We are at the stage of brainstorming to design a new house. We are considering combining our kitchen and dining room by having a full dining room table in the kitchen (where an island might otherwise be). We eat a family meal at least once a day. I do not want to be facing the wall to do all my prep work in the kitchen, but I also do not want to work on a low surface. I also detest eating at a counter or bar height table, so that's out of the question. We are considering the possibility of integrating an electric lift kit into a table to have the best of both worlds (prep when I want it, dining room table way meal time). Is this a terrible idea (the worst of both worlds?!) My other thought is to have an easily detachable raised work surface (size of a large cutting board) on the dining room table. Any experience or thoughts would be appreciated!