Are you ready for some crazy talk? I think you are going to start seeing more kitchen tables...in the kitchen. Told you, crazy.
I'm not fool enough to think the ubiquitous island will disappear entirely from kitchen design, but I am seeing more and more people make the brave decision to ditch the island and go for a good old kitchen table. And bravo to them. I would much rather sit at a kitchen table and
drink chat with friends than stand around an island. Nothing is more welcoming than a comfy seat and a well worn wooden table.
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| Cottage Living |
What do you think? Are you an island fan? Or a table lover?
I've seen a lot of this lately too and absolutely love it!
ReplyDeleteI love the look! I got hand out the multiple snacks my kids demand while waiting for dinner a lot easier!
ReplyDeleteLOVE....LOVE that look so damn much. Where is my saw...I am cutting off my island today!
ReplyDeleteI would take either but the table is preferred. I live in a big house with a ridiculously small and disfunctional kitchen.
ReplyDeletei love them all! and thank you so much for being on my blog friday and so sorry again about the power situation. that was less than fun.
ReplyDeleteI love a table in the kitchen. I also love a sofa and fireplace. The table is warm and inviting. Functional too!
ReplyDeleteSharon
Great inspiration pictures! One of my biggest pet peeves about our kitchen is that there's no space for seating. In Nova Scotia, everyone tends to congregate in the kitchen, and I hate that our guests have to stand!
ReplyDeleteI love the idea of a kitchen table in the kitchen instead of an island! It always reminds me of country cooking at my grandmas house and eating and laughing! Love the pics!
ReplyDeleteI have one of these setups right now in my ugly kitchen. Doesn't work for me but neither does the blue flowered wallpaper border that my kitchen so stylishly sports :) That white kitchen with the blue chairs might be enough to change my thoughts! I'll keep this in mind for my big kitchen reno!
ReplyDeleteso true! it would be more conducive to conversation. After eating on the island in high chairs for the last 7 years it is so nice to eat at regular height in a way that we can actually see each other and not in a straight line....it makes the biggest difference in the world. My table is not free standing like these...it's built into the counter.....but I love the change in lifestyle. These are beautiful images.
ReplyDeletewell, we agree again! and you've used some of my all time fave eat-in kitchen pics. we squeezed a little table into our teeny kitchen a while ago and have never regretted it. one day when i get to decorate with a sledge hammer we're gonna have our big old dining table take centre stage in the kitchen. it reminds me of european country houses...
ReplyDeleteOkay I'm on the fence. I grew up in a house with a table not an island. Almost all of our neighbors have our same kitchen layout and they all have tables. I'm not sure I love it. It feels really personal to sit down. I prefer to just hop on a stool. Feels less intimate. Am I a weirdo? I loved that our kitchen came with a counter height island and was really disappointed when the owners ripped it out from under us. Love the look in these pictures though
ReplyDeleteI love the eat in kitchen...wish we had one big enough to do this.
ReplyDeleteIn the house I grew up in everyone always hung out around the kitchen table. My mom & her friends with their tea, teenagers eating, whatever. We truly spent most of our time at home in the kitchen. I love the idea of the table in the kitchen too. However I would also like an island that people can sit at and chat with me while I cook. I like that too. Can I have both?????
ReplyDeleteGood Monday morning to you, Elizabeth!
ReplyDeleteThe first picture, the Steven gamble wonderful benches and table just made my heart swoon!
I'd had to put a 3" thick cushion on it for my bottom, and then I'd be in heaven in that kitchen:)
p.s. - I love the eating in the kitchen concept - i think it will become the new architectural feature, just like in many places the great room replaced the separate living room and family room in the last decade or so.
ReplyDeleteI love both- islands and tables. I guess for me it would just depend on the layout of the kitchen. I love how all these photos you included show that this look works in every style of kitchen.
ReplyDeleteBoth really, though I have an island, I love the feel of sitting down in the kitchen and doing the chopping on a table while sitting down.
