Even those people who don’t like cooking like eating tasty and delicious and that means we all deserve a nice kitchen, regardless of our culinary skills. However, not all kitchens are the same, and the majority of people are looking for practicality as much as ingenuity. That’s why they insist on connecting their cooking and dining areas, creating an amazing open-plan area every member of their family – not to mention their guests – is going to love. If you too want to design such an area, here are a few ideas that might help you.
Connecting kitchen island
Everyone loves having a kitchen island and this is probably one of the most practical and functional parts of every modern kitchen. This is where you can prepare and serve your food, as well as use that extra space for storing your pots and pans. But, when you’re creating an open-plan area, such an island can serve another purpose and connect your kitchen to the dining room.
Placing a kitchen island right between these two areas will help you utilize every inch of space it has, and you’ll be able to approach it from both sides. The side closer to your kitchen can be used for preparing the food, and you can equip the other side with some bar stools, connect it to a table and use it for eating. This is particularly useful if you have lots of people over and the dining room can’t accommodate all of them.
Unifying colour scheme
If you really want to connect your kitchen and dining room into a single unit, you need to pay attention to the colour scheme as well. This is the easiest yet most effective way to create a huge open-plan space and blend everything together, and the best thing about it is that you can do all the work yourself.
Even though most people don’t like painting, applying a new coat of paint on your walls is actually more than they can imagine – all you need is a few hours of free time, a bucket of paint and a few brushes. You can even invite a couple of friends over and turn this project into a fun time you can enjoy with your buddies.
Fix the floors
Most kitchens are equipped with ceramic tiles and the dining rooms with hardwood flooring, and this could be quite a problem when trying to mix these two into one distinct space. One of the ways to do that is by installing brand new floors in the entire open-space area and opt for materials that will work well in the kitchen and the dining room at the same time.
Cork, bamboo, and vinyl are among the most practical and easy-to-maintain materials for your floors, so take them into consideration first. Don’t forget to add some rugs, though, especially if you prefer walking barefoot. A visually appealing modern rug can also add some charm to your new cooking and dining space, so be sure to find one that matches your colour scheme and works for you the most.
Using the same materials
Both your kitchen and your dining room feature tons of different surfaces – from your countertops and your cabinets to your cupboards to your dining room table – and using the same material is another way to put these two areas together. Though most people prefer quartz and marble for their kitchen countertops, these materials can turn out to be too different from the rest of your new kitchen/dining room area, so going in another direction might be a better idea.
Using wood, for instance, could be a good solution – not only do wooden countertops look amazing and unusual, but wooden cabinets are what most people are already using. The same goes for your dining room furniture, i.e. your table and your cabinets, so using this material is probably the easiest way to solve all your problems.
Turning your kitchen and dining room into one open-plan area could seem like the hardest thing in the world, but if you know what you’re trying to achieve and aren’t afraid of experimenting, you could easily create a cosy, inviting and welcoming space everyone in your family is going to love.
