Help with downstairs layout & extension
Looking for some advice regarding the re-plan of our
downstairs and a single storey extension (if required). We’re happy to use some
of the garage but not all.
The aim is to create a light and airy house with:
A Kitchen Diner with island or breakfast bar.
A Utility Room
Boot Room/Storage for coats etc.
A snug (in addition to existing Lounge).
Downstairs WC (keep existing if possible)
Another room capable of being a dining room/office or
playroom (this is not essential but a nice to have).
We’re not sure whether the extension should go to the right
side of the house and out into the back garden or to the front, or to the front
and side. We need to make changes upstairs and have a maximum budget of £50k
for everything.
I’ve attached pictures of the front and rear of the house as
well as the current floor plan to give a feel for the space.
Any thoughts on how we can best achieve this?
Comments (28)
keswing
7 years agolast modified: 7 years agoThank you.
Extending to the rear is my husbands preference too, i was just concerned it would make a small garden even smaller.
We also considered using the dining room as a snug and like this idea. The only snag for me is this would leave our hall unchanged and apologies as i forgot to mention this in the original post but I have a real issue with our hallway. It feels very narrow, the stairs feel like they are bearing down on us when entering the house, the space underneath is wasted as we can't put anything there due to the windows and the slope of the stairs. To make the hall worse the dividing wall with the dining room is an original 60's glass partition which although is great for throwing light into the dining room is otherwise ugly, gathers dust and basically get's used as a pigeon hole for paperwork, keys etc.
Any ideas on what i can do? I'd thought about knocking the wall down and opening up the space and/or extending forward a bit to create a bigger entrance hall. My other thought was to knock down the walls between the dining room and hall and kitchen to create a kitchen diner and hall and then have a rear extension to the back which could be the snug?
Ideally i'd move the stairs but that's unrealistic.
Here's some pictures to show.
As always thank you for the suggestions you've made, they've been really helpful to us.
Kathryn
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Comments (3)That is a good point. I have thought of staggering the line at the back. Unfortunately that would not work with our garden as we have limited space at the back and the extension would shade a large area. The current living room is small and I am concerned we are creating a long narrow room. We have got used to the cosy space but when the family return home it is too small. The living room at the front will be more a snug/office space when we are finished. I am attaching some photos of the current room/conservatory....See MoreIs anyone able to help with new potential downstairs layout/ extension
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Comments (3)Hiya, What a fun puzzle. I think like @guardianangelservices have said, there are a lot more questions before working out the "right" answer because there are a million options, it's about finding the right one for your family. From a first look, I think there is a reasonable easy/least expensive option which would give you the bigger kitchen but without touching the newly finishes left side or moving a bathroom and that would be to move the front door to the centre of the house. Personally, I love a hallway, not walking through the middle of a room to get to the stairs or to hang your coat is a luxury to me so removing the centre hallway to open the spaces up would actually be a compromise. However, gaining the extra meter or so of kitchen might be all the difference you need to fit in a table and then it's about decorating the hallway to create the feeling of light. Actually having a glass door will make a huge difference as light doesn't travel around corners very well which is why it is so dark at the moment. You could keep the coat room space by keeping a little bit of the kitchen still, the hall doesn't have to be a straight line, it could have a coat nook or cupboard built into the new space. If you want to chat further about how it might work for you, I offer a free zoom chat for bouncing around ideas www.thekitchenladyuk.co.uk Good luck Emily...See MoreHelp with downstairs layout for 1930s kitchen extension
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Jonathan
7 years agokeswing
7 years agoBased on your comments, do you think either of these ideas might work? The plans are a bit dodgy but hopefully give you get the idea.
Btw, the doors will be staying (I actually like them?? :-) )but replacing the spindles or painting the staircase is definitely an option.
I've shown a couple of photos of the existing porch and the view out to the front. Personally, I don't think if we decided to create the porch space into a small front (flat roof) extension in order to open up the hall that it would impact the frontage significantly as we'd replicating what's already there but just filled in?? Do you disagree?
I've shown the view as i think this is a key feature of the house and should be made the most of if possible. Having glass doors as you suggest would be great to make the most of the view and throw light around the house, but think this wouldn't work if the room were a snug.
Jonathan
7 years agoSo I was thinking..... you could make the cloakroom bigger to accommodate the washing machine. Or you could put the washing machine upstairs where all the dirty washing is generated
keswing thanked Jonathankeswing
7 years agoJonathan
7 years agoExtension roof- yes flat roof behind a parapet wall with a roof lantern sounds great.
Given that you could have doors to the back and side it may be light enough without the roof lantern probably saving £1000.
Your plan...... don't think I didn't notice the additional £12000 extension you snuck onto the side!
I think that given the budget a bootroom may be better achieved by taking room from the kitchen. You could also also make the cloakroom bigger for additional storage.... this would eat into the garage a little but there should still be enough room to park one 4.8m long family sized car in it.
keswing thanked Jonathankeswing
7 years agoyvonne1958
7 years agokeswing
7 years agoJonathan, sorry back sooner than i thought with a couple of questions and advice!
