Home layout dilema after plans approved for extension into barn
Hello. I live in a small 2 bed grade II listed cottage which has finally had planning approved to extend into an existing barn workshop. Planning have been hard work and have not allowed us to extend the cottage and rather create a modest 'link' central to the property between the barn and the house.
However this creates living issues. Since initial submission, we now have two young children and find the existing interior plans only allow for 2 beds in the barn and the existing 2 in the house.
We've thought about adding a downstair master to the barn and so we are next to the kids but this means losing our utility (not a biggie) but also eating into the 'family room'. I know there is a stigma attached to downstairs bedrooms etc but I'm not completely averse to it unless someone tells me otherwise that its an extremely bad idea.
We've considered moving the kitchen to the barn, and making the old kitchen a downstairs cloakroom/boot room storage etc.
We feel no matter how we spin the design we are losing any flow. or seem to find ourselves in a situation where one side of the house would not be used.
Although our architect has helped to a degree we are still stuck. Ideally wed like some help making most of the space before we commence on the build.
Ive attached our current plans to see if anyone has suggestion to 're jig' the interior. Ive also attached my own ideas for a downstairs master to replace the utility and study.
The plans are 1:100scale external ground floor is 12x5.80m
plans picture with additional details
3d image of design
My idea below for ground floor. Ideally id like to lose the cloakroom toilet to make the master bigger but I'm stuck. Any advice would be great.
Comments (28)
PROHeat Architecture London
5 years ago
Jonathan
5 years agoI don't think your idea of the downstairs bedroom will be achievable because to do this you have to remove a fairly major wall which likely will not be cost effective.
But I agree with the above comment that you don't want the kids to sleep in a different wing of the house to you.
I would put the main living accommodation in the barn and use the house for two upstairs bedrooms plus a bathroom then downstairs I would have an ensuite master bedroom and a laundry room.
Should you take in this arrangement you may want to make the entrance hall more private so that you can make a morning cup of tea with out being seen in your dressing gown by the postman.
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Comments (12)I agree with a lot of what has been said above. We are about to extend our kitchen/diner and have a very small utility room which currently houses a washer, dryer and standalone fridge/freezer (as well as four doors leading off to the kitchen, WC, outside and garage). There is no sink in the utility but we have an integrated fridge in the kitchen. A few thoughts: - Are you sure that you want to place the dishwasher in the utility room? We have plumbing for a dishwasher in the utility but don't own one. When we extend we plan to put the dishwasher as close as possible to the sink as I can't envisage carrying dirty plates etc through to a separate room (and then back again when they are clean). We lived in a new build years ago and the dishwasher was not in the utility; I don't remember noise being an issue. - My brother has engineered oak flooring and oak worktops (separated by white Ikea high gloss units) and it looks good. I would rather have tiles in a utility but am probably biased after experiencing a couple of washing machine leaks. - Have you considered stacking your washer and dryer? We plan to do so as space is so tight in the utility. If you want to maximise utility space I recommend reading George Clarke's 'The Home Bible'. It has a section dedicated to utility room layouts. - Although we plan to have an integrated fridge-freezer in our extension, it currently doesn't bother us to get freezer items from the utility (it would for fridge items). - I agree with bookworm987's suggestion for a new (narrower) dining table and bench seating on one side. From personal experience I can recommend extending dining tables; we have a 90 x 180 cm table which is ideal for everyday use but extends by 45 cm each end to fit family when they visit....See MoreAdvice needed - kitchen and living layout w extension, mid-terrace
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Comments (65)Hi all, Thank you so much for all the helpful comments and suggestions, and sorry that it's taken me so long to respond - house renovation and work have been keeping us on our toes! This has become a long post, so a quick reminder - we were looking to renovate and rewire our 60s house to update it and also make it more wheelchair friendly downstairs for when my mother-in-law comes to visit. We employed an architect and came up with what turned out to be an 'aspirational' design (much more than the budget!) so we ended up deciding to split things into two stages: Stage One to add a downstairs wetroom for accessibility, remove chimney throughout and add a porch Stage Two to do the extension across the rear, removing the conservatory to open out a large kitchen/diner and add a utility room The layout below shows both Stages One and Two as complete. Bits shown in red are existing walls which have been/will be removed (apart from the wall in red in the seating area below which is between the existing kitchen and dining room - that's a mistake). So.....the building work is now done - hurray! Stage One is complete, we are much poorer, and we now need to decorate the whole house :-) Some before and after photos below - please bear with the terrible photography skills. The rooms aren't big enough to allow for expansive photos!: We've re-plastered throughout, apart from in the kitchen and upstairs bathroom, as we'll deal with those later. Current challenge is deciding how on earth to pick paint colours and flooring throughout.... Anyway - hopefully that gives you a sense of where we've got to. Best wishes...See More
PROOnePlan
5 years agoAlex
5 years agolast modified: 5 years agoAlex
5 years agolast modified: 5 years agoOk to give a bit more info I've drawn (badly) the existing cottage lounge, staircase and upstairs layout. Please note that the cottage does not extend its 1st floor over the kitchen. It is a 'lean to extension' as you can see from the the attached side elevation pictures. The kitchen just has a high roof with velux windows in the roof.
