Hi there, As has been discussed by others above, there are 3 main options for this house: 1. Loft conversion. 2. Double storey extension 3. Single storey extension + rejigging. In my opinion, all three options would require thought about the staircases position. My first bit of advise is that you think about your priorities as these will dictate your decision around primarily whether you are wanting to take on the project and buy the house. Firstly regardless of which option you choose, I would immediately suggest that you move the stairs and try to get a straighter run without the half landing as this will free up more usable space on each level. Accessing the stairs from the current dining room (see sketch) would be a great way to free up space in the current stair area for either storage or even to be used as a desk area. Maintaining the opening between the hallway and stairs and using reinforced glass to enclose the staircase with shoe storage underneath would be a very contemporary look. My proposal would be to do a contemporary refurbishment comprising both a single storey extension and loft conversion (loft conversion could be a later addition should budget not allow for at first) however if you are prioritizing the number of bedrooms then I would say that the priority should be a loft conversion. With two dormers, this could deliver an extra 2 bedrooms (or 1 bedroom and 1 bathroom) in the loft space either side of the new staircase. On the first floor, converting the back bedroom into a bathroom accessed along a new landing through the second bedroom would be beneficial, removal of the chimney breast here would be a good idea too. On the ground floor, making the bathroom into a smaller wetroom/utility with stacked washing machine and tumble dryer and opening up the kitchen and dining room through to provide access out to the garden with rooflights fitted to bring more light into a very bright kitchen living room. Of course the look that you want might be more traditional and this could still be achieved but this open plan space would be a huge improvement to the current layout. Best of luck!

Tough cookie. The footprint size is nice, but with a 6p family you'll need enough room to move around. If a loft can be added to the new part of the house, that'd be nice for storage. Folding stairs in the wardrobe? In the extension: First I'd like to say I imagined the extension to be designed like a house on it's own, glued together to the old one with a flat roofed 'corridor' with lots of rooflights. Main entry with wardrobe on the side. Kitchen with shallow cabinets on the front of the peninsula (storage instead of barstools) and row of floor to ceiling cabinets with a built-in 178cm fridge and a 178cm freezer, ovens, etc. Family dining area with french doors towards the back garden. Also managed to get each kid their own bedroom. Their bathroom has a shower and a toilet stall and two sinks. Separate toilet, for morning queues (and guests). No tub in the layout though, I don't know if you'd like one and what age your kids are.. Backdoor to enter the home (with your boots on) near the hall+toilet, with a hamper and also for emergencies. Footprint is slightly deeper on the left, but smaller on the right, square so you can add a roof similar to the old cottage? In the old house: Master bedroom with ensuite and closet area. Lounge room with a hopefully marvelous fireplace. Old front door stays the same from the outside, but unused. Maybe open up the ceilings and insulate the roof, so you'll have a vaulted ceiling with beams (all depends on what is allowed and how it looks in there). Haven't drawn in many windows, just imagine they are right where they need to be.

I guess you can never have too much space with 4 children, I can imagine how I would use the existing living room and dining room :-). Few questions - is that an opening from the existing dining room to extension? what is the dotted line section on bottom left of extension next to kitchen? are you having an island? I'm not sure about having all the kitchen units down the left hand of the wall, 10m is a long way to walk to get some from one cupboard. I think its better to have kitchen 'contained' in a section of extension, then you can create a zone for living and dining space.

Thanks both of you for your feedback. Just on a couple of points... we prefer to have the kitchen in the middle of the house so we can keep the extension space for dining/living. It's not meant to be our main TV area, but we woukd prefer seating areas at the back to socialise and take in the garden vires. Prefer not to have the sofa or dining area in the centre. Re the corner pantry, if it's just the look that's the main criticism and it doesn't affect the flow, I'm yet to have my head turned against it. I'd prefer that to avoid a corner base unit. Regarding the bedroom config, we will probably tweak. Bedroom 5 is currently the study and thought we wanted the 2 loft bedrooms as kids rooms, leaving 1 and 2 as master and guest bedroom/playroom/study. It'll probably change when we get the space, but for now nothing structural is changing so we are not set in anyway, apart from 2 beds in the loft. Agree about the cupboards by the front door, it was just put there as a place holder, so we haven't really confirmed that space layout yet. With regards to the kitchen/living/diner layout, we have used the instagram account the_reno_project as our inspiration (after months of trawling, we liked this one) so maybe that's a good idea of our vision. Thanks again