Enlighten my home extension/remodelling thoughts please!

5 years ago

last modified: 5 years ago

I am planning to extend and completely redesign the internal layout of my house. The house is currently a 4 bed but could possibly be extended to 5/6 beds. I have already appointed an architect and he has just sent me the first draft for our thoughts and then discussions with him in a few days.

To have a constructive discussion with the architect, I need some ideas, but this is where I struggle. However, I was wondering if fellow houzz users can help brainstorm some please!

Please take a look at the current and proposed plans (first draft) for your review and consider the following :

1. where to house the utility/boiler room etc.? I do not wish to have it included as part of kitchen/family room, as it will be reducing the size. I was thinking of putting the boiler/water tank in the loft?

2. I still feel that the ground floor is not flowing well. Any thoughts here please?

3. Any thoughts on the first floor proposed plans please?

Or the option 2 will be:

1. Not to do the double storey side extension, However, just do a single as the kitchen/family room on the left and build the second storey above the existing right side extension.

2. Keep 4 beds, increase sizes of the 2 small beds and improve the layout throughout the house with 1 family bath and 1 master ensuite.

Please let me know if you need any further info.

Any ideas/thoughts will be greatly helpful and much appreciated, thanks!

Featured Answer

Ellie

5 years ago

Sorry, I will be blunt - think the layout is bad!! To get to your kitchen you need to go into your hallway, cut through the dining room then cut across the living room..... I wouldn't have that at all.

At dinner time, you need to leave the kitchen with plates of food, cut through the living room and to the dining room?

It wouldn't work for me, but might for others.

There might not be much else you can do.....

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Comments (17)

Danielle H
5 years ago
I have to agree with above, that new layout is pretty awful and I'm surprised an architect suggested it! Your existing ground floor layout works better but could be re-jigged without the need for the extension.

Upstairs bed 3 seems so small its pointless and I'd consider using it as an ensuite for bed 1. The ensuite between bed 2 & 4 also looks awkward. I imagine falling over the toilet walking into the room. I wouldn't bother and just use the extra space split between both rooms. The large bathroom should be sufficient enough for those two rooms.

I'd go back to the architect with some visuals of what you want from the downstairs and/or floor plans of layouts you like.
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Space Cat
5 years ago
last modified: 5 years ago
Not wishing to be rude but it feels to me like it's an extension for the sake of having an extension.

Honestly, the first thing I would do is describe the kind of lifestyle you want to get out of your ideal home and list all of the things your current house does to prevent it. Then, armed with that information, I'd go back to the architect and ask them to start again ... from scratch.
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Juliet Docherty
5 years ago
Why not just build a garage extension with a bedroom above it? Is that possible?
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Jonathan
5 years ago
I agree that the proposed plan could be better- if it were me I would be worried about being able to maneuver a car into the garage, I think having the kitchen so far from the front door turns other rooms into corridors, the new drawing room is an altogether weird shape and upstairs you have more bedrooms and tiny bathrooms than you can shake a stick at.

I have a couple of quick questions:
1/ What are you hoping to gain from extending that you don’t currently have? If I lived in this house with a family I would want a better kitchen, a bigger lounge, an extra bathroom and for the two smallest bedrooms to be bigger.
2/ do you have a budget in mind because this is a big ol’ extension and often architects get carried away?
3/ can you extend in any other direction?
4/ are there other plot specific considerations such as sunlight, privacy, neighbours?
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Jonathan
5 years ago
Also the bottom of the stairs seems tight. Is that the case? Do you need to reimagine the stairs?
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1HB
Original Author
5 years ago
Thank you all very much for your honest thoughts. This was the first draft by our architect based on some wishy washy ideas of mine. I will keep in mind all the points that you have raised when I meet the architect. At least, I can confidently say that I am more knowledgeable than I was before staring this conversation!

Ellie, you are right in saying about the kitchen being away from the dining. However, it's just an error on th plan. Th front room is supposed to be a study and the back room dining (next to kitchen).

Danielle and Jon, you have given useful direction so I would definitely keep that in mind when I meet with the architect.

