Dining room or living room?

10 years ago

Hello all!
I have got a design dilemma. I am in the process of remodeling a 1970s split level home. Here's the layout of my problem floor. You walk in the front door and can either go up to the main floor and turn left to a small living room, kitchen, with a wall in between the two. I cannot take away any space to make either kitchen or living room larger. The kitchen is small and rectangular shaped, with a sliding glass door to the yard and deck. There is no pantry, and if I take the wall down, and put up an island with bar stools, the storage will be even less. There is no room in the kitchen for a pantry, an island, and a standard size dining room table and chairs. There is already a living room downstairs with a fireplace. I am very tempted to turn the upstairs living room into a dining room with a half wall between it and the kitchen. What would you all do?

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Comments (3)

live_wire_oak
10 years ago
Most people prefer a kitchen open to the family room rather than a dining room. You might want to explore leaving the wall in place and opening up a different wall if possible. Or an addition at the entry level that bridges the two levels, which can create a tri-level rather than a split entry.
bpollen
10 years ago
My initial thoughts:

Do you need a dining room? That is, is there no other eating place in the house, so that you need to designate an eating space? Or would this "new" DR be a more formal one, for holidays and such? Would you really use it as a DR? (I have a DR area and never use it.)

Island - my mother had an island with bar stools on one side, but the back side had lots of storage. A bit inconvenient in that a person has to bend down, but still, in a small area, one has to make do.

Is the living area by the kitchen too small to be an informal "den" or media room? I don't know how small/lg your family is, but is it possible that some would want to hang out in the den area watching a movie, while others chat or watch something else in the LR? It's okay for a media area to be small and cozy.

I have a combo den/kitchen. It presents its own set of problems (noise), but all in all, I LOVE the combo den/kitchen. I think a lot of people like that combo. I can do things in the kitchen & still watch the tv or stay connected with people in the den.

I have a small house. I have a peninsula instead of an island, but close to the same thing. The kitchen half of my peninsula houses my DW, a SKINNY cabinet (for cookie sheets & plastic bags), and a deep drawer with a shelf on top. I keep my small microwave on the shelf, and big skillets in the drawer. Efficient use of space.

Do you know the dimensions of the living area by the kitchen?
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littlelizzy123
Original Author
10 years ago
Thank you for your ideas and responses! I have a lot to think about! I just don't have a proper space for a family of four to eat together. I guess if I just can knock out the wall separating the two rooms, and put up a bar with bar stools. Then I can have storage on the kitchen side and seating on the living room/dining room side. We are planning on selling the house, so I guess that room could be anything! :) It's not a bad sized room, we use it now as a living room while we have the basement tore up for remodel.