Hi original poster! I know it’s 7 years since you asked this but would love to know what you did. We are not in a similar position with a similar looking house at the back but even steeper. I know that a full extension and lowering the internal floors would be ideal but we can’t afford that and need a 5-7 year fix. Please let us know what you decided and why ☺️

Hi mnmr44, I find that tiles (with underfloor heating) are easy to clean and very versatile, but for some reason my clients always end up preferring engineered timber floor, mainly for the natural and cosy feeling it provides. You can get the tiles that look like timber too which I have seen used successfully and not so successfully in the past! Are the two spaces connected? If so a hardwearing finish on timber is really necessary. Alternatively I have seen some gorgeous "concrete effect floors recently that just sparkle! Epoxy Resin terrazzo, there are so many fun variations and will be hard wearing for the basement (which can also be specified as reflective too, to help light bounce deeper into the room. Mixed with a great interior design scheme you can warm everything up, or cool everything down, so the possibilities are endless. I would recommend choosing something you love and then seeing what options exist with the material or look you are going for. I am a sucker for terrazzo and engineered timber myself! I hope this helped give you some ideas! Have a great day. Jo

I also think the plan could be improved. For me I think both the living room and the kitchen should have access to the garden so I agree with putting the kitchen downstairs. I also agree that this gives an opportunity for a bigger kitchen. I think I would rather have a squarer living room at the back of the house as I think this makes furniture placement easier. Personally I would connect the living room and kitchen with a staircase as I think you will have other private rooms (although this does mean that you will have to consider how people would exit other basement room in the event of a kitchen fire). Lastly I think you need to explore the options and perhaps a concept planner or designer would be a good next step before going to an architect.

Many thanks for your feedback! The "frequently used" comment is really helpful, as we will go between the kitchen/dining room a lot than we go into the bathroom, which is probably why we're prioritising that space. And yes hopefully we can make the bathroom look nice, here's an example of one we found that seems to be a similar shape: