Our kitchen is 13' X 13' and is eat-in (at the tabletop end of our island). FYI, it was an eat-in kitcehn before the reno, too (just uglier--LOL!).

Here is a link that might be useful: cat_mom's finished kitchen thread

{{!gwi}}

We have a little bump out bay window that works well for the "eat in" area.

The room is 15' wide along the window wall:

We limited the island size to stay in proportion to windows, and so the aisles are pretty wide.

I have an 11 x 12 kitchen and have a 2 person booth. It is along a wall that the fridge and pantry is on.

It's like this: Your standing in front of this wall. Starting on the left is the pantry then the counter depth fride that looks built in then the booth. The bench of this booth is backed up to the trim around fridge (so when you sit in it your back is to the side of the fridge) then table then another bench which ends at the corner. Each bench seats 1 person.

So it is a cozy spot in in 1 corner of the kitchen. I have a light abve the table for good lighting and is on a dimmer. I am not finish with this kitchen yet. So the wall around the booth has not been painted or decorated yet. And the cushions for the benches are not made yet.

I was really leary of doing this and now I am glad I did. Lighting is much better here than the dining room. It is also nice that company can sit there while I am working in the kitchen otherwise they would be just standing with me in the kitchen. The kitchen is a room of itself it is not an open floor plan.

Our old kitchen was an eat-in kitchen and was 14'8"L x 11'1"W. There was a small (6'10" x 1'6") bump out in the bay window that allowed us to put in a table. It was a tight fit, but worked while our children were young. They're now 11 & 13 and we have outgrown that area (my children are both quite tall) so we are making it a kitchen-only w/peninsula seating. All our meals will now be eaten in the DR.

However, useful work & counter space was limited. I only had 2' b/w the sink and range...where most of the prep work was done.

Thanks for everyone's replies & pics! These all look so much bigger than my kitchen. I am just afraid that even with a small table set in there it is going to feel crowded, but maybe I should wait 'til we actually get the set in there & go from there. Anyway, thanks again! I'll post pics when our kitchen is done. :)

bump

Westsider~ I also posted this in the Smaller Homes forum. You might want to read that one... Same title.

My small kitchen is around 9' wide by 15' long but the actual kitchen part is only about 9' by 9'. Next to it, there's a 3-foot rectangular bump-out where we put in a banquette. The seating area along the back is 6'9". With a chair placed in front, 5 can sit here without being too crowded. So if you have a 13x13 area, and your floor plan allows, and you don't mind squishing the working parts of the kitchen together a bit, you can have a pretty good seating area too. Here's mine (not totally finished).
{{!gwi}}
{{!gwi}}

don't want to hijack the thread but I'd love to see more from Lily1342's kitchen.

lovemyboys, I do plan on posting pics when I get finished. I've still gotta get the fridge replaced, there's still some grouting and caulking to do on the backsplash, need to add a few more trim pieces (like, to cover that gap you see between the banquette and the wall (bugs me!) which I thought came out a little too big for just caulk), and need to re-install the DW cause the plumber left it sticking out instead of more flush with the cabinets. That really bugs me too - and I KNOW there's plenty of room cause I measured the space before DW was installed! If I EVER get these little details done, I'm posting the finished kitchen - however, it's so small, you've practically seen it already, LOL!

lily - Thanks for posting your banquette bumpout it looks fantastic!

I've been toying with doing the same thing with a similar amount of space but wasn't sure that such a space would be functional. You've given me some new ideas and something to show the contractor (when I find one that is).

How's it working for your family? Anything you would do differently?

Thank you, auntiebubba! The banquette is very comfortable and I wouldn't do anything different, except that I realize now how important the table is. I already had this drop-leaf table and I thought it was going to be fine but now that it's done, when I slide onto the seat, my feet do bump into the legs of the table's pedestal. Not a huge problem but can be a little annoying. If this would bother you, you could build a banquette that had a recessed toekick space (but I preferred the baseboard look) or get a table with legs that don't protrude so much. Anyway, because of this, we've left scuff marks on the baseboard a few times (but they wipe off easily).

Also, I should mention that the short left side of the seat is 3 ft. 4 in. deep - not 3 ft. as I said above. If it were only 3 ft., I think that might not be enough room. Initially, I did a mock-up with boxes to make sure of getting a shape and size that would work.

I have always wanted an eat in kitchen but it was not to be unless I knocked down a wall. Some people put a bar in these type of houses but I didn't want to give up the whole wall of cabinets and counter space. Oh well, maybe in my next life.