I feel your pain! The one thing I would change about our house is the fact that we have no separate dining room, just an eat-in kitchen. Not only is it an eat-in, but the eating area isn't off to one side of the kitchen, it's smack dab in the middle of it. When renovating our kitchen, rather than picking out white cabinets I chose cider-stained maple cabinets. I figured the wood would give the kitchen more of a "refined" appearance. I also designed a hutch style cabinet which is separate from our other cabinets, hoping this would provide a buffet area for serving and also give it the look of a piece of furniture. Even with everything we did to try and create more of a "room" feel, it still falls short (way short). It doesn't seem to bother our guests, but it does bother me LOL. DH and I have talked about opening up one wall in our kitchen and adding on a small dining room adjacent to the kitchen. I've included pictures below so you can see what I'm talking about.

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Our house is the size of yours and the dining area is basically a part of the kitchen. My wife sees the cooking process as a form of guest entertainment and when we do have guests they can sit at the dining bench and watch and everyone talks. Then the show moves to the table. Although your arrangement bothers you I doubt if your guest care. They're there to enjoy your company. Give them a show! Tom

MrsMarv,

Your kitchen has what may be missing in mine that is giving me the feeling of being confined....the wonderful windows across the back by your table and the opening next to it. My eating area is a solid wall on two sides. I'm ready to bump into the furnace room and build-in the china cabinet to open up more area. There is a good 2 feet of wasted space in there since putting in a new furnace.

And I've loved your little kitchen since seeing it before. We have the same cabinets, but my appliances are SS and have an off white tiled counter. Still working on paint colors.

Goat man....yes, still learning to love this small space and I'm probably the only one worrying about it. The positive is that someone is always sitting at the table while I'm cooking and that there is a place where they can be nearby rather than a room away. Actually, writing this, I realize that everyone seems to be hanging around at the table while I'm in there. Called "close knit family". How many times in our lives have we asked for this to be?

emagineer ~ Thank you for the compliments. I would be interested in seeing pics of your cabinets with the stainless appliances. Quite a few people have mentioned that my cabinets would look very good with stainless, but I can't seem to envision that. DH would like stainless but I'm not convinced since I always thought they were very 'cold' in appearance. Care to share some pics?

Goat man ~ I agree about guests not caring. I know mine don't, but somehow I feel something's lacking when I want to have a dinner for more than 6 people. I spent so many years doing buffet that I am ready for a change. Sometimes it's nice to be able to sit down around a table and discuss, disect, and relax. There's something about everyone being able to look directly at the person/s you're having an in-depth conversation with without worrying about jockeying food and drink on your lap. But then again, if that's the least of our worries I consider myself lucky ;o)

I'm not sure if my kitchen qualifies as "eat-in", but it and the dining room basically share one long space, kitchen at one end, dining at the other. They are split by a doorway and a change in flooring, but they really are essentially one room.

I had the same problem as you at the beginning and I tried to really make the two areas feel separate. I tried painting them different (but complementary) colours, considered putting a screen or hanging room divider between them (but didn't) and a variety of other things. All of the things I tried seemed to just make it worse and what I definitely didn't want was for the kitchen to be vying for your attention when you were sitting in the dining room.

Sooo...we repainted the kitchen to match the dining room and keep it very neat when people are over, so that mess is not visible from the dining area. I turn off or dim the lights in the kitchen too when we are eating, I think that helps. if I ever find the right screen, I may buy one to use for more "formal" occasions.

The only problem I have now is that when people come over, they sit down at the dining table right away (we have no seating in the kitchen). Eventually, everyone ends up sitting down at the table and while I know they are doing it to have a comfy place to sit and talk, it stresses me out to no end because it ends up looking like they are sitting there waiting to be served! For this reason, I keep contemplating flipping our living room and dining room, but we don't entertain THAT often, so it will still the way it is for a while longer.

