Help with kitchen and living room

last year

My four young kids and I just moved into a townhouse a few days ago and there doesn't look like there's room for a table in the kitchen. There's a passthrough (serving hatch) in the kitchen and I'm guessing the dining room is supposed to be on the other end of the living room. However, it's all carpeted and with 4 kids (4 months, 2 yrs, 7 yrs, 10 yrs) there's no way I'm putting a table there. As far as the kitchen, there's a coat closet that takes up almost all the space on the wall leading into the living room and the only other place to put a table is right next to the door but there's baseboard heating there. I just really need help figuring out where to place a table and furniture in the living room as well as styles/colors. The living room design is complicated because there's baseboard heating all along one wall and half of another wall. My concern about putting a sofa in the middle of the room is that it will drive me nuts by constantly moving backwards since there's no wall preventing that from happening. I would put it along the wall where there isn't baseboard heating, but where to put the TV and gaming console? I'd like to keep one side of the living room as a designated kids corner where I can keep all their books and toys. I could also use some advice about where to keep things in the kitchen cabinets so that it makes sense as far as functionality. Also, the color of the walls in the living room are the same as the kitchen and the carpet is like a charcoal gray. I really just want a comfortable environment for us since we are all healing after I was finally able to leave my abusive partner. Thank you!!

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Comments (7)

jck910
last year
Are you renting or did you buy this townhome? Wall color has to stay? Carpet has to stay?

Can you post another picture of the other 2 walls of the kitchen? What is the area with the door & stairs? it looks like flooring not carpet. Post a picture of the rest of that space, maybe a table could fit there

Take care of yourself and the kids. Good luck with the transition
HU-341769663
Original Author
last year
Hi, we are renting this place so the carpet and wall color has to stay unfortunately. The picture that shows the kitchen was taken with me standing at the stairs in the other photo. The kitchen floor is hard but I don't really see anywhere to put a table in there unless it's in the middle of the room and I'm not sure how that would work out without feeling super cramped. The picture with the coat closet double doors is opposite the cabinets in the kitchen leading into the living room and the picture of the double windows and pantry is in front of the stairs. That's the only wall space there is. Also have no idea what to do with that little cubby between the stairs and the coat closet. I just put my trash can there because I wasn't really sure what to do with that lol. Thanks for the help!
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dani_m08
last year
It would be very helpful if you would draw a quick sketch of your floor plan (scaled 1/4" = 1' - or use graph paper) - please include the dimensions of all walls/windows/doorways/etc.

It doesn't have to be pretty - just a simple drawing so that we can understand how everything is related.

I promise that it will be worth the time/effort to do - people will be able to fully understand your layout in order to provide you with a few options.

I am happy to know that you and your children have moved to a safe place - please continue to take care of yourself. I am sending good thoughts for you and your children.
HU-341769663
Original Author
last year
Sorry it's messy, I had a 2 year old on my back while drawing lol. I hope this helps a little more
Rho Dodendron
last year
Can you afford to purchase a large washable, or inexpensive-enough-to-get-rid-of in a few years--RUG to put over the carpet and under the eating space?
HU-341769663
Original Author
last year
The issue with buying a washable rug is that our rental doesn't have washer or dryer hookups so I would have to transport it somewhere to wash it and it seems like they would take a long time to dry. I do have a carpet cleaner but I don't know how well that would work out or if it would be sufficient. I've considered buying an extendable kitchen Island with a bar that we can sit at so I can just put it up when needed although that will be a pain considering how often my kids are at the table, getting a round table with chairs that fit neatly against it, getting a collapsible table that turns into a much smaller table, getting an outdoor area rug to put under the table and just putting it in the carpeted dining area, and a few other ideas that I can't even remember at this point lol. I'd really like to refrain from putting the table on the carpet at all simply because my kids are soooo messy and that's okay normally because we love doing lots of crafts that tend to be a bit messy, but that isn't going to be great for carpet. Thanks for all the ideas and suggestions!
Expobaby
last year
I would place a sofa under the kitchen passthrough. Place a table in the kitchen area with a pretty tablecloth on it to add some colour. A bench by the front door can add extra seating for the table if you have company but you can also put your shoes/boots under it so it keeps them contained. I would try to find a narrow dresser with 4 baskets for the narrow space beside the closet. Each kid could have their own basket for knapsacks, gloves etc.