Ground floor redesign: kitchen/ family diner/ flexible living space
11 years ago
Hi Houzzers,
We are to renovate our ground floor. Currently the living room is separate. The dining room opens into the kitchen and also into the conservatory. A study at the front of the house is separate and closed off.
MY PLAN (proposals in red) is to introduce bi-fold doors between the living room and dining room. This is so we can open the doors for kids parties etc. The TV is to be mounted on the wall with an electric fire beneath it. This is to become an adult space once the kids go to sleep. Decor: clean, crisp whites/ greys, chromes. Splash of colour on curtains/ cushions/ rug. The WC is to be renovated to a high spec with some quirkiness. As we are fortunate to have travelled well, I was thinking a map of the world mural, not sure. For the dining room a large round table for family dinners and the addition of a breakfast bar or an island with an elevated bar in the kitchen. Decor: family orientated, bare brick walls, warmer tones, practical furnishings. The kitchen is 'ok' and I was thinking of just changing the door-fronts to save on cost. Although I'm not sure if that’s a good idea. Décor clean/ crisp/ high spec white/ chrome. The study will no-doubt double as a play room, and I did think it would be good to open this into the kitchen to keep an eye on the kids. The conservatory will double as a play/ arts/ music area. School work on the walls etc. An option would be to swap with windows for bi-fold doors out into the garden. Current doors on the side.
BIGGER plans are to extend the kitchen out to meet the conservatory..... although that blows the budget!
Your thoughts and opinions on the design and decor are much appreciated :)
We are to renovate our ground floor. Currently the living room is separate. The dining room opens into the kitchen and also into the conservatory. A study at the front of the house is separate and closed off.
MY PLAN (proposals in red) is to introduce bi-fold doors between the living room and dining room. This is so we can open the doors for kids parties etc. The TV is to be mounted on the wall with an electric fire beneath it. This is to become an adult space once the kids go to sleep. Decor: clean, crisp whites/ greys, chromes. Splash of colour on curtains/ cushions/ rug. The WC is to be renovated to a high spec with some quirkiness. As we are fortunate to have travelled well, I was thinking a map of the world mural, not sure. For the dining room a large round table for family dinners and the addition of a breakfast bar or an island with an elevated bar in the kitchen. Decor: family orientated, bare brick walls, warmer tones, practical furnishings. The kitchen is 'ok' and I was thinking of just changing the door-fronts to save on cost. Although I'm not sure if that’s a good idea. Décor clean/ crisp/ high spec white/ chrome. The study will no-doubt double as a play room, and I did think it would be good to open this into the kitchen to keep an eye on the kids. The conservatory will double as a play/ arts/ music area. School work on the walls etc. An option would be to swap with windows for bi-fold doors out into the garden. Current doors on the side.
BIGGER plans are to extend the kitchen out to meet the conservatory..... although that blows the budget!
Your thoughts and opinions on the design and decor are much appreciated :)
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Comments (8)
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Comments (8)Thanks for the comments so far. I'm kind of thinking there's a hybrid option that isn't 1 or 2 and will probably cost a fortune, but until I find that solution, option 2 is definitely what I'm pulled towards. Oneplan, to answer your questions specifically: - The house is built on two floors - just three double bedrooms uptstairs. I'll be putting a small bathroom in upstairs as part of the project. - The "lobby" area is a vast overstatement on behalf of the estate agents when they were making the plan. "Pantry" would be a more appropriate word. Our builder mate suggested making the Pantry into a small shower and WC and converting the current downstairs bathroom into a utility room. - My kids are 4 and 5. - I haven't actually measured the porch up yet, although see comment below. - Regarding the question about the extension size. I borrowed the dimensions from a plan already submitted to the council for an exact same sized house (plans submitted before the govt relaxed planning rules). This size works because the garden is not so big. If I make the extension any bigger the garden will be really too small (and I want at least some space for the kids to run around in). Actually, I saw this post earler today https://www.houzz.co.uk/discussions/how-can-i-bring-this-kitchen-to-life-dsvw-vd~1171087 and I love it. Wonder if I could work with something along these lines....See MorePlease help with ground floor re-design and layout ideas
Comments (12)I do like the OnePlan en-suite option but it would be very, very small for an en-suite and I'd have to dig up the floor to add another toilet, all of which can be avoided if I just leave the downstairs bathroom as it is....I have guests who stay regularly and no one has complained yet. I think this would be an unnecessary expense, love to do it but must be mindful of my budget. I definitely agree that it would be less annoying and more private for my guests to access the bathroom and their bedroom off of the hallway and not the living/dining room, so I shall try and come up with something else for coat storage. kikiamack Unfortunately there is not enough space even when making the double doors into a single to squeeze coat storage into the corner :(...See MoreThe reality of a family living in open plan living room/diner/ kitchen
Comments (28)I agree with everyone saying that open plan is good if you have a dedicated enclosed space for a snug or second living room. My son is an architect and he has seen a major change with people requesting ways to separate spaces to revert back to a more traditional layout. What about privacy for those moments when kids bring their friends over, they really do not want parents listening and being in their space! Designing a space for a growing family means trying to future proof the footprint. No matter how quiet appliances are meant to be, they will end up irritating you. We have a coffee machine, extractor fan, washing machine, tumble dryer, microwave, kettle in our current kitchen and are lucky enough to be able to move the kitchen into a 10sqm study to create a separate utility and then build a rear extension with a kitchen / diner / snug. We also have a ground floor loo and living room on the other side of the house. The noise of appliances we find exceptionally intrusive, partitions and half height walls may help reduce the noise but won’t eliminate them. Have you also thought about where you will store the kids toys, books etc and how easily you will be able to hide food preparation and washing etc from visitor? I do like the idea of having sliding doors if that is at all possible to zone off spaces when you do want a quiet area....See MoreGround Floor Plan redesign/renovation
Comments (11)Remove the wall between the dining room and kitchen and have the kitchen in the dining room with an island then the kitchen is ‘all seeing’…into the front sitting room and the new kitchen/dining/living room across the rear. I would put a door from the utility into the garage and flip the utility into the rear of the garage along with the wc, you could have an additional entrance recessed at the bottom the stairs, I’d keep the front of the garage for storage and retain a bigger entrance (your current entrance), for guests. i would move the utility entrance along the garage wall to the ’new utility’ to square up the new kitchen/dining/living area...See More
PRO11 years agoLoose the built in cabinets and wall attached along the back of the kitchen, replace with tall appliances oven, fridge, larder this will leave enough space to have a big island with sink and hob plus seating.
neil
nmc_uk thanked Neil Norton Design- 11 years agolast modified: 11 years ago@ Vivienne, a window seat/ reading nook would be nice in the living room bay. Although I'm torn between that impacting the adult space ambiance. Maybe an Eames lounger chair with footstool. Will also consider a rectangular table as we do entertain a lot.
@OnePlan, the room sizes are in the image I uploaded (4.67m x 3.38m). Interested to hear your further comments.
@Open Plan Designs, good suggestions, I also added a door to the kitchen from the hall way on my design. See image. Can you better this?
@Ibfunke, ref opening the study to the kitchen. A door with glass panels might work, although I love the idea of a bookcase door.
PRO11 years ago- 11 years ago
OnePlan