Throw your 2c in to our complete refurb! First time refurb'ers, help!
We're just in the final processes of purchasing a new home. It is about double the size of our current home and needs a lot of work done to it - it was last decorated in 1978 (including the kitchen upstairs for the granny flat).
It's an old house with a rear extension, we know what we're doing with upstairs, but we're in limbo and undecided on what to do with downstairs. The floorplan is attached. Our initial idea was to open out the entire rear extension and put a utility room and wc in it, then also have the kitchen/dining/chill out area in there too (likely to be adding glass double doors at the end to look out to the garden).
However, after looking at the space involved we're not sure we'd have a lot of space left for kitchen/dining/chill area if we add a utility/wc in the rear.
We also looked to explore converting the sitting room (see floorplan) in to a utility (just off the kitchen and split the other half (at the hallway door) in to a shower room, this would allow us to have a useable wc/shower room for overnight guests (keeping bedroom 2 as a bedroom) and still have a downstairs wc.
The pictures I have attached are of the floorplan, some internal pictures of the kitchen, dining room, sitting room (the pink carpet and lonely chairs), bedroom 2 (blue carpet, looking out to the back), master bedroom (pink carpet and bed), and the shower room (through the wall from the dining room).
Our potential idea is to have the lounge remain as a lounge and the downstairs master bedroom turned in to a toy room for our little boy (and any others that may appear in the future). As a note, we know there is a soil pipe in the middle of the external wall between the master bedroom and sitting room as there is a shower room right above.
Ideally we'd like a place that we can use as the heart of the home (like the kitchen, dining room we look to make open plan) but we really think we need a utility room and we definitely need a downstairs toilet. Had thought about converting the sitting room to a more formal dining room but we're not sure how much we would use it as a "formal" dining room...
As a secondary note, there is a large room upstairs that we are converting to our own bedroom and two separate bedrooms upstairs. At the moment there is also a kitchen upstairs (it really is a granny flat) which we're going to be converting to a master bathroom. We've got one wee boy just now and will likely have at least one more kid in our future. Upstairs floorpan included for completeness.
Any ideas welcome to open our horizons, crazy ideas most welcome! :)
Comments (9)
Kris Nocker
6 years agoRelated Discussions
How old were you when you bought your first home?
Comments (119)I was 24 and my husband to be 32, back in 1978, we paid £19,500 for a 3 bed terrace in south London. Our eldest son bought in 2001 when he was 19 and on a small Royal Navy salary whist at university, sadly he sold it to pay for his wedding and hasn't got back on the ladder since. Our middle son bought aged 23 and our daughter with her then boyfriend bought their first flat at 21 and 22 straight from university in 2008 with one of the last 100% mortgages, they move next week into their third property aged 29 & 30. It's always difficult to get on the ladder but the sooner you start the better. We all live in Surrey by the way and nobody has been funded by the bank of mum and dad....See MoreKitchen total refurb/layout
Comments (24)New Qooker Fusion Flex tap in (Brilliant bit of kit). Built a dedicated drawer for charging devices. New table acquired. Island still outstanding. To Do list Lighting Remove remainder of cupboards Install reclaimed brick wall Fit new black column rads. Paint paint paint. New flooring (still to decide but a vinyl light grey slate in mind). Paint over existing brick wall in heavy white. Cooker splashback in gloss black metro tiles. Ready for Christmas! Apart from one evening, the kitchen has remained fully functional and 'presentable' throughout. An absolute necessity for our guests....See MoreFirst home :0 Living room layout help?
Comments (27)And another person agreeing...DO keep the fireplace. People in the future will be grateful. It's the natural focal point, and the tiling looks original. What a gift! I love your ideas about dark colours, and the teal sofa suggestion is genius - teal references and tones with green but also subdues the effect. Two sofas is a great idea; its an elegant and efficient way to seat 4 and no-one ever wants to sit in the middle of a larger one - it makes conversation impossible. One tip is to place them NOT right against a wall if possible. Pull them into the room even if only a little way, making sure you have enough circulation space between them and a coffee table Paradoxically, space behind a sofa implies a larger room. Alternatively, and I know this works, you don't have to have a coffee table between them, but can use side tables. I also agree that a TV above a fireplace is a very bad idea. It looks unsophisticated, it's harder to change when you want a new, or no, TV, and the angle of viewing is all wrong. A big black screen is not what should dominate your sitting room - which is going to be great. How exciting to be planning your first home....See Morehouse refurb how dusty?
Comments (9)Having just finished our renovation, which sounds similar to yours with an added full "roof off" loft conversion ... imagine stairs becoming a waterfall feature, I kid you not ... I can say with experience that the dust (and wood shavings, rubble, mud, screws, nails, bits of wire ... and much much more) gets absolutely everywhere. Covering stuff will help, though the covers themselves will get filthy so it's practically impossible to keep things 100% clean. You don't say if you're going to be living in during the build, but we did throughout the majority of ours so some things were out all the time (TV, sofas, beds). Despite all of that, most of our stuff has emerged pretty much unscathed....See More
kikiamack
6 years agoA B
6 years agoI have no idea how feasible it is, but could you move the staircase to the right of the hall? This would give you the opportunity to open up the extension with bedroom 2 and create a real wow space. I'm assuming it would also allow you to have an en suite where the stairs currently are upstairs, thus giving you the chance to convert the 'upstairs kitchen' into a 4th bedroom. Not sure what the blacked out area is though.
I agree about converting the sitting room into a utility and shower room (although I'd aim to have a separate WC and guest en suite if possible)
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6 years ago 
PROChristine Harrison Fine Art and Mosaics
6 years agoA B
6 years agokikiamack
6 years ago
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