Kitchen diners fit in perfectly with modern, hybrid lifestyles, creating a space for everything from food preparation and keeping an eye on the kids to entertaining and office work. Here’s how to create the perfect space with open plan kitchen diner ideas from our London-based design and build company.
How to Create a Stylish Kitchen Diner
Kitchen diners are a part of both large and small homes due to their flexible functionality and – when done right – their eye-catching style.
When designing a kitchen diner, it’s important to create a balance between functionality and aesthetics. Whether for a large or small space, kitchen diners are all about the flow of traffic in the kitchen space and through to the rest of the house. You don’t want people getting in each other’s way while the multifunction space is being used. Because of this, what you build and what you put in the space has to match how you want to use it. And this can be a lot more challenging than it appears.
How do You Make the Best of a Small Kitchen Diner?
Let’s start with the uniquely city-life challenge of a small kitchen diner. While the multi-purpose function of the space means you’re getting the most use out of every square metre, there are challenges to the layout in terms of traffic flow. Here’s what to do:
The floorplan – Map out your floorplan and start playing around with it. This is best done in 3D, as the height and wall space matter just as much as the floorspace. With a good floorplan, you can use every inch of space for its best purpose.
The essentials – What are your must-haves and nice-to-haves? A list of priorities focussed on what you want to use the space for will help focus your design and trim away unnecessary features.
The Best Design Ideas for Small Kitchen Diners
Some great ideas to consider while you plan your new space include:
Ceiling height storage creates volume – Pushing your cabinets and shelving all the way to ceiling height isn’t just a fantastic way to maximise storage, it also tricks the eye. When our gaze is pulled upwards, rooms feel more spacious. It’s the same effect as when you have floor-to-ceiling curtains. You can see the impact of this in this East Dulwich kitchen diner.
Create a centrepiece – Small kitchen diners should have a statement piece that grabs attention and sets the style of the space. Whether it’s a light fitting, wallpaper, or bold material, you can let your creativity loose. We love how this has been achieved in this Tooting home, where the luxury marble kitchen island creates an elegant focal point.
Add a kitchen island – Building on the above point, a kitchen island is not just for big homes. When they are professionally custom designed, they are ideal for creating zones for traffic flow and space use without taking up too much room. Some great options include dining kitchen islands like this home in Tooting Bec, which can house a sink, stove, or wine fridge, or even simply add that much-needed extra storage space.
Go big on luxury – Small spaces need less material, putting luxury items within reach. Look for somewhere you want to splash out – designer taps, hand painted wallpaper, solid hardwood, marble, hot and sparkling water taps, or even slimline appliances.
Kitchen Diner Extension Ideas
Of course, you can always splash out with a kitchen extension. A full kitchen renovation adds lots of valuable and functional space to your property – and it usually uses up space you aren’t really using anyway.
A side return extension like the one in this East Dulwich home used a space that’s traditionally ignored or used for storing bins and added much-needed width to a narrow terrace home.
A rear kitchen extension pushes your home out into the garden, creating indoor-outdoor living spaces as well as valuable space to add to the kitchen or living areas, like in this Richmond home.
The largest and most expensive – but most rewarding – option is to combine a side and rear extension. These wraparound extensions give you the best of both the options mentioned above and can completely transform your home. That’s exactly what happened in this Crouch End home, creating a 9m full depth and 5m full width space to house a spacious kitchen diner and play area.
Kitchen Diner Layout Ideas
When planning your layout, function is far more important than style. We suggest that you consider:
Natural light – Don’t block any points of natural lighting unless you are compensating for it elsewhere. For example, you may need a solid length of wall, but you’ll then add large skylights and glass sliding doors, like in this Tooting Bec home.
Crowding – Minimalism can incorporate almost any other style, and with an open plan kitchen dining space, less really is more. Rather than putting in as many cupboards as possible, add a kitchen island and leave the walls as an eye-catching, spaciously open area, like in this Clapham home.
Layer your lighting – Kitchens need ambient (general) lighting, task lighting, and aesthetic lighting. These layers work together and let you mix and match to fit what you’re doing – task lighting for food prep and cooking, ambient lighting for dull days, and aesthetic lighting for dining and entertaining. You can see the layers at work in this Muswell Hill home.
Traffic flow – This is how people will move through the space. You don’t want to be constantly dodging around furniture and people sitting, so make sure you have a wide, clear path between each zone and through to entryways. Don’t block doorways, access to outside, or access to your main kitchen appliances (stove, oven, sink, and fridge).
Create the Exceptional with London Design and Build Specialists
Plus Rooms is a full-service provider for all types of home extensions in the greater London area, including loft, kitchen, and kitchen diner extensions. We’ll work with you through the entire process, from costing your renovation to designing your extension to managing planning permission, building the project, and ensuring it is completed to your satisfaction. Please visit our website to see more of our home extensions, to be inspired by our kitchen diner design ideas and client reviews, and contact us to start your journey towards the exceptional home you deserve.
