House layout with extension. 4 or 5 bedrooms?
For background our requirements were to have a large open plan kitchen-diner-living space, a separate lounge area, a study as both me and my husband work from home. We wanted to move our staircase as it is currently along the attached wall (red dotted line) in the room currently marked lounge but it is very steep. So where you see it in the plans attached is where the architect has currently suggested but this could be moved elsewhere. I thought about possibly having the stairs coming directly off the open plan area? But will this mean a lot of noise travels upstairs? We also have 3 DC so originally I wanted to have 5 beds so they would have a room each and we would also have a spare. We have family visit once a month so I wanted there to be minimal disruption each time they visited I.e not having to turf one of the kids out of their room or have them taking up the lounge. But now I'm wondering if that compromises the overall space too much.
In the plans attached the walls highlighted green are the outline of our current house and are the walls that need to stay structurally. We also needed to stage the extension backwards in order to make enough car parking spaces at the front as per council requirements.
I'd be so grateful if anyone has any thoughts or suggestions?
Comments (27)
Ellie
5 years ago
PRODrawing Inc Ltd
5 years agoI think you are probably worrying unduly - the rooms are pretty reasonable size and with a few tweaks you will achieve more space and storage - I would stick with the 5 bedrooms. You always have the study or the formal lounge to act as an overflow space for guests.
Attached a my initial thoughts but I think the ground floor plan could potentially work a lot harder for you than it currently is.
I also wouldn’t get too hung up on the existing structure if you are spending this amount of money on the project 2 or 3 lengths of steelwork is a very small outlay for a huge gain.
Geoff
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Comments (8)Made some layouts for you. Hope they may inspire. And let me know if you'd like to adjust some, as kitchen layouts are full of personal wants and needs. Left: A table in the middle might look nostalgic, but would be in multiple 'traffic lines', so a working table with stools could be handy, multi purpose. Top left an open 20cm wide unit for cutting board/books, then a 60cm tall unit for microwave/oven/steam. Sink not under a window, as I used standard cabinet sizes and wanted the range (90cm) to be all stylish inbetween drawers. On the left of the sink 2x50cm doors, on the right 60cm dish and 60cm door. Sink unit itself 100cm with drawers (this is the starting point of the kitchen design and countertop depths). The another corner to display kettle/coffeemaker and a freestanding fridge freezer inbetween panels. Kitchen would have two corner units, I can recommend having at least one Lemans. Open farmhouse look, though with large working triangle. Centre: Symmetric range (100cm) wall. Sink (90cm) under window. Peninsula with seats. Three 90cm corner units. Distance between peninsula and tall unit is about 135cm. Right: Similar layout, but with sink and DW in the peninsula, two corner units under the window (starting point of kitchen design), range opposite the sink. Fridge and freezer built in. Shallow cupboards on the diningroom wall, perhaps a glass door in the middle with some lights in. Distance between peninsula and wall is about 140cm, between sink and range is 150cm. (to return a favour paypal.me/rinkedit)...See Morezarie617
5 years ago- PRO
User
5 years agolast modified: 5 years agoI think the two main rooms are too long and narrow. They don't need to be that long as it serves no purpose when trying to place furniture, but they do need to be wider for adequate walk space. All other bedrooms are ok.
This is roughly what you have:-
This would be better:-
Currently it's only possible to put one small wardrobe in the main bedroom, by making it wider you can have a proper bank of wardrobes. In bedroom 2, by making sure you move the wall far enough back on the left, you will get a niche for your wardrobes, and space for a chest of drawers or dressing table.
PROBetterSpace: The Floor Plan Experts
5 years ago
rinked
5 years agoJonathan
5 years agorinked
5 years ago- PRO
User
5 years ago rinked
5 years agozarie617
5 years agolast modified: 5 years agoThanks so much for all the comments. I have attached a couple of pics that explains the plot a little more. One showing our current plot as is with existing house (the trees at the front of the house and the oak in the middle of the plot are no longer there). Another showing our current floor plan and a 3rd photo of current plans with boundaries (the hedge is no longer there).
So I too am not overly keen on the front door over to one side, I would prefer it to be in the middle, it just seems difficult to achieve as the drawn plans are at about the max footprint given our boundaries and requirement to achieve 3 parking spaces. I’d thought about not having an enclosed hall and having stairs in the open plan area but again unsure how to fit this in.
We also have an underground culvert running between the extension and boundary line on the rhs (drawn in blue line). So this again limits how wide we can go. I have attached our current floor plan. It really is just the green outline I did previously. The house is currently approx 70m2 and the extension will add approx 90m2. We do have a plot that goes off on an angle. Our current bathroom window also partly looks into the neighbours garden because of how the boundaries sit.
rinked
5 years ago- PRO
Drawing Inc Ltd
5 years ago A B
5 years agoA B
5 years agozarie617
5 years ago- PRO
User
5 years agolast modified: 5 years agoI'm with rinq..............The whole kitchen / living / dining space doesn't work with 'to scale' furniture in it.
The kitchen would have to be very small to allow for adequate walk room and you would struggle to fit a dining table in where the architect has it.I'm with rinq using the study as the entrance, so something like this:-
The width of the extension does need amendment because although the length of the bedrooms upstairs is great, the widths are awful. Bed placement is difficult and there is virtually no allowance for storage. 5.8 metres across the width is just not really enough. You need to aim for at least 7m. - PRO
User
5 years agolast modified: 5 years ago - PRO
Drawing Inc Ltd
5 years ago rinked
5 years agolast modified: 5 years agoExcuse my sloppy floorplans ;)
First floor with most of the outline your architect suggested, but quite a lot of internal changes to make the open plan flow. Old livingroom is for work, maybe even keep the old entrance. Toilet accessible by business guest without them going through the house. Utility and backdoor behind the kitchen. No fireplace. Good sized hall with staircase.
Second floor from scratch, leaving in the loadbearing walls, but did add a few doorways in them. One family bath with tub and double sink. Five bedrooms, one of them with ensuite. No plumbing in odd places.
- PRO
Drawing Inc Ltd
5 years ago rinked
5 years agolast modified: 5 years agoA B
5 years ago- PRO
Drawing Inc Ltd
5 years ago
Jonathan