Separate Dining Room or not
Comments (32)
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Separate kitchen/dining or country kitchen?
Comments (13)I am in a larger home, 1675 sq ft. It it that style of ranch where the garage is what you see when you drive up, and the front door is in an indentation next to the garage. The living room is in front, next to the front door, but the living room does not come out as far as the garage does. I have heard them called "snout houses" because of the way the two-car garage looks, sticking out past the rest of the house Like a pig's snout. Behind that garage, there is the stairway to our basement, then the eat-in kitchen, then the family room. The dining area is defined by a funky ceiling. Remember how in the late 70s, people lowered their kitchen ceilings and had recessed fluorescent lights behind plastic, so that the whole ceiling appeared to glow? Our kitchen ceiling has an oblong space like this, and the dining area has a square one. Along the way, someone took off the plastic and put in light fixtures, then put a wallpaper border print on the inside of the soffits. Now-a-days, people build these into very tall ceilings and call them tray ceilings and they add to the value of the house. Mine are so low that I can touch the soffits defining the ceilings without getting on tippy-toes. Other than the dropped ceiling, I love my kitchen with the dining area on the side. I have an antique waterfall-front little buffet, a kitchen table, and leather-cushioned chairs. None of the woods are the same color, but the pine table's wood tones can be found in the distressed finish of the chairs, and the darker colors on the chairs tie in with the quarter-sawn oak of the buffet. We can have the table set up to go north-south without the extra leaf, or east-west with it. When the table is north-south, the rolling island is between the sink and the table. When the table is east-west, the island sits on the edge of the 6 inch drop-off into the family room, below. The dining chandelier has a couple of hooks in the ceiling, so it can be centered over the table, depending on the orientation. We have the east-west configuration going now, it is nice because the table is right in the kitchen (and extends into the dining area) and it feels very homey. Country-kitchen style. The other configuration feels more modern, and I like having the island near the sink and fridge....See MoreLarge Spindles separate raised Dining Room from Kitchen, Help!
Comments (4)How about uploading a picture of the situation? A view from the kitchen side, and then a view from the dining room side back toward the kitchen. In one of the HGTV shows where there was a difference in the levels, they took out a railing and instead installed a bank of shelving/seating, which gave storage on the low side and seating surface on the high side. If your spindles are full height from floor to ceiling in the dining room, make sure they are not load bearing. Even then, the first option I mentioned COULD be used in the spots where the columns can be removed....See MoreKeep Separate Dining Room or Enlarge Kitchen?
Comments (35)Long-time lurker here, but new to posting. I thought I would tell you how we are opening up our kitchen (currently gutted now). We have a 12'x16' Formal Living Room immediately to the left when walking into the foyer. Behind that is a 12.5' x 12' Formal Dining Room. The kitchen (small 10' x 10' plus breakfast nook) is in back, next to the dining room, and the family room is on the other side of the kitchen. I entertain our family of 17 several times a year and I'm not willing to give up the dining room. However, the living room, to me, is a HUGE waste of space. Nobody ever goes in there. In fact, whenever I host a gathering, everybody gathers in my tiny "U" kitchen and I can't move to open the oven, cabinets, etc. It drives me crazy. My solution: move the DR set into the larger living room, which is open by columns to the foyer, and expand the "U" of my kitchen into the dining room. This allows for a longer peninsula with breakfast bar. On the far wall of the "old" dining room, facing the kitchen, will be a "bar" area and a desk area. I will be able to supervise my girls doing homework, being online, etc. all while I prepare dinner. Plus, it gives our guests an area to socialize while meals are being prepared. I should also mention, though, that we have a small study with french doors. This room, essentially, will be the LR, and will house the piano, two chairs and a small desk or table. I do think it's important to have some type of private, closed-off room. I recommend reading some books by Sarah Susanka - her theory of using the space more wisely, as opposed to needing more space, was extremely valuable to me....See MoreHalf wall or pass through between kitchen and dining room?
Comments (18)Whether to do a passthrough, half-wall, or full wall all depends on how you want the two rooms to feel and function (both separately and together). So, I cannot tell you what will work best. However, my brother recently renovated his kitchen (nearly finished) and changed a full wall to a half wall between his kitchen and dining room. He tends towards more informal gatherings and he wanted to help the small closed-off kitchen feel larger and more open to the house. He does not like upper cabinets and with the remodel was able to acquire additional lower cabinets to make up for the lost storage. He has no stools on the dining room side of the half wall, though the granite does cover the top of the half wall. (In fact, the dining room is simply too narrow to accommodate a table and chairs and counter seating.) His new kitchen feels very open and light (the dining room is on a corner and light floods in from two large windows) and he is extremely happy with the result. Your inspiration picture is very lovely. The detailing on the window is beautiful and could probably be duplicated through wood trim on a pass-through if you would be interested....See More
Maureen
3 years agolast modified: 3 years agoIf you could provide the plans to get more specific input.
