We have done a few of these, more than happy to advise if you wish.

Hello James, Just a thought here and a very quick one!... If you have a galley arrangement you don't cut the room in half. You could then have a different kind of island/eating area. I love the island that morphs into dining if there is not a degree of separation to have two separate entities.. . The room spatially will feel more open, but of course it must be something you're happy with. For the seating area consider a chaise longue as if two don't sit, one can recline and gaze into the garden! If you were to make the side return ie follow along from the external wall (Living room) you could move the kitchen back in line with this. It's not a massive extension possibly 70 or 80 wide ie the doorway width approx.. It allows the access way to be left alone and thus you can still walk down past your kitchen.. There's no courtyard but you have a better flow through from front to back.. It's simpler perhaps but sometimes this is the best solution to a problem.. The living room could possibly have the angled wall removed to open up the living and kitchen area.. RSJ or some structural addition if the wall is load bearing and you'd need consent most probably.. Structural engineers, but the architect can advise you.. if you liked the idea.. It means you lose the door to the alleyway from the living room but I don't feel this is a gr8 loss.... You could move (or rather extend backwards to the new rear wall) the loo to my suggested new "rear" wall position boxed in from either side of course and with pocket doors and a small (read tiny) cloakroom in front accessed from hall side... so the door isn't opening directly into hall/kitchen/living but has two doors. So the end of the living room is squared off and forms one side of the new loo position. It's a minimal move. You increase the flow through from the living room by opening this out more and even a smaller amount would benefit. and then you can start the run (Kitchen) from back of downstairs loo with larder cupboard for example so there is again a degree of separation from downstairs loo and what is going to be kitchen units.. I also like to plan large monoliths like double height fridge freezers or larders in corners, which doesn't impede the view! Sliding or concertina doors at the back or my specific favourite .... Bring the outdoors in and visa vera! It's rather a more simplified design but I think it creates flow which I like the idea of in a home such as yours. You could put in wooden french doors if you wanted to separate front living from rear living but still keep them with the aesthetic feel of one room.. Don't lose the fireplaces if they're lovely they might be worth keeping! The other alternative is to square off the loo, do the small side extension as mentioned above and then you have two walk ways into kitchen from hall side and from kitchen side.. Then you'd have the FF or larder in the middle on the Loo wall .. This arrangement isn't open like my first idea.. but it would save you moving the loo in question.. : )) These are on a huge scale I know but they're to give you some inspiration about how to handle the door from kitchen to garden! Think garage style pulley system.. This kind of solution makes for a spectacular entrance to your garden and beyond!

Hi Simon Looking at your floor plan there seems to be a lot of under utilised space and i am guessing from the first floor plan that there will be sky lights down the left hand side of the extension? Have you considered moving most of the kitchen to the left hand side so your counters are under natural day light. You could sacrifice any top units for open shelving to maximise the light/view. Also may sure you have at least 1 unit space of worktop either side of sink and hob. If it is possible, perhaps a bigger utility could be gained by moving the dividing wall between the SRR and the hall??? Alternatively a cheaper option could be to install a wall of floor to ceiling cupboards in the SRR (kinda like a false wall) that you can hide everything away in (you could even include a large airing cupboard) The opposite wall could be a mix of shallow units, open shelving, a desk if needed or maybe library/reading area and lots of greenery? Think of the SRR as becoming a glorified grand hallway – keeping the middle clear will ease the flow and also give you a decent indoor exercise space? Lighting will also be very important in this area – maybe a mix of ‘daylight’ effect bulbs and also mood lighting/lamps for when you want it more cosy. I have added a couple of drawings below to help visualise what i mean – might spark some new ideas? Good luck with the project

Hello HU-267915313, If you are looking at increasing the value I would probably consider getting a layout package - a concept planner who can really investigate the space in scale - and what you can get from the space. We offer three different layout options with ours. I would keep the courtyard anyway personally, I think it will make a great feature. It depends on how you use the space and what you want from it - do you use the dining room a lot? How many people need to sit in the living space? Personally one of the things I would look at first is creating a booth-style seating area in the entrance to that space, leaving plenty of space to look down and out of the doors and to access the space - and move the entry to the courtyard here so you can access it from the center of the house. This then also gives you a full three-wall area in the corner to add the sitting room and TV area which has great communication to the kitchen but also isn't the first thing you see when you enter - allowing it to have some nice light and views of the courtyard (if desired). It's a basic plan but like this - this is to scale with what measurements I can make out on the plan. This is the sort of booth area - it can be done is several ways or just be a table and bench pushed further to the right-hand side. ...and yes to an island. I hope this helps. All the best, Gina