Need Design Help: Open Concept Kitchen Family Room w/o Eat-In Space
Please help me figure out how to incorporate these things in my open concept family room:
- L-shaped sectional with either an arm or bumper chaise on the short end. Current favorites are Crate & Barrel Lounge Petite and Room & Board York, but also considering R&B Metro, R&B Cade, and C&B Axis.
- Leather recliner chair that we already have (picture of recliner)
- Small dining table and seating for 4 (bench or banquette + 2 chairs)
We have a large open concept kitchen and family room without designated eat-in kitchen space, although there’s a large island in the kitchen where we typically eat. We moved into our new house a year ago, but I’m having a hard time deciding on furniture for the family room because I'd like to add a regular table for casual dining if I can make it work.
(Pictures below from when the house was staged for sale.)
I have a general idea on the layout, but am looking for thoughts/suggestions on whether this will work and appropriate size / spacing of the furniture. The TV will stay above the fireplace so I’d like the longer part of the sectional to face the TV & fireplace. I’m considering a small dining table and seating behind the sectional, at the wall opposite the fireplace. The only piece we already have is the leather recliner. There’s also a small cabinet next to the fireplace where electronics are housed.
Other details: We’re a family of four with two elementary-aged kids so everything needs to be family friendly. I’d love suggestions on coffee & side tables and the rug size. I also plan to change the light fixture and prefer something more simple and streamlined.
Comments (26)
riellebee
3 years agolast modified: 3 years agoThanks for your thoughts @Patricia Colwell Consulting. I know sectionals aren't popular from a design perspective, but I think it would be most comfortable for us. We're a tall family and we like to spread out. Hopefully when it's safe to do so (i.e., post-Coronavirus), we'll have friends and family over again too and we'll need additional seating. We have a formal living room on the first floor as well (which also needs to be furnished). That space will have a combo of sofa + chair seating and will be less casual. Here are a couple of real pictures of the space. (The only thing that will remain is the recliner.) The sofa and recliner are not enough for us right now and my girls fight about space on the sofa!
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home worth less w/o eat-in kitchen?
Comments (20)Our first house had a formal dinging room but no decent eat-in kitchen space. (Just a few stools facing a wall - yuck.) So we ate in the dining room, even with a baby. Not exactly a hardship, but we would have preferred not to mess up the wood floors quite so much. Not surprisingly, a key factor for house #2 was a breakfast room. Which we then used all the time, meaning the formal dining room NEVER got used. Not once in 6 years. Move forward to house #3, which had an informally-styled dining room that was open from the kitchen. More elegant than a breakfast room, but not a 'formal' dining room. NOT what I wanted, but we bought the house anyway. Turns out to be something we LOVE now. A pleasant, elegant, casual space that helps make mealtimes special. From now on, NO more breakfast rooms for me! I want one lovely dining space that's nice enough to feel like a 'dining room,' warm enough to feel comfortable and welcoming, and sturdy enough to use every day with kids. A few seats in the kitchen are great for breakfast or homework, but we eat our meals in the dining room....See Moreopen concept - family kitchen dining design help
Comments (9)Your sitting room does look like a waiting room as Groveraxle said. I like the idea of a built in banquette around the perimeter of your sitting room. It could be used for lounging or dining. Also, I think what's throwing me off (and maybe you too) with your open concept is the big couch closing off the kitchen from the tv room. Because your big couch acts like a barrier, you end up with a noticeable dance floor between kitchen and tv room. If this were my house, I'd move the big couch to the wall where you have a chair and move your 2 chairs where your couch is. That way you can move your chairs further towards the kitchen to use up some of that dance floor space. It's kinda hard to tell but I think the rug in the tv room is too small, your furniture looks all crammed around it. From your photos it looks like you have a nice spacious kitchen and breakfast nook then big furniture crammed around a small rug in your tv room....See MoreHelp! 90's open concept kitchen and dining room with fireplace
Comments (9)I wish I had photos. My childhood kitchen had a wood burning franklin stove in one corner, with a loveseat in front of it on a diagonal. That loveseat was my father's office. He'd sit in that seat all winter, from morning to night with his New York Times, answering calls and doing business and even having family chats & business meetings (he was an entrepreneur - working from home long before it was commonplace.) It was a lovely little spot right in the middle of the hubbub of family life. I love your fireplace and think it can be a wonderful spot for you & your family....See MoreHelp with Furniture Layout - Open Concept (Kitchen/Dining/Living Room)
Comments (3)If you want a TV in that room the only place it can really go is to the right of the fireplace (maybe to the left if you find that works better for you). It is never recommended to put it over the fireplace unless there is nowhere else for it to go. You have more than enough space on the right for a nice console. Maybe in the future you can do something more dramatic with the fireplace as it looks small in that large wall (or maybe you are already and it's not finished yet). Put a tall piece of art over it (something that is less wide than the fireplace). Face your sofa toward the fireplace and TV. The dining table should have the long side parallel to the slider. I can't imagine it fitting the other direction. I don't think it's a bad thing to have your old furniture in there for a while. It will help you get an idea of the right size for new pieces. You may also get better advice if you post a graph paper drawing of the space so the commenters know exactly how much space you're working with. The perspective in pictures is sometimes misleading....See More
btydrvn
3 years agoSince there is normal dining area so nearby it is hard to see the need for a separate table and chairs for 4 in this area...but one way to add seating (in a way that would blend better with the furnishings and layout) would be to place a long console table behind the couch facing the tv....(with a few stools or a chair that slide under the table when not in use..)...makes a perfect spot for a snack or meal while watching tv...or even an i-pad session...
Trem Wills
3 years agoriellebee
3 years agoThanks for the additional comments & suggestions!
@btydrvn - The reason why I'd like a regular table is so that we can face each other instead of all sitting in a row. I've seen the bar table behind the sofa idea but that wouldn't be much different than eating at our kitchen island.
@Jennifer Hogan - Yes, a game table for the kids is another reason why I'd love to make a table work in my space.
@Trem Wills - I like the idea of having a table attached to the island. We have a wine fridge at the end of our island though so unfortunately, it wouldn't work. I've wondered if it would be worth reconfiguring our island to close off of the end but that's more complicated than I'd like.
Here's an inspiration picture for what I'm trying to do.Banquette against the back wall with a table and chairs (I'd only have 2 side chairs.)
Trem Wills
3 years agobtydrvn
3 years agobtydrvn
3 years agoriellebee
3 years agoTrem Wills
3 years agoriellebee
3 years agoEven though there’s a lot of space between the kitchen and family room, it functions as a passage way. I think a table in the middle would feel like it’s in the way. I initially considered putting a bistro table and 2 chairs in front of the window between the fridge and fireplace. It seemed like it might feel crowded though.
Here are a couple of layouts I created with 2 of the sectionals I’m considering.
Trem Wills
3 years agoriellebee
3 years agolast modified: 3 years agoYeah, I know it’s a tall order to come up with something that accomplishes what I want but I figured I'd see if others on Houzz had some ideas.
Both sectionals that I'm considering are pretty spacious. The first one is 144” x 79” and the other is 120” x 110.”
msteezzy - here’s a picture of the space you asked about.
btydrvn
3 years agobtydrvn
3 years agobtydrvn
3 years agobtydrvn
3 years agobtydrvn
3 years agoTrem Wills
3 years agoriellebee
3 years agobtydrvn
3 years ago
Jennifer Hogan