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Design Dilemma Furniture

Design Dilemma-Please Help!

3 years ago

last modified: 3 years ago

I am purchasing a condo with an open concept living room, kitchen, and dining area. Please see photo of layout and measurements. The front door entry is marked in green, and the current dining area is marked in red. I would like to move the dining area into an open space that is adjacent to the kitchen, which I have marked in blue. This means you would have to walk by/through the dining area to get to the living room and kitchen after entering the home, but placing here would allow me to double the living room space. The dining table would be 60" long by 30" deep, and I would place it horizontally in the blue space, closer to the top/back wall that is 8'8" (I would keep the table 30" from that wall). On the other side of the table, I want to use a bench rather than chairs, which I would keep pushed underneath the table when not in use. Would this work? Is it too tight/awkward? Thank you SO much for your help!!!

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Comments (3)

cd7733
3 years ago
If you switched and put the bench against the wall, you could have the table closer to the wall, similar to a dining booth, making the main path wider.

For booth seating, the space is less than 20" from table edge to wall. This is measured between 16.5 - 17.5 inches:
A Helpful Collection of Visuals · More Info

At 20" away from wall you'd have 5' from table edge to wall and that would be a nice path. Try and keep it at least 44" wide and you'll be fine.

A Helpful Collection of Visuals · More Info
PRO
JudyG Designs
3 years ago
When my daughter renovated her loft condo, she decided to give up a dining table/chairs. She decided what she needed most was a large square island for 8. She did IKEA cabinets in the kitchen and used the same (I think 2, not sure) as a pedestal to support quartz top.

She spent a lot of time choosing the counter height chairs, which when she had a large group ( back in 2019) the island served as a buffet and the beautiful chairs can be brought into the living space for temporary seating.

Something. on this idea:
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That kitchen makes no sense at all. You have only 3 mimsy little sections of countertop to work on (besides the island). But the island is clearly designed primarily for eating. Think of this: When you're baking or prepping a turkey, where do you put the big stuff as you work? You have no counter section big enough to hold the turkey pan and the bowl of stuffing as you fill the bird, no counter section big enough for a cookie sheet and a stand mixer. And don't suggest doing the raw turkey on the island, because there is no sink there for it and the island is for eating; you don't want raw turkey goop on the island. You have no continuous countertop flow between the sink and the stove (because of the oven), so every drippy thing has to be carried across the floor because there's an oven in the way. Slip hazard. And with the freezer, pantry, and wine/coffee bar 25 feet away, it gives the sense that the whole 625 sq. ft. space is kitchen. There's no place to put a dining table that allows it to have its own space. It will always look like a kitchen table, caught in the cross traffic between two 6-foot doorways. Do-over.
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Comments (9)
Yes, this is what we get with a San Francisco house! We love the character and history, of our 1930s built home, but it comes with its own challenges. Thank you for the ideas - we have toyed around with everything you suggested, but, the TV can't be moved :) The only place that we can get cable/internet access in this room is in the spot, and even that was a challenge to get accomplished! So, we're stuck with the location that its in. I'm less concerned about toying with the layout at this point (it actually works for us), and more interested in figure out what seating I would supplement the couch with. To answer your question, I wouldn't put 4 chairs in the room.. I would either have 3 total chairs (DWR chair or its replacement + 2 along the easel wall) or 1 chair (DWR or its replacement) and a loveseat. We do need to replace the random chair next to the easel though.. that's what kicked off this entire thing!
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I thought the designer was not available over the weekend and that calling was not an option. At any rate, a bulkhead is a wall on a ship or a basement stair enclosure; this is a soffit. As a general rule, open space is preferable so I would try to eliminate the protruding outside corner on the remaining portion perhaps by sloping it.
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That was the idea to stand and fold there. Tired of using my kitchen table for folding LOL. But your right the height may not be ideal. And we had talked about that too. I think hinge idea is what we are going to go with. We thought about a table rise kinda like you see with some coffee tables at furniture stores but the hardware is difficult to find exactly what we would need and may be very costly. Thanks for your input and time.
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Jennifer T
Original Author
3 years ago
Thank you both so much! I like both ideas as they ultimately still allow me to double the living area :) I really appreciate you sharing your thoughts! I’m looking for furniture now so hopefully I’ll have this all sorted out soon.

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