Having the kitchen and lounge in the same room

vansboy · 26 October 2016 at 2:58PM

Please see my thread
http://forums.moneysavingexpert.com/showthread.php?t=5546690

It keeps the kitchen to one side, so there is a long, potentially seperate, living space with the fireplace at one end and garden at the other.

But still open-plan.

VB

Hoploz · 26 October 2016 at 4:10PM

I'm on my second house with large open plan kitchen/dining/lounge areas. First time we extended and I designed it like that, second time it's just lucky it's like I had before.

I found it good when I had toddlers - yes they can get to the cupboards but actually you are there in the room so as long as you use those childproof plastic lock thingies it's not a dangerous place - obvs you have the benefit that you're sitting down while the pans are cooking and you can still see them and the child so can address any danger before it happens.

However, I think it is essential to have a separate lounge as well. We always sit in the separate lounge in the evening as it is cosier and also yes, away from any dishwasher noise.

A friend of mine has open plan as well but uses her separate lounge as a kids playroom instead. They are currently building a shed in the garden with a log burner to spend their evenings ... this tells me they also yearn for somewhere cosier than their huge room as well!

BobbinAlong · 27 October 2016 at 10:40AM

We joke that I wanted to watch TV whilst cooking so he moved the kitchen to the TV. In reality we've moved the kitchen temporarily into the lounge and the hall has become the utility room with machines whilst we knock down the old single storey kitchen and build a new two storey extension with big kitchen !!! dining room and a separate utility room. It would be impossible if we had to house the washing machine, dryer and dishwasher in the kitchen - they need shutting away and the breadmaker goes out there too!
The plus side of socialising whilst cooking is nice and we have only adults in the family but it leaves a living/dining area that is too small for proper entertaining - four people is a crowd!
I'm so looking forward to getting the building done and retrieving a proper living room - which will get double French doors through to the new dining room area in the new kitchen so we can open wide when needed or close off for privacy and peace which gives us the best of both worlds.

Ramona123 · 27 October 2016 at 2:38PM

I would not have the kitchen and the lounge in the same room for 2 practical reasons.

(1) The noise from cooking and an extractor fan can be deafening
(2) Smells that can be kinda kept in the kitchen are going to get everywhere!

Elfbert · 27 October 2016 at 10:43PM

I think it depends - we're about to move from our open plan lounge-kitchen-diner to a new flat which, whilst I think is technically open-plan, has walls separating these areas, just not doors. The kitchen/dining room is like the top of a T and the lounge the bottom bit.

I've been vegetarian all my adult life, and my partner is too, so never lived with the smell of cooked fish hanging around after dinner, or I might feel more strongly about it all

(I also grew up in a house where the kitchen is the hub of all social activity, so it never seemed that odd to always be around the food prep/aftermath.)

Sarah227 · 27 October 2016 at 11:32PM

Most new builds these days are tiny and all are way overpriced. Someone pointed out that they are selling the lifestyle and it's true people still watch programmes such as Friends where everything was open plan and think that's the way forward. They forget that in reality we don't go downstairs to a basement to do our laundry we have washing machines in our kitchens and cookers with extractor fans and watching tv with these appliances on is a blooming nightmare. On top of that, huge gripe with new build houses/flats, why on earth do they insist on putting a loo right outside your living room and kitchen doors 😖 I get that a downstairs loo is convenient but I don't want to hear people peeing (or worse) while I'm sat watching Corrie 🙈

vansboy · 28 October 2016 at 9:26AM

Sarah227 wrote: »

Most new builds these days are tiny and all are way overpriced. Someone pointed out that they are selling the lifestyle and it's true people still watch programmes such as Friends where everything was open plan and think that's the way forward. They forget that in reality we don't go downstairs to a basement to do our laundry we have washing machines in our kitchens and cookers with extractor fans and watching tv with these appliances on is a blooming nightmare. On top of that, huge gripe with new build houses/flats, why on earth do they insist on putting a loo right outside your living room and kitchen doors 😖 I get that a downstairs loo is convenient but I don't want to hear people peeing (or worse) while I'm sat watching Corrie 🙈

It would make more sense for washing machine and dryer, to be upstairs where you take off dirty clothes and store new ones.

And as for toilet locations, look at this open plan design, on floor plan.

Ideal if you eaten something that disagrees with tummy and you need to relieve yourself, fast!!

http://www.rightmove.co.uk/new-homes-for-sale/property-60171647.html

VB

Sarah227 · 29 October 2016 at 12:19AM

vansboy wrote: »

It would make more sense for washing machine and dryer, to be upstairs where you take off dirty clothes and store new ones.

And as for toilet locations, look at this open plan design, on floor plan.

Ideal if you eaten something that disagrees with tummy and you need to relieve yourself, fast!!

VB

Oh dear lord! That's disgusting 😷😷

PasturesNew · 29 October 2016 at 12:44AM

I like a separate kitchen - because you can shut the door on it when you've not done the washing up and there are assorted plastics and tins lying around drying that will next get as far as the recycling bucket .... and because when I come in from doing the shopping I can drop the bags on the floor/wherever, then just put away any freezer/fridge items and shut the door on the rest until I fancy getting round to emptying the bags (probably done when I'm next waiting for the kettle to boil).

It's also good with limited cupboard space as there are things everywhere as there's no room for them.

If one had complete design control though it'd be possible to have an open plan kitchen that was hidden behind a retractable wall/doors. A friend of mine had a smallish modern flat and there were two sliding doors that slid into the wall, completely hidden, that, when open, exposed the kitchen - so "now you see it, now you don't".

prosaver · 29 October 2016 at 7:47AM

Ive got room for a small table in my kitchen and i built a extension which is a seperate room looking out to the back garden. . Was tempted to have kitchen dinner, but thought of a cosy room clean no clattering plus it would take up a lot of heating,as sometimes i turn the kitchen rad off

Having the kitchen and lounge in the same room

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