I had a home designed that we didn't build. Stopped before construction drawings. The kitchen was in the front and I loved it. I wouldn't hesitate if it works with your plan.

Cp...is that the Fireclay tile?

Thank you all for the responses. My wife really wanted the living room in the back, and we put the garage on the right side for privacy from the neighbors that are near the lot line on the right. That left the front area available for the kitchen/dining area. We personally don't mind where the kitchen is, but I just wanted to get a feel for what others thought considering we will probably sell down the road. I appreciate the input!

well, but your kitchen will be adjacent to the garage, right?

Our current home has a front-facing kitchen with the living room and family room facing the back. The house is set back from the street quite a bit. We live in a pretty area with lots of old oak trees. The views are equally nice from the front and back, so it's no problem for us.

We have a home that was built on a lake - so the kitchen is in the front. We have no problems, except when you want to use the patio (by the lake) you have to take the food through the house.

Consider the grill. If you cook out in the back, consider whether the kitchen is hard to reach.

Other than that, why not? It depends on your views and privacy concerns.

oh yeah duh, i forgot about grilling. its a real PITA to carry everything through, multiple times. we have a longish back hall, ( our kitchen is basically in the center of one side of our house) at least we're only dripping on tile...

put your kitchen in the back, unless you hate to grill, wont even have a grill.

I must admit you have to walk through our family room to get to the patio and grill from the kitchen. Also, we live in Southern CA and use the grill year round...and often. I didn't even think about it, so I guess it's not a big deal.

Kitchens "in the front" seem to be regional, they are very common where the weather is warm all year (AZ, NV, soCA, HI, FL) because the rear yard is part of the living area. I would be cautious when building a front kitchen home in an area where they aren't common = resale issues.

It's a reasonable plan unless the lanai, family, dining and studio are facing west, in which case the low, hot sun will make these areas essentially unusable in the afternoons unless you have shutters, drapes or curtains.

Hopefully you positioned the house so that these areas are facing south.

Curious why your exterior doors open outwards. Do you live in a high wind area?

The location of your kitchen is the least of your worries.

Good luck on your project.

All of the houses I have lived in have had the kitchen in the back, which I prefer. I have toured houses with kitchens in the front and I'm not a fan. You should design your house however you and your wife would like and not worry about what we think!

It's so interesting to see all of these comments! As cpaul1 said, traditionally, and academically, the spaces should flow from formal to casual, from front to back. However, it's great to get input from real life experiences and hear that some homeowners prefer it for their lifestyle!

As long as no one can see the kitchen from the front door, I'm cool with many different kitchen placements. :-)

Kitchens should be located where they function well in the overall plan. The site and desired spatial relationships dictate.

When I first read the title question, I pictured cabinets and appliances on the front lawn; hazards of the creative mind.

You could also arrange formal spaces to one side and informal/kitchen spaces to the the other side. And a front kitchen can also be connected to the back, there doesn't have to be a whole family room behind it. There are many ways to arrange your spaces so they work for you. You could tell your architect what you want and they will help you get it.

What I've heard more than proceeding from formal to casual spaces is proceeding from (more) public spaces to private.

Our current house has the kitchen toward the front, though we moved the dining area, which was closest to the front door, to a new addition off the kitchen. The kitchen proper (cabinets, appliances) is more to the back of the room. I don't much like it, but between farming and home schooling, over the years it was handy being closer to the front door to supervise comings and goings, a la Mr. Collins (thanks for that mention, ninigret).

New house has kitchen toward the back, through a hallway from the front entry. The kitchen and dining room wrap around the back dining porch in an L-shape.

Our home was built in 1950 and had a tiny kitchen in the back corner. When a PO renovated in the 90's, they doubled the size of the room by pushing it out to the side. That is why we have a "front facing kitchen". We installed a window so we could see the driveway and people walking up to the house to use the man door (new one for me). Hardly anyone I know uses their front door except for Halloween.

Our west facing kitchen is at the front and I love it for all the reasons mentioned above.

And our home is only 1-2 rooms deep.

And the flow still goes from public to private (because Lord help us but "formal" doesn't describe us one little bit). When you come in the front door you could go right into the public living room, straight back down the hall past the public powder room to the master bedroom, or left into the public kitchen and through to the more-private (because it's the kids' playroom and always messy) family room or public dining room, continuing across the end of the dining room to the lanai or the stairs to the upper bedrooms.

A person could enter our home, be entertained in the living room and use the powder room and never set eyes on our kitchen. But we don't really mind folks seeing where we cook.

Yes, and that's exactly the way I wanted it. We are very casual, no fancy entertaining, and every one that visits, be it friends or family, sits at the kitchen table or bar. We built a very non- formal log home.

our kitchen is in the front, has large windows facing front porch and smaller ones facing the side yard...having lived here almost 4 years, we've had only a couple of people enter through the front entry....our house is placed 160 feet from the street in front of the house and 140 from the street to the side. great room windows face south southeast.... we have a back loading garage which opens to a breezeway and people actually enter through a "dressed up" laundry room ......i would not change a thing about this house plan, of course there are only two of us here, that might make a difference..

