Share us an image of your favourite place to dine in

I would pop a buffet along the window by the front door & then a rectangle dining table in front of that. There are a few layouts you could do tv/ lounge wise but in the interest of entertaining & also watching tv whilst preparing meals.... I would put the tv on the wall opposite the built in cupboards - not right where the aerial point is though, closer along the wall towards the bedroom door. Then I'd have an L shape configuration of lounges (either a corner lounge or two lounges) with the back of one along the side wall (the wall you look at as you come in the front door), & the other with its back to the built in cupboards (obviously with enough room to open the doors behind it still. Then define the area with a rug etc

you need a large rug underneath your living room furniture to sit ot all on there - not half on / half on. to connect the dining to the kitchen i wouid add a pendant over the kitchen bench with a smaller matching one over the dining table - that will connect the spaces. Definitely a console or buffet with a mirror above it on the wall with whee your dining table is situated. the mirror will reflect the mood lighting of the pendant back into the mirror. Use another rug in a coordinating color - not the same ( as your living) to them tie all the spaces together.

Thanks Dreamer. Hubby has a real hatred of bar-height eating. He was emphatic that we would not have stools to eat at the island. It had to be regular seating at table height. We will have a small table in the square space but the space there is quite restricted. It will be just for the two of us. I agree with you about the drawbacks of banquette/bench seating, but as it will generally only be for occasions when our daughter and her family join us for a meal or those rare occasions when we have guests staying over, I think I could live with it. I guess it depends on the size and configuration. It might be able to be set up so that two people sit on the bench and get in from either end, then two sit on the other side and two at the ends, as you have drawn it. It's just a question of how much width is needed, because I don't think 3m is really enough for a regular table and chair arrangement? I'm quite content, though, for the seats on the left and at the ends to be moved there from elsewhere for the meal and then put back afterward. Only the seating on the right needs to be permanent.