Open plan home layouts are currently very popular, kitchen-diners in particular. Historically, kitchens were as removed as possible from dining areas, but this trend died along with the idea that you should have servants to do the cooking. Now we want living spaces where we can cook and socialise with friends and family. And this is pretty understandable \u2013 no one likes being confined to the kitchen while the people they love enjoy spending time together in another room.<\/p>\n
No day highlights this trend like Pancake Day. If you want your pancakes hot and fresh, it\u2019s best to cook and eat them straight away. But as pancakes can\u2019t really be bulk-cooked, it\u2019s likely that the cook will end up churning out pancake after pancake, while everyone else enjoys eating them. If you\u2019re all in the same room this isn\u2019t so bad, but if the cook ends up in the kitchen on their own it\u2019s not much fun.<\/p>\n
If you\u2019re unhappy with your kitchen and want to make it a more sociable area then we\u2019re here to help. Pancake Day has inspired us to come up with 6 ways you can make your kitchen the ideal social space.<\/p>\n
<\/a><\/p>\n Do you have seating space in your kitchen that no one wants to use? It might be that it\u2019s just not very inviting. Kitchen seating is often made of metal, wood and plastic, which tend to be very practical but not particularly comfortable. By all means, still go for hard materials. But see if you can find seating with built-in cushioning. Or if you don\u2019t want to invest in new furniture, have a look for tie-on cushions for your kitchen chairs, stool or benches. These will keep your kitchen chairs practical and make them comfier.<\/p>\n <\/a><\/p>\n Convinced that your kitchen is just too small to be a sociable space? Then have you thought about having a shuffle around? One thing you could do is relocate your white goods. If you have a fridge, freezer, washing machine or dryer in your kitchen, think about whether you have somewhere else you could put them. Maybe your washing machine could go in your garage or you could turn a cupboard into a pantry with a fridge? This would free up some space in your kitchen.<\/p>\n You could also move around your worktops. Have you got a long, thin kitchen? If you do, you could move all your kitchen units to one side to make space for a long, thin dining table on the other side. Lots of people think that square kitchens are the way forward but there\u2019s a lot you can do with a long, thin room too.<\/p>\n <\/a><\/p>\n If you don\u2019t have room for a dining table in your kitchen, have you thought about making a breakfast bar? This can be a great socialising space for coffee time or pre-dinner drinks. It can even be a dining space if there aren\u2019t many of you. You can set up independent breakfast bars or add them to the end of island or peninsular units. They\u2019re great pragmatic use of space when you haven\u2019t got much to spare.<\/p>\n <\/a><\/p>\n Another great way to make your kitchen more sociable is to use flexible furniture. You may not have space for a full-length dining table when you\u2019re loading the dishwasher and are in and out of the fridge, but what about when dinner\u2019s ready? Get an extendable table that\u2019s small enough for your kitchen while you\u2019re cooking but will pull out to accommodate all of your guests when it\u2019s time to eat. You\u2019ll have more mingling space for your visitors when they\u2019re relaxing with a drink and still be able to fit a table in when you need it.<\/p>\n2. Do some reorganising<\/h4>\n
3. Create a breakfast bar<\/h4>\n
4. Use flexible furniture<\/h4>\n
5. Let the light in<\/h4>\n