Help on extension for open plan kitchen/living on 1930's house.

emma_howard_1993

3 years ago

Hi all,

My boyfriend and I have recently brought a great 1930's house. We are looking to 'square off' the back of the house and add bi-folds and sky lights to make a bright and airy open plan area, perfect for hosting. Within this space we'd like the kitchen, large dining area and a small sofa/chill area (we'll have the main lounge as well).

We are also planning a one story extension down the side of the house where there is currently a redundant driveway- (we also have a front drive). We were planning to have a garage, downstairs loo/shower and utility in this space. Still unsure the best use of this area though- should we have access to the garden etc?

The first picture below is the current floor plan.

The second picture is roughly our plans now (very much subject to change). There is a supporting pillar in the kitchen which is a bit of a challenge to plan around.

Any help or guidance on what you'd suggest to do would be massively appreciated!

Thanks in advance!

Featured Answer

arc3d

3 years ago

I agree with Jonathon. I think your furniture is out of proportion.

Also if its just the two of you, will you ever use the downstairs shower?

Side access is great if you need to take garden waste from the back to the front, otherwise you'll leave a trail of grass through the house every time you mow the lawn, but a garage is great for storage and hobbies.

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Comments (19)

Jonathan
3 years ago
Consider leaving the proportions of the back reception but widening the kitchen instead.
I would also want a path down the side of the house.
You should also be careful when using a planning app to ensure the furniture size is realistic (the LShaped sofa seems undersized)
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I think kitchen / diner to the garden always works best. Nice social use of space… might just nick your idea for our house 😝
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emma_howard_1993
Original Author
3 years ago
Thanks for your comments- massively appreciated. I think we’ll need some kind or storage for bikes/ski equipment/tools so on your sketch up Jonathan would need to work that in.

Also I’d be worried knocking down an outside wall would be very expensive.

We’ll be looking to expand/rent out rooms so ideally a shower downstairs but not essential.

Maybe a walk way through the garage and past utility/bathroom would work?

Thanks for the tip on furniture- will double check back on sizes.
Jonathan
3 years ago
I think a storeroom built as part of the extension will cost about £8/10k but a shed for bikes and the mower in the back garden will be less than £1000. The shed would be my preference.
As far as the cost of removing the side wall and extending sideways.... why do you think that would be much more expensive than removing the back wall and extending backwards?
As far as renting a room you would have more privacy if you made your front reception into a rental bedroom and put a shower room near the front of the side extension with a door into the hall near the front door.
Jonathan
3 years ago
One possible layout
emma_howard_1993
Original Author
3 years ago
That could work! I’ll size things up later.

I thought knocking down the back wall was cheaper because our current downstairs loo is in what looks like a extension- so easier to knock down.

All the pluming (including upstairs loo) is also at the back of the house so thought it made sense to have loo at the back.

I’m worried we’d need more storage still, do you have and suggestions where we could add any more? (We’ve got golf clubs too.)
Jonathan
3 years ago
Plumbing- of course you don’t want the cost of putting a WC along way from the drains but they almost certainly go under the drive to the road at the front so my suggested shower room position may not be the issue you are concerned about.
Sheds- they come in all sizes. The picture shows a 6m x 4m shed priced at £4K at Dunster House. This will probably be closer to £6k when you have installed it but building a similar space would cost 4/5 times more.
You could also build some storage in your hall
emma_howard_1993
Original Author
3 years ago
That is true- I like this idea. I’m not sure we need a walk way down the side of the house, if we’re adding an extension I’d say best go as far out as we can to add extra space?

I didn’t know about the drains on the road- I’ll explore that option.

Do you have any general rules on what is best to be in eye line when you walk through the door?

Also on your plan what did you envisage at the end of the kitchen?
Jonathan
3 years ago
Of course you don’t have to put a path down the side but as Arc said earlier it will be invaluable for the window cleaner, getting new fence panels to the back garden if you need to replace some..... it will be the route builders take if you decide a later extra extension to the back and save you taking things through the house such as lawn clippings, or anything from the garden centre or your skis and bikes if you keep them in the shed.
If you widen the kitchen you could put doors to the garden at the end- that depends on what kitchen layout you like which could then mean you could have a clear sight line from the front door to the garden.
emma_howard_1993
Original Author
3 years ago
That is true- we'll have another think about the route down the side. I re-checked all measurements and tried out a few of your initial plans and came up with the below... what are your thoughts on these?
emma_howard_1993
Original Author
3 years ago
last modified: 3 years ago
This is how it would look with a path down the side as well... we've put a door under the stairs for the utility space (although fuse box is here so not sure how easy this would be to be).
Jonathan
3 years ago
I think it’s definitely better to have a laundry room.
Personally I think the version with a path gives you plenty of space inside.
I think you should step the extension back slightly rather than lining it up with the front door- it will look better from the outside.
I think side windows are unnecessary and roof lights a better choice.
Jonathan
3 years ago
And this sofa is 3m x 2.27m and the seats are much deeper too so assuming the grid lines on your plan are 1m the sofa will me more like this size
emma_howard_1993
Original Author
3 years ago
Thanks that is helpful to know re. furniture size. Although we'd probably try to get a smaller sofa so the front lounge didn't become completely redundant! (Although again still not completely set on anything).

@Jonathan what do you think on something like this? Is this getting closer to what you would recommend to do in the space?
emma_howard_1993
Original Author
3 years ago
Note- I've left the windows on the left as I measured it all out and don't want to have to do that again- we would get rid of them.

Also... the doors into the laundry and toilet would be sliding 'peep' doors.
Jonathan
3 years ago
Your latest plan is inefficient. You have created an extra redundant space (1) in order to have a door to a laundry room but to do that you have to built an extra £20k extension for the dining table (2).

Also why not have a big sofa in the back of the house?.... this space is after all bigger than your front lounge.

Furthermore weren’t you going to rent out a room? Surely it makes sense to make this front reception room into a rental bedroom as it is next to the shower room you seem to be building especially for a lodger? That way you would have exclusive use of the upstairs bathroom too.
emma_howard_1993
Original Author
3 years ago
That is a good point, would you suggest the plan above (in the comment with the sofa's) would be the most efficient layout so far?

Just reluctant to turn the front room into the bedroom as we have 2 other good sized bedrooms upstairs so thought they would be suffice. Plus may be nice to provide them a separate living space.

But I guess if we came to sell it we could make it into a bedroom as from what I can see market price seems to be determined on how many bedrooms you can squeeze in (unfortunately)!

Just FYI we are thinking of a budget of £40-£50k on this, think it is realistic?
Jonathan
3 years ago
If you are not willing to share your living space with a lodger perhaps you shouldn’t have one in your house- if you give them a bedroom, living room and build a new shower room for them it does seems like you are going to a lot of effort and expense, plus giving up a quarter of your house in order to earn rent on one room which could be £400-700 (depending on where you live) seems overly generous to the lodger.
I don’t think your budget is enough for all of your plans.
I think when you get a builder to cost it out you will easily spend £20k widening the kitchen and opening up some internal walls. I think £25k could quickly be spent on a kitchen, flooring, lighting, a new door to the garden from the back reception and furniture. Another £5k will quickly go on an oversized shed for the mower and skis and bikes and a patio outside your new garden doors.
This means you will have to consider the laundry room and new shower room for later on. Consider if there is enough room upstairs for a washer and dryer- I bet you have a big bathroom
emma_howard_1993
Original Author
3 years ago
It wouldn't just be for the lodger, having them separated would be for us as well if we decide to grow our family or have guests but I can see where you are coming from. I'll get in touch with some builders we know to figure out what plans they'd suggest would be the most cost effective.

Thanks for your help.