Kitchen island with sliding door/partition to living/dining area - inspirations

Hello everyone,

we have finally found a nice plot of land (421 sqm) and are now starting to think about the layout and are looking for inspiration so that we can later tell the architect what we want and also question his designs more critically. The floor area will probably be 9 (width) x 10m (depth), 2 stories as a city villa. It cannot be wider due to the building window.

The kitchen with living area is very important to us and I also need inspiration for that. My wish: a kitchen island parallel to the terrace with a view of the garden and right next to it the dining area (with a 120x260cm solid wooden table). Furthermore, the ground floor should include a small guest WC with shower and a work/guest room.

Now we are looking for possible solutions on how to temporarily separate the kitchen and living/dining area (only for intensive cooking). How have you solved this in your homes? Or do you have it completely open? How is it with smell and noise when cooking in the living area? Feel free to share your floor plans or photos with me so we can get an impression and find possible solutions. Searching the internet hasn’t brought us very far yet.

Best regards, xstelas

Now we are looking for possible solutions on how to temporarily separate the kitchen and living/dining area (only for intensive cooking).

That’s what the architect is paid for ;). Regardless, I wouldn’t separate the kitchen, because what does

intensive cooking

mean?

How is it with smell and noise when cooking in the living area?

Ever heard of a range hood? Noise can’t be avoided. But since you don’t have much space on the ground floor anyway (9x11 with 40cm exterior walls = 91 sqm minus interior walls = 85 sqm minus hallway = 79 sqm minus utility room = 69 sqm minus guest WC with shower = 60 sqm minus guest room = 48 sqm), your planning should somehow be different. It will be totally cramped if you want the huge table and also a kitchen island.

By intensive cooking I mean frying meat and fish while the extractor hood is running at full power. Does this not disturb you/your partner when you are watching TV in the living room at the same time or have guests? I still find it relatively difficult to judge. Thank you for the hint regarding the floor area and the rough calculation. At least the utility room would be located on the upper floor.

We have an open kitchen and will have an open kitchen again, as my original wish for a kitchen-living room could not be realized.
In our house, meat is rarely fried, which would bother me quite a bit as a vegetarian with an open kitchen. Without it, the smell is kept within limits with a proper (!) extractor hood. And elaborate cooking is usually done together.

On my negative list is that my husband likes to rummage around in the kitchen in the evening when I want to read quietly, or that we always have all the dishes in front of us that are not done promptly. That can be annoying sometimes, but in the house I can go to the reading room.
It is also more difficult to keep the child "in check" in the open space :-D
But at least everyone is always together, especially when we have guests.

By intensive cooking I mean frying meat and fish while the extractor hood is running at full power. Does this not bother you/your partner if you are watching TV in the living room at the same time or have guests? I still find it quite difficult to judge.

Smell is removed very well with a good extractor hood (if a ventilation system is installed, it can also be set to intensive mode). And no, it hasn’t bothered anyone so far (there were other reasons for the divorce...). That’s just life – personally, I find it much more relaxed with guests than constantly running into a separate kitchen because you want to chat briefly or the cook wants to join the guests for a moment. I know both, and in the new house everything will be completely open again.

This is how it looked open in the last house:

We had a similar question as the OP. In a show house of a well-known provider in Bad Fallingbostel, you can see a solution with glass sliding doors. It's rather rare, but we found it a nice, modern solution.

Currently, we have omitted the separation with glass sliding doors for now.

Cooking smells are not so disturbing thanks to the downdraft extractor, and it also looks nice when open. Maybe we will implement it later (glass doors about 3-4k). Structurally, we have planned for it.

And no, 9x11 is not too small. You just have to plan properly.