It's not shown on the floor plans, but we have about 3 meters to the side of our house. I've been doing some measuring this morning and i wonder if the plan would produce an extension which is kind of stuck in the middle of the garden and with space to the side of the house which can't really be used for anything (not that i can't think of anyway)? Happy for you to tell me differently, but I wondered if it would be better to go out as you suggest but then take the extension to the side to make it wider rather than longer?
I've attached pictures of the garden which may better show what i'm trying to explain..
Also would you render the extension with something or attempt to match the brickwork?
Jonathan
7 years agokeswing
7 years agolast modified: 7 years agoOk..... couple of questions- if you look out of your kitchen window which direction are you facing? West/North/South? 233 SW
What is the sunniest part of the garden? Where the table and chairs are.
Is your back garden over looked? No
Do any of the neighbours trees shadow the garden? Not all the time but in the evening the house at the back has a large tree which casts a shadow over the lawn
Is your boundary the picket fence shown on the picture? Yes
Is there another house or anything else behind? There are gardens adjoining our garden on all sides. The house adjacent to picket fence is about 3 meters at least from the fence.
There seems to be a strip of land beyond the picket fence- is that yours? Not sure where you mean but within the back garden our boundary to the side is the picket fence, at the back it's a fence with laurels behind (belonging to the neighbours) which runs the full width.
Do you have an oil tank or septic tank that needs to be considered? NoBTW, the length of the garden from kitchen window to the back boundary is about 10 meters.
I'm sorry i don't have any pictures facing out from the kitchen window. Perhaps these help show how the house sits between neighboring properties, i can take a proper photo when it's light if necessary.
The boundary ends immediately behind the far hawthorn tree (to be removed)
Attempt to show boundary to the right and distance to neighbours property
How we are positioned between properties to left and rear
Jonathan
7 years agoExtension- you could plan it wider and less deep as shown.
Personally I prefer not to see the extension when looking at the front of the house.
I think matching bricks will now be impossible. Lots of materials will go with the brick- I like the idea of a dark coloured render.
You could also consider a monopitched roof.
Lastly I think that you can make your garden seem wider by better screening on the picket fence side, placing the patio furniture near to the boundary so your sight lines are longer. I also think a circular lawn helps trick the eye into thinking the garden is deeper.
keswing thanked Jonathankeswing
7 years agolast modified: 7 years agoJonathan
7 years agokeswing
7 years agokeswing
7 years agokeswing
7 years agoHi there, I've a couple of questions about our downstairs redesign/extension. As you may recall we have a 50K budget, costs in our area are £1k per sq meter. We've decided to prioritize the ground floor changes and do the upstairs alterations at a later date (unless the quotes allow for everything to be done but that's doubtful based on your previous comments. The plan i'd like to pursue is this one which is something you suggested (but I've added the side entrance!)
We've since had a chartered architectural technologist & building engineer around, he gave nothing away in terms of design ideas(but guess he won't till he's paid), showed us his portfolio and quoted £1500 for planning and building drawings, including 3D modelling. Another plan drawer recommended by a builder quoted between £500 and £750 depending on the number of revisions, he'll do planning and building drawings and provide us with design ideas although i can't see that he's chartered and he doesn't have a website. I suppose he could work by recommendation, the builder is well regarded so can't imagine him recommending someone incompetent.
My questions are: Is £1500 reasonable and based on us having a bit of a plan already is there really much more value to be gained from paying an extra £750 for the architectural technologist? It feels like a gamble because we don't know what either are going to suggest and we already have some idea based on the feedback from this site. We're worried if we don't payout we might have a big 'What if...' at the end of it but equally concerned how much design is required for what we are trying to achieve.
Thanks
Kathryn
Jonathan
7 years agoSo I would look at your £50k budget and work backwards taking off the cost of finishing the ground floor. Consider the kitchen, appliances, flooring, fees, furniture, soil pipe for the future bathroom renovations, contingency etc then you know how much money is available and this will dictate the size of the extension possible.
Since the budget is so tight the extra cost of the technician may be pushing things but other people on this site may have reasons why you would pay this.
Perhaps the thing to do is use this site to find a good layout for your extension and then instruct the cheapest CAD specialist you can find to provide plans.
I enclose one idea for the layout- if it were my house I would want a bigger kitchen than dining room and personally I don't see the need for a sofa in the dining area when there will likely be kitchen stools and dining chairs, plus all the seating in the snug and main living room.
Lastly there are lots of different possible layouts and the most cost effective way of exploring these is with a concept planner or designer- an hourly rate for inspiration can often be cheaper than the fixed fee of architects whose service will also deal with practicalities of drainage, roof pitches and presenting everything for the planners
keswing
7 years ago- keswing thanked Jonathan
keswing
7 years ago
Jonathan