Anyone have a small kitchen where they can't see into any other rooms?

[choc]

We are looking at a house that has a small kitchen which is next to the dining room and separate from the living room too. You can't see into any of the other rooms and there is no room for a table in the kitchen.
I think I am worried about what ds will be getting up to not in seeing or perhaps hearing distance and when we have another lo what do I do with it when I'm cooking?! I'll have to leave him/her in the next room. Is that a normal thing to have to do? Everyone else I know has kitchen diners so it's not an issue. I'm not sure if any of this is a problem or not but it's a very different layout from what Im used to.
Am I being silly? The house is great in every other way just this one thing I am not sure about.

 

[ladyluck8181]

We have just had our house extended and now our kitchen is sandwiched between a bedroom and hallway and the dining room on the other side. Our kitchen is long and skinny.

We have had a hatch way built into the kitchen to allow me to watch when the children are in the dining room but I know when plans were being drawn up I was not happy about the fact that I could not see into the dining room at all, previously the dining room door had been opposite the living room door, this door has now been bricked up and the old dining room turned into an accessible bedroom for my disabled son

The hardest thing has been getting used to the lack of natural light, we have to always have the main light on now.

 

[choc]

I have thought about a hatch, that's good to know it works for you. Thanks.

 

[lau86]

Our kitchen is long and runs parallel to the dining room but doesn't actually look into the living room or dining room. It didn't used to be a problem. LO would follow me around and sure he would empty the cupboards from time to time but I put child proof things on the cupboards with bleach etc in. He actually never went near those anyway. Now it is a bit more of a problem as he can climb on the washing machine up onto the work top (his treats are in those cupboards). I am considering a stair gate as I am very afraid he will fall.
The baby is easy, if I know I will be cooking for a long time rather than just popping in and out to check on it I will bring him into the kitchen in his bouncy chair.
It's not ideal but there are ways round it with a stair gate etc, that's if your LO can't undo them!

 

[hattiehippo]

Our kitchen is just like you described. We have a long lounge-diner and then a separate kitchen which isn't big enough for a table and I can't see into the other room while I'm cooking.

Tbh it's fine especially now my son's older but when he was littler it was fine too. He's always just pottered around and come in and out of the kitchen as he wanted. If he's quiet for too long I go and look what he's doing but usually he's watching TV or playing.

 

[choc]

Thanks girls, that's really helpful xx

 

[RachA]

This is something that i've had for the last 6 years. It was very different to how i grew up but i didn't even consider it might be an issue when we moved in when DS was a couple of months old. When they were very little i used to basically let them play in the hallway - i had a stair gate across the kitchen door because of our dog and this meant that i could have to door open and see what they were up to without the difficulty of having them in the kitchen with me. As the started to get older i allowed them to play in the lounge without me being there. Our lounge has always been fairly child friendly anyway so I've never had an issue with them being in there on their own.
A hatch wouldn't of been an option from our kitchen to the long because the only wall the joins between the two was the only wall with wall units!! But to be honest i've never felt that it was something needed anyway. You adapt to what you have.

We have just had our kitchen extended and we now have a longer kitchen with an archway into a new room - it is much nicer being able to see what they are up to but if we hadn't been in a position to extend it wouldn't of been an issue for me.

 

[Foogirl]

Our kitchen used to be a totally separate room and wasn't huge. It worked out fine for us. I actually don't like it now our kitchen is a huge kitchen diner and Abby is under my feet when I'm trying to get stuff done! It's good for children to have to entertain themselves. When Abby was a baby we used to have her in her play ring at the door or when a little bigger in a highchair with some toys.

 

[Eternal]

Our kitchen is in the middle of the house and it also had a hatch, I hated that hatch when i moved in but it works for us, my eldest is autistic and can't deal with his brothers for any length of time, so they are in separate rooms and I'm stuck in the kitchen running between the two lol.

 

[DCS]

I cant see our living room from our kitchen. We do have a table in our kitchen but there is no chance DS would stay put ling enough for me to do anything. I just leave him in the livingroom. As soon as it goes quiet i run in ( more like waddle atm) but he is usually just sat watching telly / playing/ reading to the dog etc. He is 3, and i mostly trust him in there while i get something done in the kitchen.

 

[Bex84]

We have a small galley kitchen which cant see living/dining room. When she was little i sat her in high chair or moved bouncer and now i just keep looking through if shes not helping me

 

[RaspberryK]

Our downstairs is kind of all one room so no, but I shower and dress leaving ds downstairs or in my bedroom. When I do my upstairs chores like doing the washing machine (top floor utility room) or something he stays downstairs too so not very different.
Xx

 

[supertabby]

Ours is like you describe except we can get a table in ours (we moved a few months ago and previous house was similar layout but no room for a table). We've always been fine, when DD was little I brought her bouncer chair into the kitchen if I was planning to be in there a while, when she was 6 months I put her in the highchair and from about 10 months I made our pan cupboard totally baby friendly, adding in some wooden spoons and plastic cups etc and she was allowed to play in there. She also sometimes stayed in the living room and I'd just keep bobbing between. We also started getting her involved in cooking early on too, sometime between 12-18 months - helping to wash mushrooms, shake herbs into the pan, stirring etc, and putting away clean things from dishwasher (obviously we removed knives first and we did glasses)..

Now that DD has just turned 3 she normally plays in the other room while I'm pottering around the house. She has a fairly free reign of the house anyway and plays in her room or the hallway etc (even though her main play space is in the living room). I mostly don't need to keep a constant eye on her but then she did smear herself in toothpaste the other week! DS is 10 weeks and I take him around the house if I'm going to be a while in other rooms, or leave him in living room if it's a quick dash to grab something.

 

[stephx]

I have a small kitchen and a lounge diner separate.

I hate "open plan" living spaces, I prefer separate rooms x

 

[Snow Owl]

My kitchen is basically a cupboard off the lounge / diner. Lol.

It's ok actually, I tend to just pop my head back in when he goes quiet. Lol

 

[sparkle_1979]

In my old house the kitchen was at the other end of the house to the living and dining room, at the time it didn't really bother me. Now I live in a house where I have a big kitchen/ diner I don't know how I coped... I couldn't go back to that with two kids, my life is much easier being together while cooking, playing etc

 

[Lauraxamy]

I have a small-ish kitchen, the lack of work tops annoy me when I'm doing food. Next to the kitchen is the dining room but I use it as a dining room and lounge so the other living room can be kept nice. I'd love to knock my kitchen and dining room into one.

 

[smileyfaces]

Our kitchen is at the back of the house and you cant see into other rooms. I just leave the kids to it lol go in if it goes unusually quiet or if they cry. Doors are open so they can wander in and out of the kitchen.