Hello from South Africa. My husband and I have just bought a 100+ year old house in Johannesburg. It has a very choppy floor plan from multiple renovations and additions. My main problem is the dining room: 1) it is too far from the kitchen and 2) it is located in the centre of the house, has no windows and tends to remain dark. We end up never using it.

In the summer we eat on the patio which is even further away from the kitchen and results in allot of back and forth when we have friends over. We plan to create a small dining nook for my husband and I for everyday eating in a corner of the kitchen and built a patio area in our backyard for outdoor dining. Fortunately you can eat outside eight months out of the year. However, we then have no dining room when we want to eat indoors with friends. Would appreciate any help you can offer. I've included our current floor plan, measurements are metric. Many thanks!