If it helps, we downsized from a 3800 sq ft home to 1800. It took about a year, as we got very discouraged trying to imagine living in a smaller space. I had only walked into the front hall of this house when I told the agent this was the house (my husband was away and I made the offer anyway). It had an open concept living, dining and kitchen and it was the best decision ever. Highly recommend if downsizing and when decorating, just define the spaces to make them feel cozy.
mqcola thanked Maureen
PROUser
3 years agoWhat about a cased opening instead of a fully open floor plan. It is period correct to the style of the home you are building as well. Something similar to this:
mqcola thanked Usermqcola
3 years agoHi, thank you all. Maureen, I understand your pain as it is exactly what I am feeling now. My concern If I will feel like living in a big box... We currently don't have a plan as we can't decide and the architect doesn't want to decide for us.( understandable). I can share idea of the open concept and one with the separate dining room ( it has some of my comments on it sorry),
cpartist
3 years agoWhat we did is make a cased opening with bookcases between the living room and the kitchen/dining room to help define the different spaces. In the dining area, we recessed our 80" long buffet to help define it from the kitchen space.
As for the rest of the house, it's a U shaped house so they are separated and not open to the public spaces which works perfectly for our downsized living. We as retirees love the more open concept because in better times we love to entertain informally indoors/outdoors. (We're in Fl). So having that large space means our kitchen island can serve as a buffet and our dining table can hold drinks, etc.
Dining area: Table expands to seat 10 comfortably with plenty of room.
Kitchen area: You can see how the dining and kitchen area are the same space but defined by the buffet in the dining space.
This is the living room showing the cased opening with the bookcases dividing the living room from the kitchen/dining area. Something like this can be done even in a contemporary house
cpartist
3 years agoMaureen
3 years agolast modified: 3 years agoThe separate dining room is not going to give you a place to get away in general, except for meals. If you like a separate space for eating (and based on size of table) try to incorporate some comfy seating, even a chair by the window where you would be drawn to read. Consider your new lifestyle and how you see yourselves using the whole space in general. There are ways to make open area feel more separated
cpartist
3 years ago
Emily L
3 years agomqcola
3 years agoMaureen
3 years agolast modified: 3 years agoDownsizing is not easy. As mentioned earlier, it took us a year to find the right home, but it was the best decision. I can’t envision my husband and I still living in our previous, big house.
Leaving behind so many memories is hard and it’s also difficult choosing what to get rid of. Lots of emotions involved, but once you settle in, I’m sure you will be happy!
To decide on the dining space, consider:
- how large a table/seating do you need (including for entertaining) and which provides the better space
- would you rather family and guests be separated when you are cooking and they are in living /dining area, or prefer being part of the conversations
- seems you have island seating; would you end up eating there more often on a daily basis than going to a separate room
- the separation it seems would be between living room and kitchen and could be a solid wall/doorway and extra storage perhaps, or more open with sliding doors. Either way, you won’t feel boxed in with the length still open but won‘t be as visual to further back in room
anj_p
3 years agomqcola
3 years agoHi,
Reflecting on Mark Bischak’s comment, visual is the major impact for me as olfactory I could definitely use technology to mitigate
We never used the kitchen (dinette) to eat our meals;
I like setting the table and having our meals. Our table is a mid to large size (accommodates 8 comfortable) and I have beautiful (and some large) oil painting that I can’t figure it out where to place without a dining room or walls
I like some interactions with my family while cooking but don’t like to see the mess or the TV when we are ready for eating. I can’t picture myself eating supper at a nice table setting and having the pots and pans around.
So, after this evaluation, the kitchen is the problem.. LOL
I wanted to share some of the oil painting I have; I know some will say they don’t match at all.
Thanks to all, you gave me a lot of information. I will give these findings to the architect and see what he can do for us.
THANK YOU!!
mqcola
3 years agoHi Everyone,
Happy Friday! . Not sure if I should be keeping the same thread but since your suggestions gave a North, I decided to keep it here so you could see the progress or maybe more dilemma. Let me know if it will be better to start a new topic..
After gathering all wonderful suggestions recommended here, my husband and I discussed and decided to go with a open concept and after 1 year or so ( test run LOL) decide if we need to close the Kitchen, this way we could add some cabinetry ( as suggested here) to close up the Kitchen a little bit.
So, now my dilemma... Where should the kitchen be located. I would like to ask for your help as I can't visualize it properly and I need to have it defined before submitting the plans for the building permit. ( I wish I could just have it as TBD and decide after framing is done. LOL)
I am attaching the two option, one is the most current ( kitchen beside the bathroom, middle of the house) and the other option is Kitchen facing the rear of the house. I understand the most common layout is the Kitchen where is currently located. Everything will stay the same and the only change would be the Kitchen
I really appreciate you taking the time to share your experience and helping us to decide.
JT7abcz
3 years agomqcola
3 years agomqcola
3 years ago
Mark Bischak, Architect