"Eat-In" kitchen,....I like that title,...mostly 'cause that's what we have.
Keep in mind that we designed our little house for just the two of us, but with some consideration for occasional visitors. For the sake of efficiency, we incorporated the kitchen, the "den", and the non-formal dining room into our big "living room". This room is 20' x 37'. We have a choice as to where to eat, the island, the high coffee table in front of the big TV, or back at the dining table. The dining table extends to accommodate 8 people.
We're still unpacking boxes, arranging furniture and hanging pictures. It's a mess,....you know what I mean. There's still plenty of stuff on the floor of the big room that will be moved out. There's a sofa-bed to the left of the dining table that goes in the #2 bedroom, and the two white chairs will be moved back to in front of the window. Things like that.
In designing this house we were aware that in order to have a comfortable small house (on a daily basis) there are compromises to be made, and this is what we chose. At this time, it really looks like it's going to work for us just fine. BTW we haven't ordered our window blinds yet, as it was just yesterday that we finally decided on Bali NeatPleat, with matching "fans" for the arch portion of the windows. Excuse the mess, the final cleanup will come in a few weeks.

Willie,

Your "Eat In Kitchin" is wonderful...because, it has no walls. I really miss the open concept. What a beautiful setting you have and love the decorating.

I actually just came up with an idea today and am going with it. The table I have takes up entirely too much room even with drop leaves. My move from an open concept left me with a wonderful island which I couldn't and didn't let go of. It was hand made with a solid block of wood from an aspen tree. Has sat in the garage for a year to consider every time I walk by.

Anyhow, I was going to build in my china cabinet, but have decided to build in a folding table and add shelves above the opening. Found a table that matches my cabinets and opens up from 13" deep to 35" or 50". This allows me to use my island when company isn't around (it can be moved for dinners) and still have a couple of chairs hanging around too. Will really open up the kitchen and when company happens in the kitchen, it is what it is...cozey.

This idea will take me a few weeks, but will post when it happens. My daughter is heading over next week to finish painting with me. We'll knock that wall out, frame and I'll give her the old table. Am hyped about doing this. Small means creative.

mrsmarv--I just love your kitchen. What a warm feeling it puts out. Love the cabinets and those big windows. I counted all the drawers I could see, and I tell you you are one lucky woman. I'd be very happy eating in that kitchen. Could you tell me what color and brand you painted your green walls/door in? It's a great color. I'd also like to know about your sink and faucets. I sound so nosy, but we're getting ready to buy a villa with a large kitchen--eat-in by the way--and need so expert advise. I'm not crazy about the double SS sink in there now.

Oh--I can't wait for an eat-in kitchen. Everybody ends up in there anyway, so I'd have company while I cook. It just seems more homey to me.

Our house has kind of a neat setup for this. I'd have to call it an "eat-near" kitchen. The kitchen and family room are open to each other, divided by the kitchen island. On the family room side of the island, there's a table attached to the island that is surfaced with the countertop material. The rest of it is painted like the kitchen cabinets, so it blends in with the kitchen decor-wise. It's about 3' X 4' and has been big enough for our family of 4 since we moved in (14 years ago *smile*).

The main struggle is keeping the table free enough of clutter to eat meals at, since it is pretty centrally located. Luckily it is right near our recycle containers, so clearing the table can be real easy (*smile*).

At any rate, it was a very nice job of integrating an eating area into the kitchen area without actually being in the kitchen.

-Roger

We never eat in our "eat in kitchen" .... TV tables in front of the TV is our style. *Grin*

Toomuch,
Actually I do the same as you. And the "kids" (40 yr plus) decided long ago that formal dining was last on the list. But there are times when company needs to be addressed, even if one friend. And I'm still messing with the arrangement. Slow at this end, but will get there.

I'm very excited about the "eat in kitchen" in the circa-1900 house we're moving into next month. It's {{!gwi}}
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We never used or even furnished the eating area of the eat-in kitchen of our current house because it was also the only traffic lane to the back door, which went to the rear deck and dog run. If you wanted a decent space in which to walk and enough room to swing the door, you could just about fit a bistro set! I am convinced that whoever designed that kitchen only ate in restaurants.

Johnmarie,
Congrats on your new home. You are going to have such fun making it your's.