ReplyDeleteJust perfectly homey. This is what people did before the island was invented, right? A simple homey table. In my perfect world, I'd somehow try to have both -- because i love the idea of facing my family (instead of away from them) while cooking. On the other hand I also love the idea of an eat in kitchen, where again, we face our families while eating. One of my favorite examples of the meld is a slab of stone set up on wood blocks at counter height at the end of a long farmhouse table. http://www.housebeautiful.com/kitchens/dream/modern-farmhouse-kitchen-decorating-ideas-0710#slide-1
ReplyDeleteThis might be crazy on my part, but it feels so much more Downton Abbey to have a table in the kitchen. Maybe not for every house, but I like it!
ReplyDeleteI totally love this. I think it's actually way more practical and flexible than an island (minus the lost storage space I suppose). It adds some warmth to a usually fairly sterile space, doubles as a prep surface, and keeps the dining room separate for more formal meals. We have a kitchen table in my parent's kitchen, and I wouldn't want it any other way!
ReplyDeleteAll of the idea's I've had for re-doing my kitchen have included a table, no island. Glad to see that everyone is finally on board with me! Tables rock! Victoria
ReplyDeleteLove love love a table in the kitchen and makes me think of our summers in France and my ex-boyfriend's grandmother's French country kitchen. It's something so chic and homey at the same time. The best of two worlds.
ReplyDeleteA kitchen table is so sociable and there are some great ideas here.
ReplyDeleteYup.love.it
ReplyDeleteLove these inspiration pictures and just realized I guess I love a table as much as an island!...who knew?? Gorgeous!
ReplyDeleteI love the look, the history and the idea of the table in the kitchen. The reality for me is that unless the kitchen is a galley or a long L, the table is always in the way from from one point to another. I actually prefer an island without seating space around it for the working part of the kitchen with plenty of seating options out of the main kitchen but adjacent to it: butt zones out of the work zone!
ReplyDeleteI love this idea. Depending on how our future kitchen is laid out I seriously would put our dining table in the middle. I feel like being in the kitchen promotes conversation and together-ness.
ReplyDeletePretty much all Swedish homes (where I'm from) have a table in the kitchen. It was originally because the kitchen was the warmest room in the house during cold winters. But it's just as fitting for the modern lifestyle since no matter where you put a dining table, people will still congregate in the kitchen!
ReplyDeleteI would say I thought I was an island fan until that last picture. I could go either way.
ReplyDeleteI vote for both. Since I've had an island I can't imagine not having one, but I love the idea of a table as well. Ugh! Both.
ReplyDeleteI love this! I think in the right space it's perfect and inviting.
ReplyDeleteI believe we may have been separated at birth my friend!! I blogged about this very thing a little while ago. I absolutely LOVE it. My grandmas house has a table in the middle of her tiny kitchen and it always just felt right. Im torn though. Now im obsessed with banquettes.
ReplyDeletehttp://www.ahomefullofcolor.com/2013/05/design-obsession-table-in-center.html
I live in a small open floor plan house with no formal dinning room so we have our table in the kitchen and when we host lots of guests we can add leaves and open it up pretty big. I love it. The kitchen is the center of our home much the same way my grandparents had their home.
ReplyDeleteI love the table in the kitchen idea! Every photo is just a space I'd want to hang out in for hours and I think that's the point isn't it!! Love!!
ReplyDeleteI've always been a fan of this! We actually have both and whenever we have parties, people hang at the bar/island and table.
ReplyDeleteElizabeth, we have a kitchen table in the kitchen!!
ReplyDeleteCan the table's height extend with the push of a button when I want to use it as work space? If so, I'm in : )
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ReplyDeleteI have noticed the resurgence of tables in the kitchen as well. They sure do make a kitchen look cozy and inviting. My grandmother had a table in her kitchen and we spent plenty of time sitting around it and chatting. I think that I am team island, though. I appreciate the work space at a more usable height.
ReplyDeleteMelissa@TheChicDream
I'm with you, I absolutely love this look! I've also seen them where they mix island/table so it still serves some function in the kitchen! Adore all of your inspiration pictures too!
ReplyDeleteI love a kitchen table and can't wait to rip out the bar area that keeps the table area feeling cramped. Great images that you picked--wishing I had a wood table now instead of my saarinen.
ReplyDeletexo Mary Jo
http://magicalmined.blogspot.com
I still love a good island but this concept is so great too! I think it's a great use of space and looks pretty too, love the images you chose!
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