A Kitchen diner is a great option as the way people tend to live now means that they generally don't sit down for formal dinners often so a separate dining room becomes a wasted space.

Personally I would leave the living room as a separate room as sometimes it's nice to be able to close yourself off for example if one member of the family wants to watch a film and others want to talk. You could still make the kitchen/diner multi-functional with an office space in one of the alcoves and a smaller sofa if you re-worked the kitchen.

A builder or engineer will be able to tell you if a steel is needed to knock the wall down.

It might be worth asking an estate agent what would add more value to your property- a utility space and storage or a functional garage. Although if this is your family home and you plan to stay for some time then it's not always about the property value but what works best for your family.

Good luck with your project, it sounds exciting and will definitely be a better use of space.

The idea of an open plan home is appealing to most people I think but as the children get older you may be grateful of a separate space. Also worth considering that with a totally open plan downstairs the noise will travel and so will kitchen smells. Fine in a dining room but I notice you have no door in your new plans between the hallway and kitchen and unless you invest in a high quality extractor fan you may find your bedrooms take on the smell of last nights dinner.

Knocking the kitchen and dining room through will definitely give you a lot more use of your space. You will probably find that your workable kitchen area doesn't need to be too large as it will feel more open and then that would make more use of your dining room space.

If your garage isn't functional then you should definitely turn it in to a utility/storage space. You will wonder how you ever lived without the utility room once you have it in place. We have seen a lot of garages split this way and it works brilliantly.

We hope you add some photos of your finished project- it sounds great.

Hi. Do you have a plan with dimensions on otherwise it's a guesstimate based on door, unit sizes etc? My first thought is there isn't enough prep space in the kitchen if you're having stools and also it doesn't look as if you've left enough space round the island and the WC doesn't seem big enough but measurements would be good. Is the dining room fire being taken out?

It would be my recommendation to knock kitchen + dining into one space and remove as many of the internal walls as possible.

I would also look into creating more of a glazed area / doors to kitchen side by making one big opening!

For inspiration check out a similar project of mine entitled @Windsor Clive Drive@

I have taken some pictures of the rooms as they are now (excuse the mess) as this might give some more perspective.

I’m struggling to find a way to have a kitchen/island (really would like an island to have useable counterspace), generous dining table (seating for at least 6 people) and a sitting area in the same room if we don’t open up the wall between the current front and back living rooms. Would it make more sense to have part of the garage incorporated into the kitchen? There is a slight difference in floor level though between the garage and kitchen (Step down into the garage). Or block up the current kitchen door and have the access to a dining/kitchen through the current back living room space and then somehow fit in a dining table and seating area?

Also, the wall between the kitchen and current back living room (so the kitchen/diner to be) is a stud wall so should be fairly easy to remove, whereas the room between the front and back living room would need a steel.

Take a look at our website! http://bravermankitchens.co.uk/our-projects/