Kitchen Layout Open To Family Room

If you are designing an open plan kitchen or even just in the planning stages and weighing up whether to go open plan or not, you are in the right place. Our ultimate guide will take you through everything you need to know about open plan kitchen design, plus plenty of inspiring spaces to help you make some decisions.

From where to start and what to consider in the design stages such as zoning and where to put your best dining table – to decor ideas that will show you just how gorgeous open plan can be, plus practical tips on budgeting and employing the right people for the job. Yep, we're going to take you through everything from A–Z, so just keep on reading...

Open plan kitchens are one of the most sought after features of a modern family home, thanks to their light, spacious feel and versatile design. They usually combine the kitchen and dining area of a home, while you can also include a lounge setting as part of yours. They are in fact completely versatile which is, quite frankly, the reason why we love them so.

Open Kitchen Designs With Living Room

The first step when it comes to designing an open plan kitchen, is considering the layout of the kitchen and how it functions with the rest of the zones of an open-plan arrangement is vital, especially if you're thinking about creating a practical family kitchen, which needs careful planning.

Bear in mind that once a kitchen is part of an open space it will impact on every other area – there’s no closing the door on noisy appliances and clutter left on worktops after preparing a meal. Likewise, the cabinetry will be in plain view all of the time, so it needs to look stylish.

Getting it right needn’t be tricky, though. Whether you’re working with a kitchen designer, architect or builder (our guides are designed to help you source each) use this guide to create a stylish, open plan kitchen and living space. We start with all the practical stuff up top, and then move onto inspiring ideas to get you excited about your project.

Kitchen Design Sydney

One of the biggest pros is that open plan kitchens really do bring the whole family together and therefore reinforces that the kitchen is the heart of the home. They also create a spacious feel, as there are no barriers visually which allows the room to flow. If you love entertaining they’re a great option - you can be cooking and still talk to your guests - less walls make for a more sociable space.

Kitchen islands with breakfast bars become the hub where homework can be done whilst catching up with the day’s news. Or if you have young ones, they can be watching TV from the sofa whilst you’re in the kitchen, and the open plan area allows you to keep an eye on them all the time.

They can be pricey initially if walls need to be knocked down, however on the flip side they can then add value to your home - so a bit of a pro and con in one! Because there are no individual rooms, storage can be an issue so it’s worth considering how you might want to tackle that - ideas can include shelving units, extra wall units, sofas with storage underneath and sideboards.

Design Tips For An Open Floor Plan Home Design

Due to the kitchen, dining and living areas all becoming one, noise can be an issue – for example, there's no room to relax if the kids are being noisy in the living space! Also, sometimes in an open plan kitchen the mess can spread easily – and if you’re relaxing on the sofa you may well be able to see the dirty pots and pans that need washing up.

Take time to think about how people will move through the open-plan room. Circulation space between zones needs to be unimpeded by furniture and it’s also vital for safety’s sake that people aren’t going to pass through the work area of the kitchen to get from one zone to another.

Is the kitchen zone far enough away from the seating area? Watching TV or talking may be difficult against the background noise of clattering pans and worktop appliances, so think about the distance between these zones.

The Pros And Cons Of Open Plan Living

Think too about whether you want appliances like washing machines and dryers to be part of the kitchen. Remember that noisy spin cycles will do nothing for the atmosphere of the room. You may wish to plan cupboards or a separate utility room in which these can be kept. Artificial light will suffice for a utility space so this closed-off zone can be located at the center of an open-plan floorplan. For tips on planning and designing a utility room, check out our handy guide.

When you look across your open-plan space, you want it to have a flow, and for it to be cohesive. This living area works well as the kitchen is very sleek and simple, and the Skandi table and Harlow chairs – due to their light oak design – also work in the same way. They visually balance out the dark gray sofa and armchair in the living area, and the rug and cushions pull through the mid-gray and pale pinks from the kitchen and dining space. The turmeric cushion, throw and rug are the accent colors that set the living space apart from the rest.

An open-plan, live-in kitchen diner needs to have defined areas – seating, dining, cooking – even if they’re open to one another, so start by planning which zone the kitchen will occupy.

Open Kitchen In Indian Homes: An Elegant Way To Bring Your Family Together

Although not essential, locating the kitchen by an external wall is convenient for both waste water and ducting for an extractor fan, and is more budget-friendly. An external wall is also useful in the kitchen zone for locating base and wall units against, as well as kitchen appliances.

You should also consider where the dining table will be positioned. Bear in mind that you won’t want a long walk from preparation and cooking areas to take food to the table, so kitchen and dining zones need to be thought of together.

How about a garden view from the kitchen? If that's on your list of priorities, your kitchen will need to occupy an area of the room near to windows or bi-folding or sliding doors. You may prefer to create immediate views from the dining and seating areas instead, though – in which case the kitchen can be located further back.

The Perfect Open Plan Kitchen

Apparently, 'broken-plan' living is the new 'open-plan' living. It's about creating distinct zones within an open-plan layout with different floor finishes, split-level flooring and partitions, such as half-walls, bookcases, glazed doors or screens.

What's the benefit of broken-plan kitchen, diners and living spaces? Visually, you can keep a spacious, bright, sociable feel for your room, but also create a definite impression of separation between the various zones.

From a practical point of view, it means that a messy kitchen can be quickly screened from a dining area; or a noisy kitchen diner can be separated from the lounging space.

Kitchen Layout Inspiration

Once you know in which zone of an open-plan area the kitchen is to be located, it’s time to plan the kitchen itself. For this, your kitchen designer or architect can make scale drawings, or you can create your own using graph paper.

A scale drawing can help you focus on what the space offers in terms of walls against which you can position base and wall units and appliances. You can note the position of windows and any external doors that lead from the kitchen zone, too.

This layout can work effectively in an open-plan space, maximizing use of an exterior wall for the sink, base and wall units and appliances.

How To Design An Open Kitchen

Linear layouts are often teamed with a kitchen island directly opposite. This can visually and physically mark off the kitchen zone from the rest of the room and helps keep the work area safely apart.

An island can incorporate a breakfast bar, leaving kids or guests in contact with the cook, but away from preparation and cooking space. Plan in space on the dining side for kitchen island seating to be pulled in and out.

In a small open-plan kitchen layout, the dining table could be positioned opposite the linear run of units to perform the same separation function. Get a better idea of what's possible with our beautiful small kitchen ideas guide.

Before & After: Open Concept Kitchen And Living Room

Alternatively, consider incorporating a peninsula to create a more closed-in preparation area. Find out more about galley kitchen ideas in our guide.

Using the corner of an open-plan floorplan can maximize space as well kitchen storage potential. L-shapes can also be combined with an island.

Be prepared to tell your designer or architect your ideas, but take their advice on combining the kitchen layout with the rest of the zones – and on how the preparation and cooking spaces, storage and sink are positioned within the kitchen.

What You Need In Your Open Kitchen

Put together a list of all the must-have elements of the new kitchen so nothing gets missed from the design. Now’s the time to check that all that’s required will fit