Hi Imran, Very exciting to be starting your project! I'm not going to make any suggestions on how to layout your space as I'm not an expert but having just gone through a very similar process I thought a few words of advice might be helpful? We were looking at remodelling the downstairs of our house and got structural engineers and architects involved but to be honest it was our designer who was the most help and has stopped us making a couple of silly and costly mistakes with space planning (nothing to do with colours, paint choices or curtains!!!) I would highly recommend working with someone who can do some 3D models and renders of the proposed space for you, so you can see how it will all look. Our designer was amazing and we ended up with 4 or 5 different computer generated 3D images (and YouTube videos!!!) of how the space would look as you walked around it. Not only was it amazingly helpful but she also saved us a lot of money on structural work by pointing out things that would have been costly and not really add anything to the space. I've attached a couple of pics of our space and then the 3D images she did for us. Structural work and remodelling is expensive and our designer (Gina from Create Perfect) was a fraction of what we're spending on the house (far less than I would have expected) and has been worth her weight in gold for getting the space right! I was also surprised by the amount of money we saved using her trade discounts for things like worktops, appliances, carpeting and lighting etc) We're in the middle of building work right now, so I can't post any finished pics but my advice would definitely be to spend a little bit of money now and make sure you get it right as the wrong decisions with walls and structures are mistakes you can't change without a lot more time and money! Good luck whatever you do- it's all very exciting!!!

Where is your plumbing/drains going to be? I at the back or on the right side where the old wc was? I was going to suggest using the 3m side next to the lounge for your wc & utility but if the plumbing is on the other side then it’s best kept there If that’s the case then few things to consider... Are you having doors across the back? Is your preference to have the dining area looking out into the garden OR the living/tv area? I presumed the tv room would be the old living area and the new lounge in the open plan would be more of a social/casual tv area. Are you wanting a kitchen island? Would be helpful to have some ideas of your ideal space to work out the logistics

Here the layout as it is now

Hi Rosey, Hope these answers help: There are plenty of different ways you could redesign the space so it would be good to get really clear on what you want to base designs on. For the drains this is not that unusual, and is likely to mean that it is a shared drain, so it's owned by your water utility company. This might be worth checking. Yes any raised external platform / patio would need planning permission and may be refused on the grounds of overlooking and reducing the neighbours privacy. I am running my Free 5 Day Get Ready to Redesign Challenge in a few weeks. You will find this useful because I created it to help people in the situation that you are in - feeling overwhelmed and not sure where to start. So if you'd like to join in that you can do that here: https://www.i-architect.co.uk/readytoredesign.html I hope this helps! Jane, i-architect.co.uk