Hi Heather, thank you for the reply.

I did think about what you have suggested and really do like the idea of a larger kitchen. I think the space would be put to more use. If we were to open it up as you say my only slight worry would be the pillar we'd be left with in the middle (at the bottom of the dividing wall in the BEFORE part of the image above).

The conservatory will be coming down in the summer. It isn't to our tastes and is just not efficient in terms of insulation. It is old and falling apart!

We have moved the bathroom upstairs but certainly wouldn't rule out a downstairs WC. It's not essential though. I think we'd prefer to use the space for a larger kitchen area.

Thanks again.

David

I'm not sure if that is actually the case Jonathan. Do you have any sources to back that up? Nothing was said to us when we had ours installed upstairs. We made it very clear we were going to get rid of the existing downstairs bathroom in time.

Jonathan is referring to part M of the building regs. The attached would appear to imply it's only applicable to properties built after 1999. I also think if the wc didn't meet part m previously there's no requirement to do so when altering/extending. Did you not need building regs for the new bathroom drainage and ventilation? If you click on this link it would appear to imply you may? It might be worth clarifying in any case

https://www.planningportal.co.uk/info/200130/common_projects/34/kitchens_and_bathrooms/4

So I managed to find a good online room designer and have been playing around a bit. I took what Heather said onboard and have utilised the existing dining area and opened up the kitchen/dining areas as well as taken away the reception wall.

minnie101, thanks for the link. Our property was built just after the 1900's. I'd like to think our builder would have said something if he thought it was a legal requirement. I will ask him about it tomorrow when he pops round. Thank you for bringing it to my attention.

Thanks for the suggestion. Personally I've never been a fan of places where the front door leads straight into the reception area. I like somewhere to keep jackets and shoes and perhaps a small table to put keys on etc.

Man About The House - thank you for that and I think you are right, I've measured again and our house has gained half a metre from bay window to back wall. I was getting to grips with the software and trying to get it done within my lunch break! As Heather has said the only problem is that pillar which supports a steel holding up the upstairs external wall. If we could get rid of this then this whole project becomes much much easier!

OnePlan - Thank you for your offer. I have my builder coming round tomorrow to take a look at things. I will email you in due course. We do see ourselves here for the foreseeable future and would like to get things right first time if we can!

Thanks all. Have a good evening.

David

The steel will be being held up 'almost certainly' because that's the way it was designed. It 'should' be possible to have one steel, although it will be deeper sitting on two nibs either side. You need the nibs to disguise the ends of the kitchen units any way.

Whether or not you have room to take a deeper steel is a matter for the builder and the structural engineer. As OnePlan says, taking on the services of a concept planner is invaluable in many instances as they are really adept at what they do, visualise things instantly and advise on what will flow and work best for you. So I say it's worth a look in to.

I invisualise something like this, but obviously it's an artists impression and relies on info being obtained from a structural engineer, a builder etc.

Thank you all so much for your input. You've really given me a sense of what is achievable here in the house. At first all I saw were walls and a lack of space. Now I'm starting to see the potential here and what is achievable.

I think keeping the reception room as it is and just adding doors out to the dining/kitchen area is a great idea. The main expense as I see it will come from removing the central support where the existing steel sits. I take it a second steel would support this one from underneath and run from left to right as in the illustration above? I'll have a chat with the builder later and see what he thinks.

I will give adding a downstairs toilet some serious thought Emily. I think what needs to happen is we need to open up the space and see what we have. It'll mean less space for a kitchen unless we can really shoehorn it into the space under the stairs. My only concern here is this is where the water, electricity and gas all present themselves into the property. I'm sure we can get around this though.

Thank you all again. You've been a great help.

No you wouldn't normally have two steels, you would change the existing for a bigger one in depth, but more load bearing. Depends on the walls either side being suitable to have a steel inserted in to them and the height of the steel being suitable to go in to give adequate head height. I'm sure the structural engineer will sort out what's possible.

I am currently doing a kitchen extension my self, so i understand your dilemma. I would say don't forget to consider letting natural daylight in to the house. If budget permits. I would suggest wall to wall or large enough bifold doors at the rear, to bring the out, in. It makes a a lot of difference to light & feel of the space. I am noticing the difference, as I live in a mid terrace house. Good luck.

I thought it would be better to revive my old thread rather than create a new one, I hope that's OK.

After our wedding a weekend or so ago we are now ready to start seriously planning the above works. I have a call scheduled with Resi for later this week which I 'm sure will be helpful.

I measured the width we'll have available and it's coming out at 4.6m. This I think will be enough width for what we have planned. That being a set of units along the right wall and a 900mm wide island. This would leave roughly 3m for space around the island and then either a dining table or perhaps even a small sofa on the leftside.

Before I go barking up the wrong tree here, does this all sound feasible? The design would very much look like the one above in Man About the House's sketch. Galley design with a long island up the middle.

Is there anything else I need to consider here? I want to try and get as many questions together before speaking with the architects/designers.

Thanks again.

Hi Emanuelle. Yes, apologies, I meant that the 3m would include the space around one side of the island as well as the space needed for other things. On other words, yes, we only have about 2m to play with.

Thank you for those pictures and for the inspiration. Some great ideas there. I have yet to measure the total length of what would be our new kitchen - I will do this tonight.

Hi Ellie,

Check out the Realistic Images function. It's great!

I agree about the hob. I think this needs to go on the wall with the units with the sink on the long island. I'll move the stools to the long side also. This will free up space in the end unit for storage (cookbooks, wine etc). My only issue there is that we wouldn't have the overhang for legs to go under....

Thanks for your advice.

As I thought really. I'll find a place to put them! :)

That looks great and certainly something we could consider. Thanks.

Hi guys, me again. So now that the wedding is out of the way (and I mean that in the nicest possible way), we can finally start thinking about the house refurb. Attached are a few mock ups using homebyme. They are as technically accurate as I can get them but obviously realise things will need to be moved around slightly. The general idea can be seen though.

The hob would move next to the fridge (which may also move) and we'd have the sink in the island. The shelves you can see take up too much space and therefore wouldn't be used. We'd have something like in the pic below instead.

I am still unsure as to whether or not to have a dividing wall between the living room and the kitchen. I'd welcome any thoughts you guys might have before I go ahead and have someone draw up something.

Cheers

David

Hi Oneplan, thank you for this. Don't worry, we are nowhere near the ordering stage just yet. I messaged you a while back and you sent me a detailed reply which I'm going to read over now - thank you.

Hi David, the new plans looks really workable and only a little organisation will help things a lot. For a start, I would suggest that the Kitchen could remain in its earlier position, as it works just great, and am sure you are also keen on reducing the costs for this renovation. Consider putting a small kitchen island in the middle of the space, but nearer to the kitchen area such that one can work comfortably between both of these. The dishwasher and the washing machine can take up the space on the north wall adjacent to the kitchen area. If both can’t fit in the small area without blocking the rear exit, consider pushing the washing machine along that wall such that it’s just next to the small island. In fact the island is best placed in that position to be used as a worktop, bench during clothes cleaning. Lastly, the 6ft dining table can occupy the remaining space between the island and east wall comfortably and with a lot of space to spare for chair movement. This pretty straightforward arrangement will save on both the time and cost of doing your modification. Hope this helps. If you need any further advice, feel free to get in touch via email (ed.rogers@betterspace.co) or through out site: www.betterspace.co. All the best! Ed