I really like tables in kitchens, provided its a large enough space to house a substantial table. However, since that's pretty unusual, I really prefer our off-the-kitchen dining room. It seats up to ten people, which our kitchen could never do. I know lots of people around here like to go on about what a waste of space dining rooms are, but when you like to entertain, and don't have room for both a table, and a functional workspace in the kitchen, dining rooms are the bomb.

Our kitchen did have room for a table, but only a teeny-tiny one. When we reno'd, we opted to use the space for extra work counter instead. And we can still pull stools up to that counter for guests while we cook. Win-win.

I love this look. I will say, though, that I know from experience that entertaining in the kitchen is a bit stressful, at least for me. I don't really like people talking at me and trying to help when I just want to concentrate on getting the food on the table - and it's nice when that big pile of dirty dishes is behind a closed door until the guests go home. But for everyday life, it's great.

Absolutely agree on not liking open kitchens. A big selling point of our house was that the kitchen had two pocket doors. No more politely demanding that guests get out from behind the island. (Many a holiday had it's rocky moments, when my husband- who does all the real cooking- had to pull me in to another room to tell me to get my mom out of _his_ kitchen. )

I love those pictures. We want a big table in the kitchen not for the dining space, but for an additional workspace that's visually an alternative to an island. I think the open space under the table doesn't block the space up and create a barrier, whereas an island does (bad feng shui!)

Of course, an island is more functional because you can store things in it and have electronics sitting on shelves below eye level, but I just love the idea of finding a old, beat-up, long-beloved table to give the space a sense of history.

I also like the idea of having a surface that I know is okay to put dirty, acidic, or hot stuff on, while keeping your main counters a little cleaner.

I love the look of the aged wood table softening and humanizing the white cabinetry and tile. That said, the kitchen needs to be a sizable one.

We have a huge kitchen and so we put the table in it and turned the tiny attached dining room into an office. The kitchen opens directly into the living room and I love it because everything is light and open. It can be hard to relax on the couch when the kitchen's a mess but that just forces me to clean up. As for entertaining, its about enjoying ourselves around our friends, if we're not comfortable with them seeing a little mess then they can't be that great of friends to begin with.

Our 1821 house came with a big farmhouse style kitchen. Everything got done there, including laundry, and still does. Mostly, guests hang out in the living room until the food is on, but people are always welcome to hang out and schmooze with the cook. After a meal we linger and hang on in the kitchen for coffee. Somebody nearly always helps out with the clean up. Our kitchen has a big table and is people friendly. A friend of ours once said she was very comfortable there because we were obviously kitchen people.

I'm all about having a formal dining room & a closed-off kitchen (frankly, my current "dining room" shares the LR of our tiny house). That being said, if my kitchen were large enough I'd have my great-grandma's porcelain enamel table right smack dab in the middle of it!

I loooove open kitchens with tables in them... I think it's very redundant to have the separate room with a dining table and an eat-in kitchen.. give me a casual, everyday table in a big eat-in kitchen and no dining room!

I dream of a huge open kitchen with lots of light and room for an big old farm table with a bench on one side (actually, I dream of the whole farm). I have an ideal set up in mind: a flattened U shape, with the sink, fridge and oven on the bend of the U and a long enough room that the table can be pushed far enough away from my work area that I can run around without running into it. And I can still use the table to roll out cookies. And there is lots of light, and an old farm sink with a drain board. Should I continue? :-)

I'm not a big fan of open floor plans either. I like every room to have definition, which is what sold me on my traditional home. It's a newer house, but it has the formal dining room (which could sub as an office in a pinch) and an eat-in kitchen.

Anyone know where to get those cupboard latches from the first photo? Thanks!

This is the ONLY kitchen for me. No rarely-used formal dining room, no island eating bar, no breakfast nook, just the table that brings the family together. I'm with MerBot. Why have a formal dining area when you're just going to eat in your kitchen most of the time anyway? Who are you inviting to your house that you are ashamed to show your kitchen? It's not as if most of us are hosting state dinners.

These kitchens are fantastic! But I'm not really understanding the debate. Clearly, these kitchens are large enough to accommodate a large table. So it's a question of whether you want to fill the space with a table (which doubles as extra work space) or not. (Maybe you'd rather have the extra floor space.) Having the table certainly doesn't preclude you from having a separate dining area. I think what you're really asking is whether a person would purchase a home where the *only* dining option is in the kitchen. In that case, I'd rather have a smaller kitchen and a separate dining area.

I love these tables!! My partner and I build custom furniture (see www.inventiadesign.com), and we have designed and built a table for ourselves that has the look and feel of an old farm table. It was made small to fit in the kitchen, yet has leaves that can be added and which store inside the table and are accessed via a flip down drawer. The width of the piece, at 30 inches, allows us to pick it up and carry it into our formal dining room if we have a larger gathering. It seats four when closed, 10 when fully opened. Usually our formal dining room is a very open and very informal space, in which people lounge on the floor around the wood stove. We are a very informal family and love to have our meals in the kitchen most of the time. We don't mind dirty dishes -- when there's a tasty meal on the table and friends around, nobody pays any mind to them. Incidentally, my grandmother's house had a very large room with the kitchen at one end. She had an eat-in plan, and we ate at one of those very chic mid century chrome and red formica tables - at that time, though, it wasn't considered chic, and my grandmother hated the table. The chairs matched, but the vinyl was all ripped. At the other end of this big room was a window seat and a large expanse of south facing windows with ripply glass. The light in the room was incredible. My grandmother had a formal parlor, but it was dark and nobody went there. Everything happened in this large kitchen-all-purpose room. My grandmother even brushed her teeth and put on her makeup in the kitchen.