I know you weren't asking for design help, but love all the room you have. My kitchen/dining in the last house was similar to your layout. This is a personal take, but I would remove the bar cupboards and use them as an island to open the area up even more. Yes there may be an issue with what is under there and the electrical. You could still add the folding screens.

You also have a wonderful corner for window seats. link below is of a banquette one of our members has. I love it, e linked below.

Here is a link that might be useful: Banquette

Patti - I just checked back on this thread. Our sink is by Kohler, and is enameled cast iron. The style is "Bakersfield". Our faucet is by Delta but I don't rememebr the style. We purchased it in HD. Both are the color bisque. Our kitchen wall paint was custom mixed in BM. I would have to look on the paint can for the information regarding base, tint, etc. If you're interested you can shoot me an email and I'll get that info to you. Thanks for the compliments!
Nora

We have an eat in kitchen - but we never eat there .It's just DH & me - so we prefer to eat on TV trays in front of the TV . When someone sits on the chair next to the sink - they have to move if someone wants to go there. If you are sitting in the chair by the fridge - that person will always have to move. It's just easier to make our plates out there and eat in the living room.

mrsmarv- Not sure if someone already asked this, but what color/brand is your kitchen paint? I really like it! Cute kitchen by the way!

emagineer, thank you for the thoughts but I've never had so much counter space and I'm greedy for every inch! ;-) The passage between the end of the dining-room-side peninsula and the partial wall by it is 4 feet wide, so it's not crowded together. The kitchen is new but the cabinets are very cheap-feeling and we don't like that it's virtually all door cabinets on the bottom (much easier for me to get stuff out of drawers), so in a few years the whole thing will come out although the basic layout will probably be more or less the same. I would like to get the fridge and stove away from each other somehow though. Maybe downdrafts aren't as bad as everyone on Appliances and Kitchens says and I could put a stove in the peninsula; I really hate the look of those ginormous hoods hanging down in the middle of the room. The peninsula is currently unusable as an eating bar - no overhang creating leg room, see? - and we don't think we would add one, but rather put a line of additional shallow cabinets facing the dining room for vases, fancy serving dishes, junk like that. ;-)

The windows come down very low (I think the sills are 16" from the floor?) so window seats are not really doable. I think I'd be able to arrange a couch/comfy chairs so as not to block access to and airflow from the windows, and it would have enough mass to look right in the space: the dining area is almost as big as my first studio apartment, 11x17 with 9' ceilings - the kitchen and dining room take up over half of the first floor.

I have a large kitchen and adjoining dining room, open to each other. We had to replace the whole floor (home 185 years old) and they were previously on two levels but we made the floors flush to each other. Then I gave up trying to separate the two rooms and let the kitchen overflow into the dining room. But, ninety percent of the time, we eat in the kitchen. We don't have a kitchen table, but have a large island in the middle of the room. Under this island is a tremendous amount of storage, and the counter is cantilevered out so you can pull up stools and use it as a table. We had it built and it's covered in antique tiles. It's also home to one of the sinks and the dishwasher. It's incredibly handy and comfortable and serving a dual purpose is a great way to incorporate what would have been a piece of furniture into a functional part of the kitchen design.

Johnmarie,

I hang around the kitchen forum too. Pick and choose what to read though and never posted there. Missed threads on downdrafts. I had a Jenn-aire downdraft and don't remember any issues with it. Included a grill which we used constantly. It was gas, so maybe that was the difference, but sure loved the island cooking with it. Besides, when you get to the point of changing there will be another world of optios.

Again, you have a lot to enjoy now. Have great fun with your new home. Keep us updated on what your doing...gotta see.

I was searching both forums on downdrafts and it was kind of depressing how negative pretty much everyone was about them, but it's good to hear that you liked your Jenn-Air - they come in electric too and we would both love to have a grill inside. I would love-love-LOVE a gas stove, I have had gas stoves for years and years and I hate cooking with electric but it would cost a MINT to get propane piped in (and an even bigger mint to get on the natural gas lines because it would involve digging up the street which the city tends not to be real happy about). So I will have to suck it up and get used to electric again (whine, whine, whine LOL). It will be tough enough just trying to get a vent out for a downdraft - we will probably end up just sacrificing one of the basement windows. The Kitchen forum makes me twitch a bit, I read from time to time and it seems like everyone has so durned much money or are brilliant DIYers. We'll have a teeny budget since a new roof is also on our plates and our DIY skills are rather limited. I'll probably spend more time over on Ikeafans, since we're going Ikea for cabinetry; when I was there last fall and winter it was a more comfortable atmosphere for me. Not too many $5000 stoves over there.