Our kitchen is in the front with a large bay window facing the front yard. I love it. Love love love. I keep a lot of herb, etc. in the bay window for a bit of privacy, but I really like being able to see the world as I cook, do dishes, etc. It's fun to watch my neighbors walk their dogs. When you enter our house, there is a living room straight in front of you, and the kitchen is next to it on the right. Dining room is just beyond the kitchen, also across from the living room. The family room is on the back right side of the house, next to the dining room. It's all very open concept. Nice flow.

It's a reasonable plan unless the lanai, family, dining and studio are facing west, in which case the low, hot sun will make these areas essentially unusable in the afternoons unless you have shutters, drapes or curtains.

Hopefully you positioned the house so that these areas are facing south.

Curious why your exterior doors open outwards. Do you live in a high wind area?

The location of your kitchen is the least of your worries.

Good luck on your project.

Virgil the only plan shown is mine and yes my lanai faces south.

And yes, I'm in FL which is why all exterior doors open outward.

Cp...is that the Fireclay tile?

Nope. The tile is Jeffrey Court tile.

Many row houses in Philly have the kitchen in the front (not most, but a good number--especially those that have been renovated). Most noise comes from the street, and the kitchen acts as a buffer. That leaves the actual living area quieter and links directly to the back yard. I think it's a great idea.

I would not want a front facing kitchen. My kitchen is in the back of the house overlooking the yard. When my kids were little, it was easy to work in the kitchen and be able to look out the window or walk over to the patio doors (which were in the dinette area) to go to the yard. I couldn't do that if the kitchen were in the front, and I wouldn't trust little ones in the yard by themselves (when they were really little that is). Our grill is also in the yard.

As long as there is a window over the kitchen sink and kitchen is near garage entry thru a mudroom (laundry located near the bedrooms) and the other rooms positioned for optimal daylight you should be fine. Sometimes exposures or access drives determine location of our room layouts

I think it depends on where your patio/deck is going to be. My kitchen in in the front of the house and my patio is in the back so it’s a real pain for grilling and eating outside.

As long as there is a window over the kitchen sink

Why does the kitchen sink need a window over it?

In this house it's in the front and it's great. It depends on the overall plan.

I have a kitchen in the front of the home with the breakfast nook window visible from the street and front walkway. I dislike it for a variety of reasons. Neighbors wave as we sit eating dinner, people passing out flyers or selling stuff see us easily (I now refuse to answer the door to anyone anymore). Getting to the backyard to grill is not fun, letting the dog out requires going through a patio door in the back of the house. But if your land faces a wonderful, private view then go for it. If you are on a busy suburban street like I am, I would have serious reservations.

My daughter had a front kitchen but they took out all of the walls in the kitchen dining and living room and you could see from front to back....it was really very nice....just your personal opinion......

Most of the 50's era houses in my area have front facing galley kitchens located between the garage entrance and the front door. As a realtor I can tell you it is not a popular floor plan today.

As I said, in my current house the kitchen is in the front (and has clerestory window across the front so people can't see it) but you don't walk into or through the kitchen, you walk past it to the living room. That's how guests would go, anyway.

breakfast nook window visible from the street and front walkway. I dislike it for a variety of reasons. Neighbors wave as we sit eating dinner, people passing out flyers or selling stuff see us easily

But wouldn't this be just the same if you were sitting in your living room in front of uncovered windows? I don't know what the difference would be? Although honestly if I had an eating area in the kitchen I would rather face a yard than the street. It depends on the entire layout.

Growing up our den, kitchen eating area and dining room all faced out the back at tree canopy level, and that's where we spent our time anyway.

My current house has the kitchen being the full depth of the house, the window over the sink looks onto a front covered porch and the back bay window is where the kitchen table is. I like the view to my front garden and parking pad, I can see who is coming and going.

We recently bought a cabin in the mountains. It took me by surprise that the majority of the homes we looked at had the kitchen at the main entrance. I finally got adjusted to it as I realized they wanted the great room to be on the back as that is where the views are. My cabin has the kitchen and mud room on the front, the great room and master bedroom have the windows all along the back.

My late in-laws had a house with the kitchen in the front. Of course, there was NO "open concept", and since there was also a live-in cook in the kitchen, the door to the entrance hall was always closed. They wanted the DR and very large LR on the back with french doors that opened onto a flagstone terrace and looked out of Westchester County acreage. It was lovely! There was a butler's pantry between the kitchen and DR, plus that's where the stairs to the basement went down, and was also home to the back stairs up to the cook's apt over the garage. It worked very well.

