How do you use your kitchen?

My kitchen is a fairly average size for a modern built house, about 14ftx10ft long. It was totally refurbished and refitted at the end of last year, along with the utility room 7ftx9ft just off it, so its a 'pure kitchen' just used for food preparation and not laundry or such like activities. We dont have a table and chairs in there by choice, but we do have a full dining room adjacent, should we feel the need to use it. We could fit a small table into our kitchen if needsbe, and did have one in there prior to the refit, but my youngest daughter scrounged it for her home, and we never bothered replacing it. We are not overlooked, and have a nice view over our rear garden and Patio, which faces east, so catches the morning sun when its out, which is nice.

Always remember seeing a comment years ago from a woman when asked about her dream kitchen...

My dream kitchen is one I’m not in!

Ours is about 14 foot square, and I consider that a good size! We don’t have a dining room and the washer, drier, hostess trolley (oh yes ) and chest freezer are elsewhere, so it’s for cooking and eating in only, and we can squash in all our close family of 14 at a very tight pinch when they come for a meal. It’s a bright traditional kitchen with a high ceiling and plenty of storage and seating and we like it, but neither DH or I care for people hanging about when we’re cooking, so even when we have friends round we’re not in it that much. It was used a lot more when the children were young and painting, doing homework etc at the kitchen table.

ours is the full width of the house across the back,so its 33 feet long and 12 and a 1/2 feet wide.Theres a seperate utility off it with sink freezer and washing washing machine and dryer and cupboards for cat stuff .We have an island and a big dining table in ours and usedto have sofas at the end but they went to make room for OH's whiskey/whisky collection.The kitchen is my domain,I cant abide anyone hanging about while I cook and I like washing up by myself too .sometimes I have music while I work most times I dot.I'm not a gadget person I have a blender and a good set of knives and I manage to provide all the food the family needed for the pa st 45 years ..I do have an awful lot of kitchen "stuff" though ,baking tins in all shapes and sizes,serving dishes ,glasses and more pots and pans than many restaurants .I really must clear a lot SOMEof them out soon.

our kitchen is huge- and old fashioned, with a large utility off. Can't afford to have it redone - but I don't care. It has double doors to the garden and south facing, and it is a living kitchen - big oak table that can be extended to sit about 12. I love a live-in kitchen and would never have an island.

I really appreciate having a kitchen with room for a dining table and chairs (at last - this is the first house where I've had that).

I'd never have an island instead of a dining table. It's great being able to just sit down with a coffee and prepare dinner or do some baking.. I wouldn't feel safe perched on a bar stool.

People tend to settle here for a chat, so I don't now feel 'excluded' in the kitchen at family gatherings (as I used to).

Our kitchen is on the ground floor, where else would it be I suppose?? it's just that our living room is directly above it on the first floor, which can be inconvenient at times, never again if we move, those rooms will both have to be adjacent and on the same floor, because I'm up and down stairs a lot when cooking, but as the saying goes "your stairs are your friend" although not always imo. Both rooms are at the back of our house and have direct views down to the River Thames where some neighbours have boats moored, sadly not us Our kitchen opens on to our garden (small) which has a back gate to the communal gardens beyond rolling down to the river. So it's where I cook, we eat there, stare at the river and what's going on at the water's edge which we can't really see at the moment because our view is obscured by a Horse Chestnut Tree which has all it's leaves right now being the height of summer. A shame because it's all going on in the summer, we have a rowing club on the other side of the river so on hot sunny days like yesterday, lots of noise with kids and dogs splashing around at waters edge, some in canoes and some even in the water! Often big boats going by. Our dining table is largely ignored in favour of the breakfast bar which has a good overhang. I perch there in the morning with my coffee and laptop, our grandchildren always made a beeline for the kitchen stools as soon as they could manage to clamber up on them and it's where they did and do all their drawing. Our kitchen certainly isn't huge but big enough and the hub of the house .

My kitchen is only 11` x8`, so just used for cooking. There are units down each long side, and a door at each end, one into the rear lobby and one into the living room. The fridge freezer is in the lobby, as no room in the kitchen, and the washing machine and tumbler are in the garage.

Grandmabatty, what you need is a Waspinator! I have one hanging above the door and it works very well.

At approx. 20ft. by 10ft. our kitchen is not up to congregating, so we have to fall back on lounge, dining room, conservatory or patio. Given the choice, I would opt for a solo congregation in the dining room, where the drink is kept, but basically we follow the sun.

Terribull my kitchen is both downstairs and upstairs! ?? My house is split level. The front door is on the same level as the kitchen, so the kitchen is on the ground floor, but we go downstairs from that floor to go to bed, so the kitchen is also upstairs! ?