Colourhappy, I can check with the architect on your comment. However, we really need much bigger space downstairs rather than more bedrooms upstairs! Also, theres not need for a garage as we have plenty of parking in the driveway. However, the architect did mention that there's a rule in terms of the number of beds:garage.

Jonathan, you have mentioned exactly what I intend to do in this house. "If I lived in this house with a family I would want a better kitchen, a bigger lounge, an extra bathroom and for the two smallest bedrooms to be bigger".

What we really need downstairs is a very good sized kitchen/breakfast/family room, dining, separate living, a cloak room, a study(may be) and a utility room with an extension.

Upstairs, minimum 4 beds with a master ensuite and a family bath. The smaller 2 beds need to be rejigged to make them bigger. Could put a 2nd storey over the existing single to achieve all this. Really do not need heavy duty 2 storey side extension! I know it would be extremely costly..

As you rightly said, our architect is getting carried away. He proposed to obtain full planning approvals for the maximum. However, I would like to get the work done in stages, so it is likely that this may not work.

The house has the greatest potential on the left side rather than the right or the back. However, can be considered. There are no issues with the light, neighbours or privacy.

The space at the bottom of the stairs is ok. However, moving the stairs is a good idea.

Thanks ever so much!
Jonathan
5 years ago
You might consider using a concept planner to explore the creative options. It may well cost less to do this before getting the architect to do more work.
OnePlan is a big contributor on Houzz and you can find her details, send her a message and start a conversation about her service easily in the Pro Section.
For what it’s worth this is my first thoughts on a layout that would suit me.
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rinked
5 years ago
Will join this post soon :)
Jonathan
5 years ago
In case it’s not clear here is the plan with room titles
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1HB
Original Author
5 years ago
Jonathan, thanks for this! I really appreciate your thoughts. As another option, what if the staircase to stay put where it is now, what layout could you suggest please?
rinked
5 years ago
last modified: 5 years ago
Your internal layout could be so much better. I've tried some (rather large) adjustments. Did move the staircase. Kitchen pantry under them (60cm deep), maybe even the fridge. Wc where the stairs were (could make a tiny one and add the space to the breakfast area, but now there's room for a small wardrobe in the hall opposite the wc door). Added the old cloakroom to your 'breakfast area'. Water heater in the utility, nearby kitchen and upstairs bathroom, with exterior nearby for ventilation. No ensuite, but a 5th bedroom on top of the utility.
1HB thanked rinked
Jonathan
5 years ago
I’m not keen on the current stairs position because I think if you ever extend on the garage side there is a long way to get to any new bedrooms. Moving the stairs is not as complicated as lots of people thing and in your case it does avoid you having a windowless room in the middle of the house- however that windowless space could be made into a laundry/ boot room downstairs and a wardrobe upstairs.
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1HB
Original Author
5 years ago
Absolutely makes sense to move the staircase. Many thanks!
Jonathan
5 years ago
I have been having a play and this is a bigger suggestion if you are feeling flush
1HB thanked Jonathan
1HB
Original Author
4 years ago
Thanks Jonathan, your suggestions have absolutely given me plenty of ideas. Very happy with the group floor layouts. I can see this is going to work really well. I may not extend that much on the left into the garden though(may be a couple of meters). I guess, this will affect the room/bath sizes in the attic that you proposed? What size of extension (just the formal living room, no garage) as a minimum do we need on the left to allow us to have a decent size double room and a bath? I was thinking 30m-35m2?

For upstairs back bedroom, what if we do not extend back into the garden rather extend over the right side existing single storey (would give us approx 9m2)? What could be the layout then? Still need to have at least 4 beds with a master ensuite/dresser etc . and a family bath. Thanks!
Jonathan
4 years ago
In my opinion if you extend over the current utility you have exactly the same issue as you have currently with bedroom 4. The outside walls of the original house dictate the width of the side extension so it will just create another single bedroom.
If you extend to the left hand side a 35 metre extension is a very good size (your existing main bedroom is probably 14sq metres) but don’t forget that doing this is going to need a corridor to get to it which is going to take away 25% off one of your current bedrooms making them a single size. I can see the architect has suggested a narrow corridor to try to preserve some of the bedroom but a corridor that is 850mm wide is too narrow in my opinion.
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