Open plan kitchen redesign
7 years ago
Hi,
I’m going to view this house at the weekend, the space is great but I’m not happy with the narrow kitchen. As we’ve a young daughter, we’re keen on an open plan kitchen/dining/living space. My thoughts were to take down dining room wall and open that space out for the kitchen with glass doors on living area to close when needed. I’m not sure about the downstairs wc location and utility area in garage but the focus for now would be the kitchen. Any suggestions or advice would be greatly received! Thanks
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7 years agoRelated Discussions
Cost Effective Open Plan/Kitchen Re-design
Comments (12)Hi kirsty. Do you need the 3 beds and an extra ensuite? The cost of moving the soil pipe to the other end of the house may be pretty expensive. I also think if you put an ensuite in you probably need a sink otherwise you'll still need to use the bathroom (you may also need to by law but am just guessing on that!) personally i would also arrange the living area to include a round table to seat at least 4. Maybe you could squeeze an "en suite" adjacent to the bathroom if you take some of the storage space too?. You will be left with a long narrow corridor but should be cheaper. You could also extend out next to the bathroom but then need to get light into that bedroom. Or using plan c extend out a little above the loo to include a sink. You could also remove the chimney in the back bedroom to allow for easier furniture arrangement....See MoreOpen plan redesign
Comments (6)Hi - if you are thinking of moving/knocking through any walls, the best thing to do is to get a professional opinion on what is possible as you may have a load bearing steel in front of your fridge - but don't quote me. An architect can give you a free quote (many independent ones do) and they can tell you the implications and costs. For your lounge to family room if you do decide to knock through I would suggest you have a designated grown up space and have a more casual area for children to use and to later be able to do their homework. In your new area lounge, you could move your sofa and television, whilst the secondary area could be more casual where you could have some shelves (maybe placed high up if you have little ones) where you can start building an area for children to work, by adding a small desk and lamp etc. It will probably encourage them to do their homework when you create an inviting space. On the decoration front, you have gorgeous light coming through so you could go for most colours, it also depends on what colours you like. e.g. the colour of the kitchen tiles are grey so you could go for light or dark grey walls, but it depends on if you like it! I would also consider adding plants even if it is a few here and there it will really add some life into your space. Here are a few examples of dark and light grey walls in similar kitchens:...See MoreLighting Plan for Open Plan Kitchen / Diner / Lounge
Comments (4)If it were me firstly I would have one switch for task lighting- I think your planned 4 spots in the island boxing is enough but would have them in a row. I would have an additional 4 in a row in the ceiling above the walkway between the island and the main run of kitchen cabinets plus an additional two behind the sofa (but put a softer bulb in these). I would have two in the ceiling above the sink as I think it is tidier than having a wall light. Don’t forget to put a few in the laundry cupboard too. Since your extension ceiling is sloped I would have inset spots that you can angle. Personally I think that when you use the desk you switch on a desk light. I would have a ring of 3amp sockets so that you can switch on two table lights in the sitting area and two standard lamps in the dining area (or two table lights on a console table) and the LEDs above the bookcases. In my opinion you specify more than you need as you don’t have to plug something into every socket but the flexibility is useful. Personally I don’t think you need the coving light in the sitting area and think the idea is odd in an area with sloping ceilings. Next I would have additional kitchen lighting - I would have a run of LEDs under the base cabinets near the plinth and around the base of the island- these are nice to have on at night when watching TV as the kitchen is not fully lit but is light enough to navigate. Additionally I would have lights above and below the wall cabinets. I also like your idea of the boxing above the island having a shadow gap to conceal further LED strip lighting. Pendant lights- I agree that you won’t want one in the sitting area. I think it is messy to have pendants over the island with the additional boxing. I would have one over the dining table and choose an oversized fixture later- ensure that this lighting flex is near somewhere strong enough to mount a ceiling light of some size. Additionally I would have walk over lights in the floor near the garden doors. Remember these will reduce the focus of the garden at night- you might prefer to put these on the outside of the door to reverse the effect. Don’t forget to specify at least one socket behind the cabinets/ under island should any of the kitchen cabinets include lighting- this is especially useful in pantry cabinets. Don’t forget that you will likely need additional sockets in the laundry cupboard as you might well have a charger in there for a vacuum or drill. Personally I would have extra sockets around the desk and contain the router, you home answer phone, etc etc all in the same place. Don’t forget you can also get sockets that include a USB charger inlet. Since you are doing a plan for electrics don’t forget tv/ satellite aerial points. You should also take this opportunity to consider outside lights and power- consider sockets outside for garden lights, outdoor heaters, awnings, water features, mowing the lawn etc. LEDs unless you like decorating in very dark colours choose warm white lighting- a lot of strip LEDs can be adjusted to color match other lights in the room. LEDs- Last time I sourced these I was disappointed with the quoted costs from the electrician- do your own research online about price. Pay attention to the lumen levels and consider if you want disable LEDs. Boxing over the island. Choose your extractor before specifying the size of the boxing- I think the shallower extractors are deeper than the 20cm you stated....See MorePlanning open plan kitchen/dinner
Comments (1)Hi Zena - if you give me a call ( during office hours ) I’ll talk you through some bits to consider - click on my name or icon to get to my contact details on my pro page. :-)...See More
7 years agoGiven the placement of the plumbing in the bathroom upstairs ( back left ) I assumed that you could move the downstairs bathroom.
Therefore, I went a bit ' Grand Plan', but it's a much better layout if the Sun room proves to be okay for use all the time. I presumed it was because the kitchen is already partially open to it.
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I wouldn't recommend a main bathroom downstairs is a house with that many bedrooms. You have a lot of allocated wardrobe space around the bathroom on the right. You could use some of that.
Lots of people would sacrifice a bedroom totally or pinch space from a bedroom.
None of the sizes are marked, so it's difficult to say. However, using all the cupboard space around the En-suite for a walk in wardrobe might be good, and then sacrifice the bedroom behind that for a main bathroom. One of many options, i'm sure would be:-
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PRO7 years ago
clairefar14Original Author