Oh, how funny. I'm going through a similar thought process. We have a dining room with a big table that is open to the living room and has a doorway to the kitchen. That was always our only eating area, but now I'm changing the "family room/tv room" into a "breakfast room" and the plan is to have a round table, a banquette bench and a couple chairs. I really like the idea of an informal seating/eating area adjacent to the kitchen.

LL, what size table are you planning? And have you found a banquette or are you planning to build your own?

Build our own! We have to cut out some storage (shallow drawers) to put the banquette in, but it will be wonderful. Probably a 3' round table, just enough for small meal or drinks. If I had more room, I'd probably do a 3 1/2' table.

We're going to put our garden books on the low bookcases under the window. It will be a great place to do our 'planning' in the spring. The other books will probably go in the dining room/library....and bedrooms, office, next door, etc. LOL

We have a breakfast nook and a separate dining room both in our old house and in the new build. I also had that set up growing up in all the homes we lived. I don't think I could live any other way. ;)

When we did our kitchen a number of years ago we added an island with seating - and have never used it. We have a small bistro table in the adjacent sunroom that we rarely use, but I think that is because it is pub height, not regular height (I just don't find the higher tables that comfortable). We use the dining room for all our meals. Having said all that, I am planning to replace the bistro table as I think we would use it more if it was comfortable.

I think you've seen pics of our windows seats in the playroom, maybe with a small game table. I now have a drop leaf table in front of the wider window seat, with a couple of vintage dining chairs. The table was in the guest room until I finished it last fall, so I haven't taken pics of it downstairs. Before we found the island/table, the drop leaf table was in the kitchen for many years--very convenient when I needed extra work surface. The kitchen is between the playroom and the dining room, which has our oak dining table. Lol, that was a long explanation for a short anwer--yes. I see no reason you can't have both, especially if makes Mom happy. :)

Below is a picture of our kitchen nook. We also have a completely separately dining room through a swinging door just beyond the kitchen. I love this setup. We don't use the nook all that often, but it's the place I scour my cookbooks (on bookshelf you see), have a cup of tea, etc. We eat all our meals in the actual dining room because we have more room to spread out, but I like the extra space.

Our Updated 1950s Kitchen with French Inspiration · More Info

I'm planning a remodel of my first floor, moving walls and reassigning rooms. I will have a formal dining room and a kitchen open to a casual living room. The kitchen will have an island with stools and a window seat with a table and 2 additional chairs. I would give up my island seating before giving up either the dining room or kitchen table.

We have both. When we gutted our house 5 years ago the conversation about "open concept living" lasted 5 seconds. The answer was No. We have a 9' x 10' eating area at the end of the kitchen and we do have most of our meals there. We also have a 10' x 15' dining room which has 2 entrances into the kitchen on the same wall and it is also open to the living room.

We will be in our house for a number of years still and I am not convinced that open concept living will stay. I won't be surprised if separate dining rooms come back into vogue.

I think we should use our homes however works best for our lifestyles. Bedrooms can be dining rooms and dining rooms can be art studios and you can have two or three eating areas, Lavender. Whatever works best and brings you happiness.

Lavendar, I always look forward to your thoughtful posts, and am anxiously awaiting the reveal on your new kitchen! If you will be acquiring a "new" table for the banquette area, make sure the size you get accomodates how you plan to use the space. A 36 inch table is awfully small if you, DH and Mom want to eat any meals there. Obviously, you are limited by the space available. I would go for something a bit larger if possible.

I think it's totally fine. As you know, I am a fan of a formal dining room, especially one that is USED, and not necessarily exclusively for eating. A library/dining room would be a sensible and pleasant thing. I have my "formal" dining room table extended to seat 8 comfortably, which is more than adequate for a board game as well as the pile of junk I'm trying to put back into my kitchen. (Neither has moved in days, but that's another story.)

Does anyone in your family do crafts? Can't beat a big table for that.

And yeah, make that nook table a little larger. And not round. Round doesn't work unless you get a round banquette.

We have a dining room we use maybe once a year. We eat almost all meals in the kitchen - previously at a peninsula, now at a small 30 x 48" table.

We have a dining room with a dining table. That is where we eat nearly all of our meals. It is also where ds, age 12, sometimes does his homework. We also have a breakfast nook. It's primary use is as dd's (age 5) art area. It also gets pressed into service as the kid table when we have company over for dinner. The breakfast nook is a small separate room off the kitchen--original to our 1926 house.

I have an open concept kitchen, living room, breakfast area and dining room. Breakfast area is on one side of the kitchen, dining area is on the other. The living room is in the middle beside the kitchen if that makes sense. I am building the same set up in the new house. We, a family of 3, eat daily in the breakfast area that's about 9x9 also. I have 48" round table with 3 chairs around it. The 48" square table did not work. The dining room area is used when company comes over to eat. We put overflow kids in the breakfast area when we have really large groups. I use my dining room for projects or as a conference table for when I have meetings at my house. This set up works well for us. Anytime I need big area or a big flat surface, it goes in the dining room. You are going to love having a big table for projects.

Thank you all for the wonderful comments, advice, picture, etc.

The table size....it would be a new table, probably wooden with pedestal base. I might paint it! They have many at the unfinished furniture store in town. While bigger would be nice, mom really wants to use her two wicker chairs in this area.

Kind of a sunroom/nook, so smaller table to fit in larger chairs. Maybe breakfast will be cereal bowls and drink? I think it will be a really cute space that will also have a nice view out the back.