Our first real project is redoing the one full bathroom - it's also new but the rehabber cheaped out really bad there too. The tub is incredibly uncomfortable and so to replace that we need to pull out the too-large vanity which is cheesy picture-of-wood-on-fiberboard to begin with, so we might as well just fix the shiny sheet-vinyl floor that's already scratched up and get rid of the horrible Hollywood light fixture and so on, and do something that actually fits the house! I've already picked out most of the stuff for the room and as soon as we close I'll start ordering. I want pretty much everything onsite before we start so we can get it done as quickly as possible - driving 10-15 minutes to the gym to shower is going to get old fast. :-)

We close on the 31st, and we got our letter from the boss of the DPW saying we can have our parking area where we want it (woohoo!) so everything is good to go, and you can bet I'm going to be there measuring for curtains, peeling up the upstairs carpeting (berber, yuck) to see if we have that great pine to refinish underneath and marking out where we're adding light fixtures (there are no light fixtures in most of the rooms!) on the 1st! LOL

The kitchen forum can be a bit intimidating. Some of the kitchens end up as big as my house. No envy, it is wonderful so many can create their dream. At my end the huge rambling room isn't needed now and as written before, we tend to head towards comfort rather than formal.

There are some creative and well done small kitchens on the forum though. So I keep an eye there not to miss what has been done and great suggestions/ideas smaller has done.

Haven't had the wonders of gas for a while, tis missed. It is few and far between in most houses now. Although after i moved in here last year and replaced the stove....there sits a gas connection. Never mentioned on the seller's info. But learned well on electric. I have the two oven stove which is great for small dinners, has a toaster option too. Got rid of the toaster and use the smaller over 99% of the time for full dinners. Still use my pressure cooker for what I think is the ultimate roasts, soups, etc.

You have tons to do....tons of fun too, even though it can be overwhelming. Has taken me forever to get finished, had the roof, electrical and plumbing upgraded. The nice decorator remodeling is slow.

OT...I have complained about being overwhelmed with all of this before. It was taking me forever to do anything and making dumb mistakes with things not turning out like I'd expected. Even gardening was haphazard and couldn't spend more than an hour or two outside or on a project inside. The last few months my eyes have worn me out and vision was getting awful. Well...this week I find out that I have full cataracts in both eyes. And I have to admit that I'm greatful that this is what it is. Can resolve easily and can't wait to have full vision back. I chuckle about how dirty or messed up the projects are going to look when I can really see what was done.

My 840 sq. foot house has an open living/dining room/kitchen, so not only am I eating in the kitchen, but in part of the living room as well! I'd kill for a separate dining room, but it's not going to happen, so here's what I did. I had the narrow half wall between the kitchen and living room cut down a bit in height and length, bought a kitchen cabinet at Lowe's (half-price!), put it on the kitchen side of the wall, and had a roughly 3 1/2 ft. Formica top put on the top of the wall. Add two stools and voila...instant eating bar, plus more storage. Luckily, I have room for a kitchen table (expandable), but now can acomodate more company for dinner. The same Formica was put on the kitchen counters, and it came out very nice. Love the added prep space too. I'm still eaiting in the kitchen/living room, but enjoying it much more.

I would love to see layouts of small kitchens. Anyone have them? Or maybe I am trying to find a kitchen that looks like mine and what they did/have. Supercat, with you small home, how big is the kitchen?

emagineer - pour yourself a cup of coffee and do a search for 'kitchen' on this forum and 'small kitchens' on google images. You will get some good ideas.

Wanto...yup, did that a while ago. And keep up with the kitchen forum for any pics and links. I also look at old house layouts on the web which are really interesting. Enjoy looking at what other's have done and how they are using space. Actually hoping some of our new people might have ones not posted.

