Extension Layout Advice - how would you use our space?!
Alex Smith
7 years ago
Hi all,
I have been using Houzz to get together interior design ideas for our renovation/extension, but I have never posted so here goes!
We have planning permission for a 4m double storey extension on the back of our house and i attach a rough picture of how we will use the ground floor of the property. The utility room is where the current tiny kitchen is, so we intend to use that as the utility and put a larger kitchen into the extended part, with an island. There will be a small window and two smallish roof windows in that end to give more light to the kitchen.
However, I am not sure if we should put the kitchen nearer the other end, where there is much more natural light from the french doors. What would you guys do?
Sounds silly, but now I am doubting our original plan! My husband thinks I've been looking at it too long and we should stick with our first plan!
Thanks for reading.
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Comments (38)@rinked Thanks, good idea - i'll see what it looks like later. @Suzanne C thank you for sharing your experience and pictures. We'll be going out for quotations once our planning is granted so i'll make sure i get a cost for wet UFH. I think it would be the preferred route with the warmth underfloor and extra wall space is always good in open plan extensions. @minipie Thank you. The software really is great once you get to grips with it. We've started to obtain budget costs on the roof lights and one company has offered to take us to see a few recently completed projects which should hopefully give us some inspiration and allow us to gain some feedback from previous clients. I'll aim to get at least one opening roof light after all the advice received on this board. Thank you for sharing your experience. I'll look into the small radiator in the bathroom. Good idea. The extract routes are pretty easy as the kitchen hood is on an external wall, as is the utility. The WC fan will follow the existing route above the utility rooms ceiling. Not sure on the subfloor as not taken up any flooring so far but the house was built around 2003 so you'd expect a pretty thick solid concrete slab so it might not be as easy as excavating in an older property....See MoreWhat would you do? Making the most of our space.
Comments (34)It really depends on what you want to achieve with your loft conversion. I've shown the stairs where I'm assuming they would work best to give you a masterbedroom suite - so with a walkthrough wardrobe and ensuite, to the back with a dormer extension, and potentially another room to the front with some rooflights. I don't really have enough information to be able to give you any definitive answers on that. This would be based on my assumptions of that kind of house, and the sort of things that most of my clients would ask for. Your house might be different and your needs and desires are unique to you, so are quite likely to vary from my assumptions. I think it's unlikely that you could do that loft conversion and the ground floor and other alterations within your £40k budget though. So that's why I would do it in stages and focus on the ground floor to begin with, because that seems to be the main area that doesn't work. I expect that increasing bedrooms will increase the value of your house a lot in London, so it might well be of interest to you from that perspective, but it might not really have that big of an impact on your life in your home for the short term. It depends on your priorities and what your long term plans are. Personally, if this was my home, then I would spend all of my £40k on the ground floor, use furniture to divide up the front bedroom for the kids, and even install a shower-room to the ground floor where I'm suggesting a loo/utility, and put the washing machine in the kitchen. Then I would get a really good sofa-bed and turn the lounge into a very flexible space that can be quickly and easily turned into a comfortable guest room, then let it on airbnb with guests using the downstairs shower room. That way I would quickly save up the money needed to do the loft conversion so I could have all the works done over a few years. That would be my approach, but airbnb is not for everyone and you may not need to do that to get together the extra money needed to do the loft in a few years time. it depends on your personal financial situation. There is a lot that depends on what you personally need and want, what your priorities are, and what your personal financial situation is. Quite rightly you've not shared all of that on here, and i wouldn't expect you to because a lot of that is private information. I hope this helps within the limitations of what I can suggest based on the information I have!...See MoreThoughts on our proposed open plan extension layout?
Comments (13)How about putting the TV on the wall behind the dining table, that way the sofa can be against the opposite wall which means it faces into the room and there is more space generally. A friend has this and it works well. You could even build shallow storage around it so it’s more like part of the kitchen. Depends on the height of your dining chairs though! Won’t work if they are very tall....See MoreWhich extension layout would you choose?
Comments (8)i think i would keep the hallway to kitchen and keep the separate reception room as it is - then it can be a messy playroom and you can close the doors and don't have to walk through it every time you go to the kitchen. i'd try and widen the hallway a little though to allow for recessed shelving along one of the walls so it becomes a bit of an art/books display area - to there's something to look at along the way, but it's 'within' the walls so it's not feeling like it's taking up space. see attached photo for the idea. also, i'd combine the utility and shower room (in your first option) to create utility/pantry - if you could divide them that would be great, but not sure there's enough room - have doors on cupboards in pantry area rather than open shelving and that will contain the visual mess and also keep food away from 'wet mess' from utility. then i'd make the proposed study into shower room. if you really really need a study spot, use a corner of one of the reception rooms to have a desk which can be tidied away at the end of the day. you might even have enough room in the utility/pantry for a bit of a desk there - if it's just for sorting mail etc - basically you're gonna live in the utility room!...See MoreAlex Smith
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