Hi Andrei,

Thank you for your comment. We had almost discounted the staircase going in the hallway due to space available (or lack of) however your point about making the staircase more compact due to it only servicing one bedroom is a really important one.

We are trying to provide a bit more separation between the bedrooms and living spaces, hence moving the bathroom and front door to avoid the main entrance being a direct view into a bedroom, and had hoped the stairs to a third bedroom could also be away from the front door. However I appreciate that most homes have the stairs by the front door and also we are working on a limited space floor plan so compromise must be made somewhere!

A compact staircase with a turn would avoid a straight view up to the new bedroom and help it to still feel like a private space.

Thank you for your input. I really appreciate it.

Sam

Hi Sam,
In that case consider enlarging the small bedroom and make a bigger bathroom too. There's plenty of potential here so try to make the most of it at this stage if the budget allows.
Also wherever you put the staircase think about safe fire escape. Your architects should be able to advise/check this for you with building control.
A

Thank you. I hadn’t even thought there would be any way to make the smaller bedroom bigger and the bathroom too. Would that involve a side extension too or as simple as moving the main entrance further down the side of the house?

Budget is a consideration but I know that if we don’t get it right now then we’d be looking to move again in 5-10 years so we definitely agree that it’s worth the investment to get a home that we can live in for a long time. Definitely will not underestimate the importance of getting an architect on board.

Thank you for your help.

You could extend by 3m if possible (permitted development in most cases), that will give you extra space for the bedroom, staircase and larger bathroom (i'm personally a big fan of voluminous bathrooms). We could help with the architectural side of things if you decide to hire a professional - don't hesitate to DM. I personally think you need to start at least with a concept - it will help you understand what the cost would be and how to proceed further.

Agree with Andrei, extend up to 3m if you can and place a compact staircase in the hallway. I would partition off part of the existing lounge and build a bigger bathroom with a Velux (depending where your loft extension is sited) and steal some of the hallway space for a built in closet the smallest bedroom. It‘ll mean less furniture in the room and provide some privacy for the bedroom from the entrance hall.

I messed around with the layout to see what you could fit in if you knocked down the conservatory and extended 3m.

I superimposed this over the original floor plan so you get a better idea of scale.

Hi there If you would like on the floor and ideas I’m happy to help

Wow! Thank you everyone. I am certainly impressed by the potential you’re finding. We didn’t think our little bungalow had it in it! We currently use the conservatory/existing extension as a utility room so seeing that we could still squeeze in a utility in the new floor plan is very appealing.

We definitely need to discuss priorities as I think some of these amazing ideas may be beyond our budget when we factor in a dorma and loft conversion to get the much needed third bedroom.

Great to see different ideas on the space though and makes us all the more keen to improve the space we have rather than moving house.

Thank you for your help.

Alternative layout with a smaller extension

Thank you Jonathan. This is how we imagine the loft conversion looking.

Stair placement I think we’d rather put it the other side of that wall, into the living space, rather than making an existing bedroom smaller, but then would probably need the full width extension on the back to make up for the lost living space.

We had considered an extension in the shape and proportion you’ve suggested after a friend told us that a full length extension may fall foul of the ‘45 degree’ rule with the house being semi-detached. We haven’t been able to find much detail on this rule. Does anyone happen to know anymore about it?

Hi,

I would split the lounge to make a 3rd bedroom off the hallway (door already in situ ), demolish the conservatory and built a full length living room/ lounge rear extension with dining area off the kitchen extending out by 4m+. No need for a loft extension.
Best of luck.

Thank you. Our back garden is only approx 7 or 8 metres deep from the house to rear boundary so 4m+ might be losing too much of it. Our front garden is approx 12m from house to boundary so I wonder if we could do something there. But I understand there’s definite planning permission required for changing the from aspect. Squeezing a third bedroom in on the ground floor would negate the need for a costly dorma though and free up more budget for the single storey. Plenty to think about. Thank you.

Hi, have you considered fitting the 2 smaller bedrooms and a bathroom into the new loft space, and making bedroom 1 and 2 on the ground floor into a large “parents retreat” with en-suite? The existing ground floor bathroom would be removed to fit the stairs. By opening up the rest of the bathroom, and the lounge and kitchen, you could create a very good size open plan space without any extension at all, preserving all of your precious garden and saving considerably on cost.

Wow. We had not considered that. We’d been so blinkered to making the master suite upstairs but your suggestion makes a lot of sense for so many reasons. Thank you.