Personally don’t like islands & prefer a ‘u’ shaped kitchen but that option doesn’t seem to offer as much kitchen space as option 1. Also wouldn’t have the sofa by the doors - glare from sun coming through the doors could be annoying & it’s nice to have a view of the garden from the dining table. So to answer your question, ‘neither’. I think there are better layouts you could use.

Thanks for the comments - This may be slightly better ? Pic 1a

Overall this latest plan looks better - but in detail I’d suggest if you intend the DW to be side on to the window like this - it’s not the best location and may not even be able to open fully ... on the island near a sink and bin would be better in my opinion .

the kitchen works better internally due to the nature of the activity. This is mostly active and standing and often facing outwards. When the dining table is in that location, it can feel dead as the natural light is at the far end of the room. Add some roof windows to the extension if possible.

The living room looks squashed in the first plan.

Thanks roger - we do plan to add two roof windows as well. This option may be better re: living room and dining table swap

I agree with Roger.... I would personally put the kitchen in the middle of the house, and the lounge + dining area by the garden: these are the 2 areas where you will sit, and can enjoy your garden all year round. In the kitchen, you just look at what you are doing, not the view! Plus, I would prefer to have direct access to the kitchen from the hallway, instead of going through other area to access it. However, it depends how you live in your house!

to be honest, i think that would be worst. As emmanuel comments, the kitchen is more of a busy place and you will still have a view. There is also the issue of the general height of the living room furniture and the kitchen and dining room which is higher, creating a subtle block or barrier to the garden.

Thank you both for your comments - I’m going to revisit layout options with kitchen in middle of house , most of the power and drainage is already on the right side of house so just need to take budget into account if going to move these to left side

water supply is easy as it can come from above, the drainage from a kitchen can be a small pipe almost hidden by a box if above floor level.

if possible, lose all the steel in the wall or ceiling using a ‘goal post‘ form, a lazy builder will avoid this.

Tried to get the kitchen in middle of house and to keep island option - the middle right will be washing machine tumble drier etc and more storage , hopefully not to disjointed

I could also change direction and increase the size of the island

I like the plan above!
Would only swap lounge and dining table- then get rid of that little wall and put a bank of tall cupboards for utilities in line on the right wall ( in red)- and extend units , marked as black on my plan. You could also turn the island round as suggested above!
You would then have a view of your garden as soon as you enter your house; it would look visually quite spacious!

Thanks for the ideas - will definitely consider all of them - we have semi detached house with neighbour on left so that’s why dining table on right so can have a window for additional light .

Updated , thanks Emmanuelle

I definitely like that you’ve gained a clear run from the hall way so you can see out to the back.

I don’t think having the dining space diagonally really matters and as you say you gain extra light there.

Also depends how much you use the table/living room/kitchen.

I often Potter in the kitchen so would want that to be light enough to not always need to turn on lights, and often sit on the sofa and read so the same, but only eat evening meals at the table so it’s less of an issue, but if you use it all day, or have kids drawing there then you’ll have different priorities.

I think if you can block off a small corner to create a utility cupboard that might be useful to help reduce noise in the open plan space.

I think you could potentially do well discussing with a concept planner for the room. Many people on here have used OnePlan and recommend her.

I think there are lots of options and everyone will have opinions of what works better but Presuming you’re doing this for you and not to sell then there’ll be additional considerations of your preferences and how you’d live in the space. :-)

It’ll also be easier to vent the extractor with it on the right or nearer the back doors as they become less efficient with increased lengths of ducting

Thanks Gabby -good advice , yes with young kids plenty of drawing etc on table , I’m hoping that we could vent up existing chimney stack (not sure if that is even possible)

Your 3rd option would work if you flip the kitchen to the left side. It would give you clear view to the garden and kitchen with direct excess to the outside. I like the idea of the lounge sort of in the corner facing outside.

I would want to fit in a separate utility room to reduce noise from the washing machine in an open plan space like that. There are some great ideas on Houzz for compact utility spaces.

Sorry for asking a different question - OP - what app are you using for your design??

newbie question but what programme did you use to make your drawings? Thanks

Floorplan