This is not my mom's chair, but very similar. We might paint it a light
aqua or paint the walls blue....but either way, more colorful cushions
:)

It sounds like 2 tables will work nicely for you. My kitchen is small and has a nook on one side and the dining area on another side. The 2 eating areas are quite close to each other. When we bought our house the pevious owner had a table in each area. It looked ok but I didn't have 2 tables and since most of the time it's just my DH and me, we didnt really need two tables, so I initially I put wicker chairs and a side table in the area.

When we redid our kitchen a few years ago. I changed the nook furniture but still kept comfy chairs in it. We often have our morning coffee or afternoon cocktails in the nook/ sitting area.

I have at times moved the chairs and side table out of the area and put a folding banquet table there to accommodate more dinner guests. With your set up you won't have to move furniture around and yet you will still have some nice comfy chairs relax in and to sit there and look out at your view.

Here's my nook turned sitting area:

Previous:

Current:

And my dining area:

I love reading your posts about your kitchen and seeing all the design suggestions/ help that you give others on this forum. Wishing you good luck as you continue to move forward with your kitchen remodel.

Yes....and no?!?!??

My area is weird and unique and perfectly suited for me but if I were to try to sell right now, I'm pretty sure any potential buyer would look at it and say "what?!?"

I agree with previous posters, make it how it works for you!!

Lavender, How wonderful and fortunate for you and your mother to have this opportunity to share and decorate this house together!

Round or square table? Size? I'm trying to figure this out, too. Does anyone know what the recommended sizes per the number of people you want to seat would be? Would a 36" table seat 2 for a meal and 4 for coffee?

I like the idea of a round table, but I also like the idea of a banquette. And after reading Fori's comment, I realized that I've been trying to ignore that inner voice that was telling me that they might not work together. Or should I think about a curved banquette?

LL, sorry for hijacking the thread, I can start a different one if you like.

Since you don't yet have the table, consider a drop leaf style. When not in use for dining, they take up less space, and a small one is easily moved. Craigslist usually has quite a few listed, such as this cutie-pie--similar to mine:

Turquoise/white drop leaf table.

Others in that area.

If it's within your budget (which it must be) - why not? I'd also think about other uses for that table & space so any special needs can be taken care of.

I use my fancy dining room as my workroom (fabric and paper projects). Which means I need more electricity. Which may influence storage, too. In my life, table tops are wonderful things. Turns out, that's how my son and DIL are living.

LL (also my real initials), if you have the space and the budget, I think it's a splendid idea. Judging from your floor plan, your nook and dining room are a significant distance apart, not like some arrangements with a kitchen open to the dining area, nook, counter seating all on top of one another.

Tables aren't just for mealtime!! My dining table is my home base. I'm sitting there now at my always ready-to-go laptop. My purse lives here, books I'm reading, important papers I need to work on. When a friend comes over during the daytime, here's where we sit and chat or work on projects together. I migrate to the living room in the evening, generally once the TV goes on, but I'd be lost without my table. My dining room is a separate space but is separated from my kitchen by the peninsula. So it's both my dining table and my kitchen table.

Edible- Not at all....please, ask any questions you like. This is a thread, specifically asking for other members' solutions.

MamaGoose- Thank you for the CL listing, but I live closer to Spokane, WA. For some reason, the powers that be at Yahoo list me near Boise...several hours away. LOL

A drop leaf table would be nice, as would a larger table, but I don't think we have the space. I was thinking more of a bistro table size, since the dining table is much larger. Any projects will be over there....or next door at the old farmhouse.

We're planning to clean that up and start using it as overflow (almost as you would a basement) in the next year or so. That means we'll have mom's craft table over there, my husband's man cave, our garden greenhouse space (old porch) and extra food and pantry storage. Probably even the big freezer. It's a little longer walk, but no stairs! :)

I found this picture over on the Home Decorating forum...and these colors are what I was thinking about using. Lighter green/aqua on walls or built-in, with darker chairs and white table.

Talked to my mom and while she likes the wicker chairs, she would be open to slightly larger table and smaller chairs. The wicker can go next door, in the future greenhouse!

So, I have a table similar to this next door....I'm going to go measure, but I think it's about 42". That might work well. It's wood, but I think I'll paint it. I'm sure the finish is pretty trashed, so good excuse. Now, to find chairs to paint :)

I like the the table and the mixed chairs in that photo. But the chairs don't look that comfortable. I bet your wicker ones would be a lot more comfortable.

I was thinking about this table:

It's 40-inch, so I'm thinking it could work for 4-people, although 90% of the time it will just be two. I wish I had an existing table that I could paint, but I'm going to have to spring for a new one. This Pottery Barn table also comes in white.

That's a nice table!

Just talked to my mom on the phone...and she wants to use the wicker in the greenhouse/sunroom, next door. We were discussing fabrics and there's a rose chintz we've been saving that would be perfect.

As for the nook/banquette, I have a surprise for that area, which might involve a little bunny style :)

I was just posting CL finds that might be available in the
area--sometimes there are different furniture styles more prevalent in
some areas of the country. I have several of the wicker chairs (CL) on
my front porch, and although wonderful for lounging with a glass of iced
tea, I don't think they'd be comfortable for dining--at least mine
wouldn't. They are too low, and the backs aren't straight enough. Maybe
with more pillows?

I found this pic today, and it reminded me of
your colors, or maybe it is just the style. I don't recall if someone
else has posted it:

You'd have to find dining height wicker chairs, a little harder to find.

Cute photo!

Lavender, another vote for keeping both dining spaces, even in a small home. Mine is only 1500 sq. ft. It's nice having a formal eating area, apart from the kitchen mess, to pamper yourself and guests at times. Even though my space is elegant with a crystal chandelier and a glass lit built-in hutch, I'm with your mom on really putting that baby to work. With a table pad on the large work surface, it has been used for building legos, organizing paperwork, wrapping Christmas gifts, and craft projects.

Yestvb