lisafreedman71

Reducing sq footage! The cardinal sin???

lisafreedman71
6 years ago
Hi,
So after almost 3 years of relaxed “thinking about it” - mainly on the part of OH, we’re now starting to have serious discussions on the big stuff - kitchen, bathrooms etc.

However last week, a great big spanner was thrown in the works when an issue I thought we’d addressed an age ago reared it’s ugly head. Thought we’d decided against having the conservatory or any other structure in place, deciding to opt for reclamation of the garden space instead. Now OH tells me he wants us to review to ensure it’s absolutely the correct thing to do. Don’t want to rework the rest of the house and 5 years down the line say “you know what, really wish we would’ve done it”.

I can see from a financial point of view it makes sense, ie. not reducing floor space. The old conservatory would definitely have to come down, very tired, blown glass and dodgy light sucking roof. My biggest concern however is what to put in its place to make sure space flows and so it wasn’t seen as just “an add on”. For that reason my initial thought would be to keep it as part of the original lounge and not create a separate room but have it as a zone within the lounge - reading areas, comfy seating, making the most of being so close to a great outdoor space.

All thoughts welcome.
Thanks
Lisa

Comments (15)

  • Carolina
    6 years ago
    I’d be interested to see the plans for the renovation, but initial thought is that I would take the conservatory down and not replace it. Either that or extend out about 1.5 m over the full width, so both dining room and living room gain space. With lots of glass. But not sure if that’s worth it.
  • lisafreedman71
    Original Author
    6 years ago
    Didn’t want to obscure the original barn opening by extending fully across the back so we have replaced the window & door.

    Generally we think they got it right when they refurbished the house back in the late eighties/early nineties, so don’t want to really mess about with layout. It certainly suits how we live. May just mean knocking down the wall in the kitchen and utility to open up.
  • PRO
    OnePlan
    6 years ago
    You maybe Also need to consider adding an entrance to the lounge from the hallway too ?
    If you design your lounge seating around the fireplace with a pair of swivel chairs backing on to /looking out to, the garden... that could work - the doors seem wider than in the rightmove plans - make me wonder how accurate they are ?
  • lisafreedman71
    Original Author
    6 years ago
    Hi Karen.
    Yes the plans are a bit ropey. There is actually a double set of doors from the hall into the lounge as well as the front door being above the wording hall. Both missed off the plans. So in all we currently have 3 sets of double doors in this room - extravagant or what!!!
  • PRO
    OnePlan
    6 years ago
    Lol ! Very !! It looks like you have achieved a lot since we last spoke ! So all good !
  • Carolina
    6 years ago

    Ah, but there are new doors in the dining room already! The photos you showed still had pretty dated doors :-) I think I recognise the new doors from an earlier dilemma? Anyway... looks good. And I still think that you'll gain so much light when you lose the conservatory, that you won't regret it.

    Even more light when you add something like this only over the width of the living room.

    But again, not sure if it's worth it?

  • lisafreedman71
    Original Author
    6 years ago
    Not as much as I’d like but accept some headway. I do keep pushing believe me ha ha.
    All windows replaced (except those in the lounge/conservatory) and the 30 year old floor standing boiler replaced and relocated into the guest bedroom.
  • Carolina
    6 years ago

    Another example of what you could do, if you wanted:

    Oh, adding Houzz photos again doesn't work, sigh. So here's the link:

    https://www.houzz.co.uk/photos/query/glass-extension/nqrwns/p/48

  • Carolina
    6 years ago

    I'll stop now, you get the idea ;-)


    Fulham road · More Info

  • Juliet Docherty
    6 years ago
    last modified: 6 years ago

    We had the exact same issue with our house and an identical conservatory. We removed it as it prevented us from designing the garden the shape we wanted and recycled every bit. You could keep the base and have a raised patio area?

  • Jonathan
    6 years ago
    I love Carolinas plan for a glass box extension- if for any reason you don’t do this you could invest in the garden instead and create an outside room
  • lisafreedman71
    Original Author
    6 years ago
    Thankyou Carolina I think you’ve cracked it! Loving these ideas, in particular image 2. Think it would compliment what we’ve already done with the barn arch and flood what currently is a middle room with light. Will show OH and then maybe I can get back on track with kitchen & bathrooms.
  • Carolina
    6 years ago

    Glad you like it. Think you will get the best of both worlds with that. Larger garden, conservatory feel and more light in the lounge. Good luck.

  • Sarah
    6 years ago
    Love Carolina's idea for the glass add on, it will add a real wow factor and link the house and garden. I'm not a fan of conservatories, I feel they create a barrier and block the rest of the house from feeling connected to the garden. They often either too hot or too cold too.
United Kingdom
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