House Floor Plan Design Dilemma.
We moved into our 1920s bungalow 5yrs ago. A lot of work has been undertaken but it's still not quite working for us.
We are a family of with my elderly parents, so we split the bungalow in half & created an annexe for them.
We have full access under the house & can pretty much move pipework/water any where d/s.
U/s was already converted but we moved the stairs & extended the gable end to create an extra bedroom & a bathroom u/s.
We should have looked to raise the ridge or add dormers but we honestly thought it would be OK - but now we are struggling for space.
So options we have been considering :
Raise the roof, gain the extra space u/s, potentially maybe even a 4th bedroom - so kids could have a room each.
Current upstairs dimensions for the rooms that run parallel, one is 2.1 wide & 4.2 long, the other shorter room is 2.3 wide and about 3.7 long..
Next we have considered building a chalet in the garden for my parents, meaning we gain the extra floor space downstairs. Being open plan is great but as the kids grow its becoming obvious we need a quiet space.
Also we need to house a drum kit & piano. If I can get the drum kit in my sons bedroom then great but at the mo, because it's a shared room, there's no room for much other than the 2 beds.
Add a porch or a side extension & relocating the front door.
Driveway space is important but the current hallway doesn't work. It's 1.2 wide by 6 long. The kids fall over each trying to get shoes and coats off. You have to go out of the front door to say goodbye to people because it's not wide enough to have 2 people side by side.
So we're looking to reconfigure the layout. We were originally going to do it up and move but we've realised we love the location.
The views at the rear are great but as mentioned not a huge space on the drive to house a van & 3 cars meaning someone is always parked down the road (Country lanes so no parking at front).
We've added about 200k in value since we bought 5yrs ago, (mortgage valuation Dec18). It would cost us around 50k just to move, so prepared to spend at least this getting our forever home just right.
We need to retain an extra bedroom d/s as we host students for 9/12 mths.
We also need a d/s loo with shower, which gets used by them.
If we build a chalet in the garden, we would have to demolish the annexe bathroom extension to allow for a driveway from front to back.
The open plan area, the island is too big but I struggled with kitchen designs. We have been told our neighbour is considering an extension meaning the window will look at a wall.
We have to walk in front of the sofas/TV to get to the rear doors.
The rear doors in the living room desperately need replacement but we are trying to hold fire until we know what to do!
Any ideas, advice, inspiration all greatly welcomed.
I am looking to enlist the help of a pro from. Houzz but think we need a better idea of what we want /need first!!
Comments (7)
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Comments (6)Hi Ollie, lovely house congratulations. Do you know when it was built? I'm guessing late 1930's. With regards to your dilemma I'm probably not best placed to give an opinion as I have quite strong views about conservation of buildings. However bearing that in mind I would like to say please don't render it 100%, I think you could potentially devalue the house. Is the current render roughcast? If so this would be typical of the period. Regarding Windows I would be inclined to put in what was original to the house, presumably timber or crittel. Have the original windows already been ripped out, it's hard to tell from the photo? I think if you have a period home which is beautiful the frontage should be maintained, if you want to modernise by using aluminium windows for example apply this to the rear of the house in the form of any future extension you might do. So in summary I would not 100% render, I would repair the existing render if required using the same render type (ie. Not smooth if it is roughcast) and windows should probably be white timber. Sorry if that goes against the modernisation plan but it good to get other opinions! Enjoy your new home and good luck with it all....See MoreDilemma planning ground floor of London Victorian House
Comments (6)As Kerry says you need the actual dimensions for proper comments. I would say one thing though, it's very unlikely that you'd be able to move the kitchen to the front room as your drainage is probably not at all conducive to that. I presume the drains are at the rear on the right. Either they are at the back or to the side of the kitchen if it's a semi or detached. My initial thoughts would be somewhere along the lines of blocking the end of the Hall, creating a downstairs loo. Changing the entrance to the kitchen by using the dining room and getting rid of the french doors. I would have the lounge as a room on it's own, the kitchen / diner as the open plan bit and a second lounge area off the kitchen. I don't have time to have a play at the mo and without dimensions it's too hard....See MoreDesign dilemma - creative ideas to solve an extension dilemma! PLANS!
Comments (11)Concerns about tree roots could be from the neighbours or due to a TPO. We’ve been through this recently and have designed our extension to avoid the entire tree protection area (based on an arboricultural report-a requirement for us even to apply for planning). Despite that we have planning conditions on storage of building supplies (not near any trees), not being able to change ground levels (eg around patio areas) and being required to dig manually, not use diggers for fear of damage to roots. An arboricultural consultant should be able to advise on where and how you can build in relation to the tree, and then you would need the Council to accept the consultant's opinion. I assume the vendors must have had an opinion to plot the protection area? Also my understanding is that TPO legislation overrides permitted development legislation. As we've several TPOs, we’ve got to know the local council tree officers, but it’s the best approach as there can be heavy fines if you get it wrong....See Morefloor plan dilemma
Comments (3)I cant see anything marked ”guest” on the plan? i would just consider how the utility will be used, for me personally i’d rather combine cloakroom and utility with access off the hall. It would give more unit space in the kitchen but you also don’t have a long traipse down the stairs etc to do the laundry. You might also consider if you need access to the garden from the utility to dry clothes...See MoreLouise
5 years agoUpstairs kids rooms and bathrooms. Please excuse the mess we are trying to have a huge clear out.
There is an extra mattress in the boys room on the floor from a sleepover and there is a gap around 65 wide between the 2 boys beds, but the 20cm gap at the bottom of the beds to get around is proving tricky.
I had one bed under the window and one down the side, but we built a den in the eaves for them which they were using quite a lot so we moved the bed around.
Nina Thompson
5 years agoNina Thompson
5 years agoAs a vague vision, (can help on detail if you think ok In principle) Ideally I’d reclaim the annexe for play/music/ kids room and annexe bed add ensuite as use for students. Turn cloak room to downstairs loo access from hall. current student bed into cloak/boots storage and utility. Open up current utility to access new cloak room and if you need extra kitchen space could put larder where wash machine etc is at moment, I would avoid too much wall movement as expensive assuming you need to save the money for new chalet in garden (friend achieved chalet style for around £65-70k). If you have budget I would certainly extend upstairs one side of house to make use of eades and up to full height so you could have as a minimum bunk bed arrangement or 2beds depending ages of your children. Pending budget could look into whether can get another bedroom up there. Obviously this is just a vision would need more detail to confirm, hope you can see mark up on plan attached
Jonathan
5 years agoA alternative idea is to make the main house bigger by extending at the back, and putting pitches roof side extensions on too. The annex could use the main door and you could have a new side door. My plan shows your parents having a new bedroom at the side and there old bedroom becomes a bonus room. Upstairs I have planned four bedrooms.
Clearly this would exceed a £50k budget but it may be worth considering what you want eventually and building it in stages as the budget allows.
Jules Mc