WWYD? Renovations...

We have a split level home. When you walk in the front door there is a tiny hallway and the very small kitchen straight ahead. To the left is a small living room and dining room. There is a wall between the kitchen and dining room. It's very closed off. If you go down the stairs to the right by the kitchen, we have a den. We are going to be renovating the kitchen and have a couple of options:

Option #1: Remove the wall between the kitchen and dining room and install an island there instead. We would essentially keep the same kitchen footprint, just open it up.

Option #2: Extend the kitchen into the dining room area making the whole back of the house a large kitchen. We would then make the living room area into a large formal dining room and install an island separating the two.

I would LOVE a big kitchen but my concern is about losing the living room area on the main floor. Our den would become our living room area. As of now, we barely use the den and spend all of our time on the main floor. When we host big parties, which we do about 3-4 times a year, everyone hangs out on the main floor even though they could have more room if they go into the den. WWYD?

Also, if anyone has pics of their split kitchens could you please post them? TIA!

Message edited 5/29/2016 9:16:44 AM.

Re: WWYD? Renovations...

Is this your twenty year to forever home or is this your five to ten year home? If it is a forever type home I would do the renovations that really suit your families need, but if it is a shorter time frame home, then I would only open up the wall. How many people do you entrain at once? How big will the different rooms become? If you just have a living room, then how many people will it comfortably seat? By opening up the kitchen would you need two dining areas? A friend of mine did away entirely with her dining room when she opened her kitchen. She made a semi formal dining room with built in bench upholstered seats against the wall with a huge farmhouse table. She seats twelve people in her kitchen. She then kept the living room and the den. She did not do an island.

Message edited 5/29/2016 9:40:27 AM.

Re: WWYD? Renovations...

I live in Queens so this concept of 2 living rooms or a living room and a separate den area is completely foreign to me.. I have one living room. Lol.

I love splits. We almost bought one in Oyster Bay but DH couldn't commit to Long Island. when we were looking I was like what am I going to do with 2 living room areas? I would've made the kitchen larger.

Anyhow, I would make it the large kitchen/great room. Most people hang out in the kitchen anyway and it sounds like that's what you really want.

Re: WWYD? Renovations...

If I'm reading the OP correctly, your main floor wouldn't have a living room; the living room would be the next level down.

I wouldn't choose that option. Our house was set up like that for awhile, and it was annoying to me. Guests would also never go down the stairs to the living room; they would just sit in the kitchen or dining room. Now, we changed the original living room into a den and have a living room on the first floor.

Our house is not a split though...there are more stairs between the first and downstairs floor than in a split, so that might make a difference.

Re: WWYD? Renovations...

We have a similar split house and faced the same exact decision as you last year. We had a tiny kitchen and a very tight dining room. We ultimately decided we were going to stay here for at least another 5 years, probably more, so we both took down the wall dividing kitchen/dining room AND expanded that part of the house back to make the kitchen bigger. It cost a ton but totally worth it. The only difference I think is that we still have the same size living room - we didn't need to touch that.

There are many people on my block (mostly splits) that did not expand - they just removed the wall between the 2 rooms and it still looks amazing - MUCH more functional.

WWYD? Renovations...

I have a split- we plan to take down that wall too and push our kitchen forward. Right now we are using the living room as the dining room only because we couldn't fit our table in the kitchen and then the down stairs is our main hang out. We also plan to push the front wall in the kitchen forward since we have a larger front yard. I can't wait to do it- right now when we have parties it is a bit crowded and split up but we make it work. I love my house. We plan to do the work in about 5-7 years after we save up for it

Message edited 5/29/2016 12:10:07 PM.

WWYD? Renovations...

I wouldn't move the LR to the den or atleast I would have a banquet or some sort of gathering area in the DR. Having a smaller kitchen is not necessarily a limitation. It depends on how the kitchen is laid out. I have a small 11x8 kitchen but it extrmely efficient. I have a friend who was in the exact same layout house. She chose to extend the back of the kitchen and DR area and moved the kitchen there. Is that an option for u?

Re: WWYD? Renovations...

WWYD? Renovations...

We have a split and plan on breaking down the wall and putting an island there. I had a large kitchen in a previous house and to be honest, the layout was difficult. The sink and stove were so far apart. The island can provide great prep space, additional storage, and a center for entertaining

WWYD? Renovations...

We have a split but a different layout than yours. In your case, I'd open the wall but leave the footprint the same.

Re: WWYD? Renovations...

We have what sounds like the same house as you. Opening the back of the house is not an option for us. We have half of the wall b/w the kitchen and dining room removed and it's functional for us. I don't love the small kitchen, but we plan to sell in a few years so we're making due for now. When we bought the house a lot of contractors suggested your Option 2, but I don't like the idea of walking into a dining room/kitchen without any living room on the main floor. A lot of people in our situation also just add built in cabinets to the dining room, but I don't like that look. We bought a serving unit and hutch and use those in the LR/DR for extra storage. A more functional kitchen is high on my list of priorities in a new house.

Message edited 5/31/2016 1:41:39 PM.

WWYD? Renovations...

I would do the first option. I think it's nicer to have the dining room towards the back of the house. Not sure I would like it if the dining room was the front room when you walk in

WWYD? Renovations...

People always hang around the kitchen. Knock down the wall and put in island.

Re: WWYD? Renovations...

I would never take away a living room, for a formal dining room - You don't NEED a formal dining room .......but where does your family, your informal company, etc go on an every day or every weekend basis without a living area on the main floor?

Re: WWYD? Renovations...

I think you should pick option 1 and not loose space in your living room.

We have a similar split house and faced the same exact decision as you last year. Our kitchen was not functional. We decided to take down the wall dividing kitchen/dining room, as well as take back the wall that separates our living room at the back of the house. However we did change the location of all the appliances in the kitchen. Our cooktop is where our sink used to be, the sink is where the fridge was, double wall oven is where pantry was, but we downsized the pantry is, see pics below.


I love the way it came out and its also MUCH more functional.

If you have any questions PM me.

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Message edited 6/1/2016 2:42:34 PM.

Re: WWYD? Renovations...

We have since added a backsplash recently, but i haven't taken pics of it yet.

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Message edited 6/1/2016 2:11:27 PM.

Re: WWYD? Renovations...

Same layout here, we are thinking of doing a half wall with counter top an 2 stools. I want to keep the formal dining in case we sell down the line

Message edited 6/3/2016 1:33:14 PM.