I would not have liked this when my children were little, though. We had a fenced in back-yard and I started putting my children out there to play when they were age 2 - DD even younger. I could easily keep my eye on them when I was at the stove or the kitchen sink; I would have been very uncomfortable doing this without being able to keep an eye on them.

cpartist asked, "Why a window over the kitchen sink?" I've always had one and I like it - feel claustrophobic without it!

Our house is an MCM oriented to the spacious south-facing side yard, rather than the back yard. The LR/DR and the three bedrooms face the optimal side, and the kitchen, utility, baths and office face the narrow north side. This puts the kitchen facing the street with the only west facing window in the house. It looks out on the entry walk and the street. We don’t mind it at all, and it gives you something to look at while working at the sink.

Yep I like to be able to see who's in front of the house. One of my earlier designs had a massive kitchen with windows facing the front until I bought this piece of land, one we are building on now, and put the kitchen at the back where the best views are. We've always had our master and my office facing the front, this time two additional bedrooms and my walkin closet also face the front. The new kitchen will enjoy some amazing views on two sides.

My parents vintage FL house has the kitchen in the front with a wall of half height windows. It was perfect back when children played out front with bikes and roller skates all day. Their front door is separated with a wall and long hall way leading to the living room at the back with another wall of near full height windows. Neighbors expand these houses by removing the back windows and add a "Florida room" den type area at the back. There are canals behind the houses. Funny, I've never been in the front door in 50+ years. We use the car port door.

Every home I have lived in had the kitchen in the back, except for one. This was the home I lived in with my parents while in college and for a couple years after. (Connecticut. )

It seemed normal to me.

In this case, the best views (a lake) were at the back of the house, where the public spaces and the master got the benefit.

Advantages of the layout... garage was immediately off the kitchen, making for no transit in bringing in groceries.

One was able to see who was coming to visit at a glance as they arrived. My parents both loved to cook, and they found this important to them, being in the kitchen as frequently as they were.

(They still got the benefit of the lake view in the kitchen... the wall between the kitchen and adjacent dining room was not fully enclosed, and the dining room had a wide and tall view-facing window. )

Yes, it was longer to get to the grill, but they adapted to an economy of movement.

Regards window over kitchen sink: in my build, I wanted it over the primary prep area. No, i never had this set up until now. Typically, I spend more time there.

my mom's kitchen was in the front of her house (a 1950s ranch in IL) and my kitchen is currently in the front and the back I guess...like cpartist I don't have rooms stacked in front or behind the kitchen. My sink window faces the back yard and when I'm at the island I'm facing the large picture window in the front. I do walk through the family room to grill, but it's just around the corner (I live in SC so I grill year round)

Floor plan maxim: get the garage, stairs and kitchen in the right place, the rest of the plan comes together.

I like locating the kitchen where it functions as a control center for the home. From the kitchen you should be able to monitor the goings on in the home and outside the home. It should also be convenient to the garage and outdoors, and not the first thing a guest sees when entering the home.

In open concept floor plans, front facing kitchens tucked around the corner from the entry often work well.

Floor plan super maxim: get the garage, stairs, kitchen, living room, dining room, master bedroom, bedrooms, bathrooms, den, laundry, pantry, mud room, entry, office, powder room, sunroom, and wine cellar in the right place, the rest of the plan comes together. : )

For 24 years I had my kitchen in front so I could look out to see neighbors coming and cars coming up down the road.Now we will be moving our mobile home and the way they have to put on new property is then it so my kitchen looking toward the woods that sucks 😞 and I am really 😡

Old question, but our family’s kitchens have always been built in the front of the house. Who wants everyone looking in all evening while you’re enjoying and relaxing in your living room?

What's the front and what's the back?

"Back" of Bosch's house in the Hollywood Hills. Kitchen's in the "front."

(My vertigo is spinning in just about now.........)

My house is unusual in that it is 120+ years old and has always had the kitchen in the front. I suspect that's because it also does not have a useful side or back entrance (it sits on top of a steep hill), so having the front entry connect directly to the kitchen was the only practical solution. It's also a small house, so there are not really any "formal" rooms - when my renovation is completed, I won't have a separate dining room, just a dining banquette in my kitchen. I will have two living rooms, one of which will be a sitting room and the other a TV room, but neither particularly formal. I do not have privacy issues because I am set far back from the road, though my kitchen window looks onto a neighbor's back yard (more old house quirks!).

I am not only fine with having the kitchen at the front in this scenario, but I am changing the swing of my front door so that when I open the door, a visitor's first view will be through my tiny front entry into the kitchen. I want that to be the first thing folks se, and it is also more practical, given how small my entry is, since on most occasions I walk into the kitchen when entering the home. I live in the NYC metro area, and for the many people who move out here from NYC apartments, it is very common, even in large, expensive apartments, to have the kitchen right at the entry, so it doesn't feel odd to me.