Emagineer, my kitchen is roughly 8 1/2 ft. long and is about 4 ft. wide at it's narrowest point, between the cabinet I put in and the opposite counter. It's basically a U-shaped space with the stove at one end of the U , a corner sink, and the fridge facing the new peninsula. While a bigger kitchen would be nice, I do appreciate how everything is right at hand while cooking and the changes I made really improved its functionality. I'm probably not doing a good job of explaining the layout...someday I'll get around to posting pics.

Supercat,

Guess my kitchen is "huge" compared to your size. There is definitely a connection to usable space when one is laid out correctly. I have working counter areas between the fridge, stove and sink.

Anyone helping in the kitchen congregates to the corner between stove and sink. It is a one person corner, but 3 will huddle together there as if the rest of the kitchen doesn't exist. An L shape with large opening to laundry/outdoor entry and another door to livingroom.

There is a long empty wall on one side, but adding anything there seems to condense the kitchen area quickly. In looking at kitchen layouts of past (late 40s/early 50s) I know this was used for dining. There was a wall/door closing off the laundry which was removed at one time, I'd actually like a wall there again but the counter was extended into wall location.

I should take some pics too for input. Probably time to do so rather than ask others to "see" writing descriptions. Okay, that's the plan....will work on posting pics in the next couple of days.

OK...I'm gonna get brave here and attempt to post a pic of my eat-in kitchen. If this goes well and others are interested,I'll post a few more when I have more time.

What a great kitchen. I like the shelves above the sink and have I've always liked corner sinks. Not at option at this end. Your layout makes it feel so much larger.

Your working space is about the same as mine with an additional pantry cabinet on the other side of my fridge. Do you have an open wall beside or behind the island? The wall situation in my kitchen is what makes it feel "small".

I'd enjoy seeing more.

Thanks for the compliments, emagineer. My contractor (a carpenter) made the shelves for me. Believe it or not, there was nothing there between the cabinets previously, hence it was a waste of space. There is no wall behind the island, just the living room. The island WAS the wall before the contractor made it into an island (really an irregularly shaped peninsula) I like the corner sink too, but asked the contractor to move it forward as it was originally way too far back.
Here are some other pics that will hopefully give you a better idea of the layout than my words. I wish I had Before pics to show you how much less functional it was when I started.

I love seeing other's little homes. You must have had a great deal to do in creating the wonderful surroundings. The location of your dining area is where my laundry is with a single door leading outside. And you have a basement?

Great kitchen area supercat! Your house looks very warm and inviting. I love the fact that it has wood floors. It's very nicely done, and a good use of space.
Nora

Thanks so much for the kind words, emagneer and mrsmarv. It was 6 years before I was able to financially have the ability to make the changes you see, but it was well worth it. I sometimes refer to it as my "extreme budget makeover",because while it cost a small chunk of change, I didn't spend anything near what I often see on the other forums. I did have some definite ideas of what I wanted, but have to give credit to my contractor, who had some great ideas of his own and was good about finding ways to cut costs. The house had wall to wall carpeting when I bought it and besides being worn out and ugly, it aggravated my allergies, so the wood floors were the 1st thing I did. I love them...so easy to clean, especially when my cat barfs, which is often! After the floor was put in, I added recessed lights and new laminate countertops. I originally planned to keep the builder's oak kitchen cabinets for awhile longer, but they looked like they didn't belong after making the other changes, so I had the boxes painted white and ordered new doors and hardware. The house is a raised ranch and the lower level. which is unfinished at this time, serves as the basement. There's WAY too much stuff down there, though. People say a small house is easier to keep clean, but as you probably know, the truth is it needs to be picked up constantly to look nice precisely because it's small. You can have a few things out of place or messy in a large home and it won't show so much, but any messes in a small space are right in your face.
I really love seeing other people's homes as well and have picked some some really great tips on these forums. While a part of me still hungers for the spacious rooms I see on the other forums, I have come to love my little house. Some new furniture for the living room is next on the agenda.