My kitchen/family room is about 12 x 22ft plus a futility room of about 6 x 10ft, which leads to the garage. There’s a total of six windows so it’s very light. The kitchen end has units round four sides, with a gap at the door to the futility room and another space to the family room end. I have a table & chairs in the kitchen and can squeeze up to eight round it.

The family end has a sofa, chair & bean bags and a sideboard in it and it’s very cosy. It’s all cream Shaker style which I still love after 16 years! Everyone loves my kitchen and people always congregate in there, it’s a very sociable space. If I ever move, it’ll be hard to find a kitchen to match it.

SueDonim I think we all need a futility room, especially now

I love my 25x12 kitchen with units at one end, Dresser and old pine table and chairs at the other with my welsh terriers kitchen basket, a small Tv and also a night storage heater which is left on low most of the year so lovely and cosy. Though DH has always managed in any of our kitchens, to use some of the kitchen work tops to leave garage bits or mower bits on but I don't expect that to change any time soon!

I've recently bought a bungalow so was able to knock my kitchen & back bedroom into one and put French doors into garden. Just got kitchen fitted so now need to buy a dining set & a small sofa to put in it. I'm sure my sitting room will hardly be used cos when my friends call, we will end up sitting in kitchen having coffee.

My kitchen is 10ft by 6ft 10 ins. Units both sides and drop leaf table and two chairs at end of shorter run of units. It is a galley kitchen on a narrow boat.

I don't know how big mine is, but it's fairly large according to previous posts. It is L-shaped, with the dining/sitting area on one of the branches. there was a breakfast bar, but i converted the leg space to shelving. We sit in comfy little armchairs in the dining room as it has the bifold doors to the garden.
I use it for cooking as I love cooking and baking, but also use the work surfaces for dressmaking and crafting as it is the only big enough space in the house for such...
I don't have a futility room, but would love one!

Our kitchen is small. We do what we need to in there and thats it!!

My kitchen is 22x12 approx and has a breakfast bar with stools, used only for cooking and we eat there when there is just the two of us. No TV or radio not a place we encourage people to congregate.
When family visit we use the dining room and spread ourselves in the lounge and music room.

I have a C shaped kitchen/diner. The kitchen end is what it is, The dining end has a table and chairs and overlooks the garden through patio doors. It gets full sun most of the day and I never sit there as I find the chairs uncomfortable. We eat on lap trays in the lounge. I feel that my dining area is a waste of space and I cannot wait until the dining set is changed. Before I met my OH I had a small table and two chairs and used to sit there and watch the garden. I miss that.

All the houses I’ve lived in have had very different kitchens. I have a bungalow with a family room/kitchen at the moment so it’s largish - 24’ x 14’ - I dispensed with a dining table and had a large square Island with eight seats at it - two on each side so it’s great when the family are round - the kids sit at it to do all sorts, I can use it for prep or to lay up a buffet or we can eat at it. I’ve also got two comfy sofas in there with a lovely view of the garden and a tv. In the evening we have a small snug which we like to sit in as it’s a cosy space. One of my favourite kitchens was in a flat I had several years ago - it was very small but really well fitted and had big windows on two sides. I had a tiny square of floor left in the middle and could easily reach everything. I could never be happy in a dark property as I love the light.

I have a long galley kitchen and separate dining room. I have no objections when cooking if some one grabs a dining room chair and sits with me chatting, but kitchen mainly for cooking.

We moved to our current bungalow when our first grandchild arrived. We always wanted a large sociable kitchen, so had an extension put on the back. It’s 24’ x 24’, has bifold doors along one wall, which open up to our back garden. Its our kitchen come dinning/living room, everyone congregates in the kitchen and the grandkids live it because there’s room for them to play too. When we’re on our own we still spend most of the day in the kitchen and use the lounge only in the evenings.

Our kitchen is about 12 foot by 14 foot, it has a butchers block in the centre but no table or chairs, they are in the adjoining dining area. There is a window behind the stove that looks out into the garden but no windows near the sink.
No one congregates in our kitchen unless they are helping cook, we congregate out on the deck.
I personally try to do as little as possible in there as it is primarily my husbands domain

Granmaz we have done exactly the same as you. We have moved to a house with a lovely large family room 24 by 24 which incorporates the kitchen. There is a separate utility room for the laundry etc. We are very grateful for this lovely space. It has skylights at one end, which also leads out onto the garden. We live in here all day long, and only go into the lounge in the evening. We have chosen not to have a tv in the family room, which was a great decision.

I spent all my time in my dining/kitchen. Sewing,reading,hobbies. Looking out on the back garden then sitting outside for lunch. In normal times it's the hub of the house for friends and relatives. My lockdown hobby is making family tree albums to give to GC's. I hope they carry them on and enjoy doing it!