creative layout/storage for 2m2 porch?
trifides
5 years ago
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house extension/layout
Comments (12)Personally I think this house is too charming to add a big extension against it. So I've tried to put as much of your wishes as possible into the current floorplan. Here's some suggestions. I've switched dining and living and put an opening in the dining-kitchen wall. So no more small table in your kitchen, but a spacious kitchen with plenty of tall cabinets (where your washer and dryer will also go, tucked behind doors, if you don't want them upstairs in the family bathroom). On the bottom right corner of the kitchen the soil pipe from your new ensuite bath. The only exterior extension is now a workshop. Kitchen layout from above, because the layout does look a bit odd in the floorplan. I've tried to use neutral cabinets, any style that suits the house and your taste would be fine. View from the dining room. From this point it looks like an ordinary kitchen. The mass of storage space and/or washer/dryer are out of sight. Then the second floor. A large dormer on top of the garage and new workshop, to maintain the shape of the original roof. Not sure if you can add windows to the side wall, because of the neighbours (I live in the Netherlands and over here there are several restrictions/guidelines), but some small windows in the short walls would let in enough light for a bedroom. Though I didn't manage to add a walk in closet, I did turn your study into a good sized ensuite. Enlarged the family bathroom, added both shower and bath, but instead of the shower a stacked washer and dryer could go here. A hallway is nibbled off the old master bedroom, with some floor-to-ceiling closets for bedlinen, towels, hampers, whatever you need to store in there. I hope I could give you some food for thought. Any questions are welcome....See MoreForever home, wrong downstairs layout. Help please
Comments (46)Hi Suzanne, Here are a few ideas that will give you everything you want with the least impact on your budget. Please understand that I'm only working with a floorplan and a small write-up of preferrences, which limits some of the imput without pictures. Starting from left of your floorplan and working our way to the right: Current Office = new 2nd reception Taking advantage of your southfacing garden with best views: Convert current office into the second reception room/snug/tv den/second closed off living area that you wanted. Knock down wall between office and breakfast room. Add wall - deviding breakfast area in two - this will give you a triple aspect room, taking advantage of the light and garden views & access. Depending on preferrences and your fence line, change windows to double doors and-or enlarge window space on south-facing side to add concertina doors out onto the garden. You mentioned you didn't need an office downstairs - put added a desk in this room if you keep that window as a window rather than convert to doors in case it is helpful. But of course, you can configure your furniture in any of the rooms for how it works best with your lifestyle. This will be a narrow room - hence a snug, garden room, extra tv lounge. A chaise lounge type sectional will give you the snug seating along with a chair or two. However, if you do want to do any extention work, you could think of adding that to the left side of your home to make this room wider and more all-purpose. Breakfast Room = new 2nd reception lounge & utility/hallway As already suggested above, divide the room into two to gain a triple aspect snug/enclosed lounge board up the doorway, or put wall where the doorway is not impeeded (as shown). Convert the rest of the Breakfast room into a tidy (appliances hidden behind cabinets or closet doors) utility area. You'll want to make this room look more like a hallway when not in use as a utility, connecting the rest of the house to your second enclosed lounge. Leave the wall and door between the current kitchen & the current breakfast area as is - which will hide this utility area when in use and muffle any noise from appliances. Garage = Garage you mentioned your partner wanted to keep the garage. moving it seems silly as doing so would possibly knock-out some of your light & views. also by keeping this as is, you will get the benefit of having access to the rest of the house via the garage & 2nd reception lounge, rather than having to go outside. Kitchen/Dinning Room/Hallway = Open Plan Kitchen / Casual Dinning Placing the kitchen cabinetry from the front current dining room window - along the wall shared with the garage & on the opposite wall traveling out into an extended countertop/breakfast bar. This will create a galley shaped kitchen that you can use a number of triangle patterned work stations to make this kitchen functional & beautiful. Put your casual dining area where the kitchen now is and add double doors to take full advantage of the views and the days you'd like to have the doors open onto the garden. Enjoy the double aspect light & open plan space. Keep your privacy at the front through the new kitchen with appropriate window treatment or frosted glass treatment if necessary Living Room = Open plan living room / dining room + kitchen / casual dining By placing a support in and partially removing the wall going from the new open plan kitchen / casual dining into the current living room, you will get the open plan lounge - kitchen - dining that you want. Open the wall from almost to the door next to the downstairs w/c to almost to the stairs (where the current living room door is now) (as shown). The current living room is very large, and can house both a living room - lounge area and a more formal dining room (if that is what you want) or a hobby space - music area or other ??? (there are many possibilities). Keep as is = Porch, Downstairs w/c, stairs with closet underneath for storage Porch gives you extra insulation, privacy & storage Downstairs W/C allows you not to have to move & install new large toilet waste plumbing which is often a higher end budget item Closet underneath stairs - storage! (cleaning stuff like mop & vacuum or coats or whatever) Stairs - by not changing the layout or location of the stairs, you won't have to do costly renovations upstairs (just do any cosmetic updating you desire instead as you didn't mention wanting to do major changes to the upstairs) and can use your budget more wisely downstairs. This plan should give you everything you said you wanted on your list and give you the most bang for your buck without needless spending -- or at the very least give you a few new ideas to jump off from. I've added a picture here. Sorry so un-professional. I am retired, so just keeping my hand in. Best wishes & good luck!...See MoreExtension layout help!
