larger than our other option for a living space (which I currently have purposed as a playroom, and would be technically called a 'living room')
Sorry for the confusion, I will edit my original post......
You enter our house into our family room.
Thank you for your help.

Where is the front door in relation to this?

The front door can be seen in the 3rd picture just past the studs and 2x4's. You enter the front door into my family room, and walk behind the sofa which is that little bit of green poking out in the third picture.

And palimpsest, yes, I am on a slab.

Huh. I completely lost my post. So--multifunctioning rooms for smaller houses. That's what I did for years, and am still doing even when I don't have to.

I suggest using the play room (now) as a family special-togetherness dining area, cum library, homework center, play, project room. Maybe put a bird feeder outside so they can breakfast with you and a birdbath so they can bathe during dinner?

For the kitchen, improve the communication between it and dining/play room by closing back up part of the opening, and moving the refrigerator to this restored wall opposite where it is now, but STILL in the kitchen. (There's enough space for a good kitchen there--I'd absolutely stay within it.) ALSO, with children I would check the feasibility of rotating the U so that I had a short work counter on the hall side to give me a sight line to the dining room.

For the present dining area, it's wonderfully positioned right in the middle of everything--a perfect place for sitting and chatting with the cook, playing by mommy, relaxing with a laptop while water comes to a boil, etc. I'd put maybe a loveseat or sofa, chair(s), and maybe a little round table for setting drinks and coloring books on. Most homes these days have only one relaxing area--focused on the TV, and it's very nice to have another place to go when you'd rather chat on the phone or share a glass of wine with a friend than watch basketball or Scooby Doo. Note, this use would also give you a pleasant, inviting, even gracious passage through the active living areas.

My kitchen and living room are similar, but in the back of the house. While your new kitchen will be open to the front, it is not as if when you answer the door, everyone sees your kitchen sink. If people are entering your house, chances are they will see the kitchen regardless. We have a peninsula as well, and it does collect everyone's EVERYTHING though. Ours has a raised section that I have a love/hate relationship. It catches clutter, but is also blocks the view of kitchen clutter from the family room, so..yeah. I used to use my own formal living room as a playroom until I decided all their toys needed to go upstairs ASAP about a year or so ago. Now the playroom is back to a dining room. My kids are 6 and 4. Maybe look down the road 3 years. What will you do with that space if you keep it a playroom? What will it be in 3 years? Is that something that is important to you? Will you want an area slightly further away from the main hub of the house for homework?

I just looked at your main post and saw you already asked these questions. IDK, seems like it is really a personal thing. Will your kitchen be disproportionately large compared to the family room if you make the playroom an eating area? And yes, I think the fridge would be too far away.

While not the ideal footprint (?), I do think you will really enjoy being "with" your family while you cook, do dishes with it more open. Hmmm, I wasn't helpful at all.

Yes Rosie and mommeme, you both were helpful in different ways. Rosie, you're right, a separate place to talk on the phone or read away from the TV would be nice, and my current dining space is the perfect location to be in all the action; and mommeme, I guess in three years I would use the playroom space for that which Rosie is suggesting as the conversation nook in the kitchen. I think that with the amount I am in the kitchen, I should keep the dining table there. People at the table will have access to me in the kitchen, and those in the family room. And yes, mommeme, you do not see the kitchen when I answer the front door. I didn't think opening the kitchen up was such a bad idea either, thanks ;) Sounds like everyone agrees that the fridge would be too far away, so that kind of solves that.
Mommeme, You'll have to talk to me more about your love hate relationship with your bi-level peninsula.....that's next to tackle on the decisions list. I love the look and space of single level (as I'm sure you do too), but my couch is a few feet away from the counter and the peninsula would begin a few feet after entering the front door. I am thinking the bi-level would look better, as I pretty much can't stand seeing anything on the counter. That being said, I try not to keep anything on the counter..... I am wondering if one would be better than the other for when we have guests over. I know everyone will be crowding around the counter.
Thanks again for your help everyone.

Ahh, where to begin with the bi-level thing. I suppose it is because nothing "lives" up there. One thing gets set there, then another, and before you know it there is a whole pile of junk. I love it on the other hand because when I am sitting in the family room relaxing, I can't see the kitchen counters/sink because, yes there are usually some dishes. We are doing countertops right now and I COULD make it single level, but I'm keeping it bi-level. I feel the bi-level is the lesser of the evils for me. My sink is on that wall though. You might not have the same issues.

No sink in my peninsula.
Rosie, the kitchen 'lounge' is growing on me.....I wasn't picturing it styled right in my mind at first, as my flooring right now isn't cohesive (if that makes sense). Once it is all wood, and not tile as it's pictured above, maybe it wouldn't seem so 'kitchen-ey'.