skip to main content

Design Dilemma Kitchens

Kitchen, diner, family room layout dilemma

Charlotte McDougall

5 years ago

We have just purchased a victorian house, the lower ground floor is currently three rooms, kitchen, reception and utility. We'd like to try and get an open plan layout to get as much light as possible into the room and use it as the main family room in the house (we have a separate 'adult' living room on the ground floor). The current reception faces south but the window is below street level, the kitchen overlooks the garden and ground level is currently level with the bottom of the window and top of kitchen work surface, but we thought if we could take all the walls out we would also get light from the west facing windows on the stairs and utility (not marked on floorplan). It would be great to have ideas on how we could layout the space. Ideally I'd like a kitchen, sitting area, dining table and separate utility room, but think I may have to compromise on the utility room and maybe have a utility cupboard.

Floorplan and photos

below. The current utility room is 2.4m x 2.8m (excluding the extra bit off the bottom which currently has tumble dryer on top of washing machine.

Thank you

Sort by:Oldest

Comments (5)

chloeloves
5 years ago
I would keep the utility as it is, I don’t see that you would gain that much by incorporating it into a larger space. You could remove the walls between kitchen/dining room and kitchen/corridor this would then bring light from window and back door in, it looks pretty well lit with natural light as is. You could then have kitchen along wall with an island, then dining then seating in what is now the dining room. Of course some of these walls must be load bearing so you will need to talk to a builder/structural engineer to find out what can be removed and where replacement supports will need to be placed
Charlotte McDougall thanked chloeloves
E D
5 years ago
Congrats on your new house, it appears to have the bones of a great home.

Have you considered digging out some of the garden to create a floor, level with that of the kitchen?
Charlotte McDougall thanked E D
Related Discussions
Kitchen diner living and utility room layout dilemma!
Q
Comments (16)
Hi there, We had exactly the same problem about 6 months ago and despite all the squared scale paper in the world, I just couldn't imagine how it was going to look and went round and round in circles! Have you considered a concept planner? We used one and despite the fact I was standing in 3 separate rooms with doors, windows and openings in completely different places, she worked off the architect's plans and came up with photo quality 3D renders showing exactly how the different options would look. We even had a YouTube video of the 4 different layouts, so you could see how it would look as you walked around the room. The pics below show the room I was stood in as our concept planner did the 3D renders, how they actually looked and how the room as turned out. I am a huge fan and find the whole thing quite fascinating- it's like looking i to the future :) Thanks to using them, we were able to order our kitchen before the building work was done, so didn't have to go without a kitchen for ages! How the 3 separate rooms looked when the plans were done by our concept planner... A few of the 3D renders that she did at exactly the same time... And how it turned out.. It's completely cheating but it makes it a lot more fun and in our experience a lot less stressful :) Best wishes, Claire
...See More
Kitchen / diner layout dilemma
Q
Comments (2)
Hi Hans If you are considering knocking down the wall between the kitcchen and dining room then I would block up the door from the dining room to the lounge. This would then give you more usuable space in both rooms. Are you looking to change the layout of your kitchen too ? Or just remove the wall ?
...See More
Layout dilemma Kitchen/Diner
Q
Comments (7)
Removing the toilet and installing a side door could work. I’d be more inclined to move the utility to the garage and add a side door for light and access to the garden for hanging up clothes. The garage would be a good mudroom as you could just walk through the garage or side door, drop of muddy gear and walk in through the hallway. Plus bigger and brighter kitchen!
...See More
What’s the best layout for kitchen/diner/family space
Q
Comments (10)
Hi. We have a back room similar to this and 3 small kids!! here are my thoughts: kids need space! they have friends over and toys. We have rearranged our layout loads and found it’s very helpful to be Able to be flexible So for this reason I prefer the architects design for the location of the kitchen - as it’s to the side and then you can be flexible with the whole other half of the space.( It will also give you much more scope for a future side extension without redoing the whole kitchen). assuming You have full height storage across the whole back wall behind the door you will be able to contain all the kids toys as well as surplus kitchen bits. I would keep any non-day-to-day Crockery, baking bits etc along this back wall and keep only the everyday kitchen bits along the main kitchen wall. You could maybe keep the boiler in this area also so it doesn’t take up space in the kitchen. i would however switch the dining and seating area putting the dining table at the back (squeeze it even running along the storage wall) and keep the whole area By the garden for a sofa and a play area. You will find with small kids this is the area that is used most. When you’re entertaining you just twist the dining table and extend it running towards the garden. And if you don’t like it you have the flexibility to swap the dining and seating area. (We have been known to swap ours with the seasons! If you like entertaining I highly recommend keeping that run free of an island since the island can’t be moved! Hope this makes sense.
...See More
Charlotte McDougall
Original Author
5 years ago
Thank you for your suggestions. We’ve got an architect coming round tomorrow so hopefully he’ll be able to tell us which walls are possible to take out.
That’s a good idea to dig out the ground and maybe put glass doors along the back. I’d really like to be able to step straight outside without steps and it would let a lot more light in. The downside is the loss of wall space to fit kitchen units. Both rooms have large chimney breasts so i think it will either have to be a bespoke kitchen which is fitted around them or take out the chimney breasts. Not sure which one would be in our budget. I was also thinking a large island unit, but then that would block the view of the glass doors from the dining and sitting area.
PRO
OnePlan
5 years ago
You will need to consider fire regs too as this is a multi floor home .
If you are looking to stay here long term, it might be worth bringing a pro onboard to help with suggestions that will meet your budget /fire safety and building regs requirements.
In this instance I’d suggest an architect or design and built team if you are considering earth excavation and extension etc. Someone onsite who knows the local planners could be a good shout !
If you want to just work with the current footprint a concept planner and structural engineer could be enough ?!
Charlotte McDougall thanked OnePlan
A B
5 years ago
I agree I’d have a chat with a local architect to cost up various options. I’d ask about extending the current kitchen out too and connecting it to the garden (assuming you have the space). Then you could have double doors to the reception room
Charlotte McDougall thanked A B

Sponsored

More Discussions

Large sliding door or keep small French door and window

36

Which layout do you think would look best for our renovation project?

5

How to decorate window on landing

12

Kitchen diner garage access help

3

Room Layout - Help please!

0

United Kingdom

Tailor my experience with cookies

Houzz uses cookies and similar technologies to personalise my experience, serve me relevant content, and improve Houzz products and services. By clicking ‘Accept’ I agree to this, as further described in the Houzz Cookie Policy. I can reject non-essential cookies by clicking ‘Manage Preferences’.