Ive also included a google map of the boundaries. and a view from what would be the large windows in the barn.
PROXAMI
5 years agoAlex
5 years agolast modified: 5 years agotemple274
5 years agoAlex
5 years ago- PRO
XAMI
5 years ago - PRO
Heat Architecture London
5 years ago Alex
5 years agolast modified: 5 years ago- PRO
Heat Architecture London
5 years ago minnie101
5 years agoAlex
5 years agolast modified: 5 years agoAlex
5 years agolast modified: 5 years agoAlex
5 years agolast modified: 5 years agoOk so after everyone's feedback ive had another go at designing the ground floor of the barn. Im quite happy with it. i wasn't sure if to move the staircase to the middle of the barn, however it made more sense not to have to walk through the front room to get upstairs.
Appreciate your thoughts and comments.
- PRO
Heat Architecture London
5 years ago Alex
5 years agominnie101
5 years agoAlex
5 years agolast modified: 5 years agoAlex
5 years agoOk. Ive thought long and hard and one thing that dawned on me was the use of the 'link' Ive redrawn reinstating the rear entrance and utility having moved the family room back a bit into the link.
Ive also done the same on a revised link shape which also moved the door slightly. My Architect suggest that this should be just a minor alteration on the plan with not much problems however I'm not sure its worth the hassle for what it gains if anything.
What do you guys thing? or stick with my earlier revision that dropped the 'corridor'?
minnie101
5 years agolast modified: 5 years agoHi. I could see the dimensions for the ground floor of the barn but was just guestimating the Cottage and upstairs of the barn based on fittings etc as it's hard to measure a scale on a touch screen :) I think I preferred your previous layout as I'm not so keen on the corridor but perhaps the stairs could be moved so as to take advantage of the views from the sofas? If the wall between kitchen and living can be removed/part removed it could work well. Is the master bedroom in the lounge completely out? Sorry i was just playing around so it's not to scale and things aren't quite in the right place. A log burner was also an afterthought hence the chair there:) I don't know what's in scope with the architect but have you considered using a concept planner such as Oneplan on this thread? There are a few on houzz, also look at CreatePerfect. You can look at their fees (very reasonable!), previous work and reviews. They will be able to give you several options for layout by getting to know exactly what you want and how you live and also consider Practical requirements so the design works for you personally plus allocate space for the Xmas tree! You may also find a 3D render will help, it seems to help others with the same issues. I'm just wondering if it will be money very well spent. Not saying your designs aren't good btw but pros can obviously achieve such things in a fraction of the time as they don't need to look up safety/practical/regulatory requirements etc plus have all the software
Alex
5 years agominnie101
5 years agoIs the issue the fire, front door or the fact it's at the front? Or a combination?! I think you can work in the fire if you felt so inclined. What was the plan with the front door anyway as I assume the link will become the door? My best effort for moving the stairs using your plan from Thursday is attached. I'm not sure If they'll work not knowing the ceiling height (not that would make any difference to be honest, as I said I have no such skills!). I also made the bedroom 3ft or so longer. I would look at getting a planner onboard now TBH. Hopefully even if I haven't helped with the plan at least it allows you to discount options :)
mordzy73
5 years agoYeh it's the fire and door. Its just a preference that such a thing shouldn't be hidden in the bedroom and be available in what we imagined would be a dining room snug. Though I see what you mean on your pictures. I can work. The rear would indeed be used as the main entrance but visitors and deliveries naturally come to the front.
The corridor isn't possible because of the window. See pic. And moving the staircase would blow the budget as we'd really only allocated for the the barn.
PWJ Architects Ltd