Comments (7)@OnePlan, thanks, that'd be great! I've tried calling a few times today, but you were busy so I'll try again tomorrow if that's ok. @Wumi, thanks for your suggestions. I had originally wanted to put the ensuite on the left of the master like you suggested, but we have concrete foundations and that's too far from the existing plumbing. @rinked, sun tunnels are a great idea. Are they noisy in the rain? I agree that the utility would be better on an outside wall, but we're prioritising a second sitting room. We live in the city and we're not really "outdoorsy" people. Besides, we have a porch which will have a wardrobe/shoe cupboard built in, plus some additional storage in the hallway....See MoreCreative ideas for playing around with living space please!
Comments (9)It looks like there is a window between Living and Reception? Could this be extended to make a door-height panel of glass to at least provide light and views through the house? You could replace the door between the rooms with a glass door and then you'll open it all up visually but with minimal work really. Looks like there is a pillar just inside the Reception though, presumably to suport the stairs, so maybe it's weird to open up view and see that though. Also, be careful about losing character by adding glass door - it's a good idea for light/views but might take away from the character of the house if it's got original wooden doors throughout. Otherwise I say embrace the rooms in their original proportions, at least until you do side return extension - but you'll still have the little front Living room so make the most of it. Depending on whether you have kids and their ages, I'd suggest making the Living room into a TV-free snug, with couple of small sofas or one sofa and one or two comfy chair(s) - keep the size of furniture in proportion to the room, have legs on the sofa/chairs so you can see more floor space, have a big rug to zone the seating area - keep a 'hallway' free running from front door through to Reception, to visually separate the seating/snug from the throughway. Try and get some clever storage solutions for this entryway - slim console table, hooks for coats, but try and keep everything neat and simple so it doesn't get cluttered and make the room feel even smaller. Use big mirror somewhere to maximise light and open up the space. If you don't need a TV-free snug then perhaps have a table and chairs in the Living room? Could be for dinner parties if you ever have them and/or for messy arts/crafts if you have kids - or just a spot for kids to do homework or someone to work from home. Similar to the TV-free snug, it might just be a lovely room that doesn't actually get used that much other than as a hallway, but it looks nice and gives the impression that you could host a dinner party or have friends over for coffee and have somewhere nice to sit - and quite often that is worth having even if you always end up standing in the kitchen chatting to everyone who visits! Other option is to turn Living room into a really lovely hall/entryway and get it kitted out as such - storage for anything and everything that comes into the house, somewhere to sit and put on and take off shoes, small desk/filing system for dealing with mail, noticeboard for house/kid/school admin, pet stuff, build in utility cupboard and hide washer/dryer behind cabinet doors. Given that it's your front door entrance you'd want it to be neat and tidy and everything to have a space, but no reason why it can't also be a lovely room to enter into. And turning the stair to enter from this space would make sense too. I am seeing it with wood panelling and Shaker pegs, fitted bench seating and fitted cupboards, all in a warm deep colour, round vintage rug on the floor, with views through open doorway to something lighter and more modern ahead. Any of those options leaves you with Reception as TV room/lounge, and dining table in kitchen for dining - with possibility of side return to open all that up later to provide large open plan space....See More- PRO
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Marina Drobot at Cinnamon Space
5 years ago 
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5 years agoIt's the dimensions that you need to get right for the build. Ensure that you build with the narrowest materials etc. Have a 762mm doorway instead of an 862mm door way. Just remember it's the external measurements that are measured, not the internal, so the depth of the walls is really important to maximize your space.
If you have the doors to one side instead of the middle then you can probably fit an Ikea Pax wardrobe in..........1500mm long and 440mm deep along the one long side. ( Or similar )
This will help maximize the storage.
Sorry about the crappy pictures, my software is playing up! The build above is 1.6m long by 1.3m wide giving 2.2m square, so that will work, you can have a little tollerance.
trifides
5 years agoColdwater
5 years ago
Ribena Drinker