I miss the large banquette we had in our old home. All 5 of us could easily sit there, and we could squeeze in several kids when entertaining.

Our current kitchen has a counter that seats only 3, so our 3 kids eat breakfast and sometimes lunch there, but we can't all eat there together. We use the separate dining room for dinner, but we did that in our old house too even though our eat-in kitchen had plenty of room for us. We also have a table and chairs in the sunroom, so we use that when we entertain. Kids go in sunroom and adults in dining room. However, we're planning on reconfiguring the kitchen to add a long bar with bar stools on the wall between the kitchen and family room.

Could you get rid of some cabinets towards the back of the kitchen, and put in a banquette against the wall, then a small table, with 2 chairs on the other side? That should give you seating for 5, since 3 could cram into the banquette. Put storage in the banquette bench.

Or cut through the wall between the kitchen and dining room to put a small counter with bar stools? Maybe 3 small bar stools on the dining room side, two on the kitchen side, and one at the end? You could do double base cabinets if you don't want to lose storage space.

Good luck whatever you decide!

We don’t have an eat-in kitchen. Ours is somewhat closed off. Instead of a formal dining room we have a farmhouse table with a bench and some Windsor chairs. I love having a less formal dining space because we use that room for family dinners, school work, puzzles, you name it.

At my last house we had a formal dining room that was rarely used. I honestly think for most families it is a waste to have two separate eating areas.

Eat in sucks for resale unless you're a studio or 1 bedroom condo.

I've lived in both set-ups and personally I think you just get used to it either way. When the kitchen is separate, you do more walking back and forth and whoever is cooking is more cut off from everyone else. But it's not a huge deal. During family gatherings, people will still go in the kitchen and hang out, they'll just do so standing up. And I don't mind the going back and forth, personally -- I kind of like to be on the move in general. A bonus of the separate kitchen is that you never have to look at kitchen mess during meals or while relaxing later, so if you ever decide to just let it wait until morning, it's kind of out of sight out of mind.

We have an eat-in kitchen now (actually the entire living space is completely open, as is the style these days) and it has been kind of nice with my kid because she's still little and it's useful to be able to keep an eye on her and talk to her while she's eating a meal or playing if one of us is busy in the kitchen.

But other than that, I don't think it's a big difference. Sometimes when we throw parties I actually really miss having more separate spaces so that you could have quieter, more private conversations with smaller groups. I remember having lots of fun hushed convos with my girlfriends in our old kitchen while everyone else was in the dining room or living room. But I've gotten used to it the way it is now, and this house is nicer and more modern so it's hard to complain.

Again, you just get used to the set up and it winds up not being a big deal.