Kitchen/Diner layout advice - 1930s Semi

3 years ago

Hi everyone

We've just exchanged on our first house and the reality of the large number of decisions we need to make on the layout of the house is hitting us!

The house is a lovely 1930s art deco semi, but comes with a very small kitchen. We have a young baby and planning to expand the family, so we need to have a practical and liveable solution.

Our budget isn't huge, so we're thinking of swapping the kitchen and dining room uses rather than extend. This is the plan -

1. Remove wall between existing kitchen/dining room

2. Put wall back in between existing dining room/living room to create space for cabinets

3. Block up door from hallway to dining room

4. Open out chimney in the new kitchen space [formerly the dining room] to house sink or oven. Chimney isn't shown on the floor plan, but it's there!

5. Fit kitchen/decorate etc

Do you think this is a sound plan, and does anything glaringly obvious stand out that we should consider?

And our plan once we're set on works is to have 3 builders come take a look and quote. Does this sound like the right way forward?

If anyone has any other ideas or advice please do share - we're new, clueless and sleep deprived(!)

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Comments (8)

Alix W
3 years ago
Hi Suzy, congratulations on your new house - how exciting! I’m not very experienced but I would say your plan sounds like a good one, although more experienced Houzzers may be able to give more advice. A few things that I would think about 1)moving pipes/water can be expensive. A cheaper option may be to do everything you suggest but keep the kitchen where it is? Not sure if that would work for you. 2) if you’re getting rid of the entry into the (current) kitchen, could you fit in a built in cupboard there? Coats/shoes/scooters etc all need storage! 3) I think you will have just enough space for dining in the current kitchen space (most table are 90cm wide and you need 1m each side for chairs, getting in and out etc). But you could think about space saving options like bench seating or a built in banquette along the wall. Have fun!
PRO
The Kitchen Lady UK
3 years ago
I think that sounds like a lovely plan. A more purse friendly version might be to keep the kitchen where it is but still open as close the walls as before.

if you made it an L kitchen under the kitchen window, you would have almost the same sized kitchen! If you wanted to block up the kitchen door, you could then have a tall pantry block.
This is a screenshot of a kitchen I designed for an exhibition of a similar scale that shows small is gorgeous!
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We had a similar project and gutted the house. Rewire replaster all walls and ceilings. We restored the original parquet flooring and then new carpets everywhere else. Knocked through between kitchen and dining room, new garage roof. New doors and work surface but kept the original kitchen units. Kept the bathroom but put in a new floor. Did this for about £10k. Now 18 months later we're looking at extending the kitchen diner into a big open plan room going out the back as you have suggested but also out to the side. Our neighbours have done similar and we think we can get it done for about 30-40k not including the kitchen. The side extension means a fair bit of structural steel so if you don't do this then it saves a fair bit - our other neighbours have done this. We want an open but defined space so we're looking at keeping a pillar (also cheaper) then having an L shaped kitchen diner around a more relaxed sitting and entertaining area. The idea being that for dinner parties you mill around and have drinks in here before going to eat. Also can have friends round for coffee etc while the front living room remains the primary TV watching area. We'd keep a small boot room off the back for the dog, a pantry in the middle and a toilet at the front. See below for some pictures that illustrate our plans. These are mine and just awaiting our architects plans. In summary I'd get it up to a basic standard until you've got a bit more then go big, although as you say with your cheap labour you might get what you want for the money!
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Hi Melody, Moving toilets can be expensive (ish) but it's about balancing cost and what you're hoping for in the end. There are some gorgeous under stairs toilets on Pinterest if that's closer to your existing plumbing and could work better? If you did the back utility, you'd end up with a kitchen around 3550 deep x 3ish meters wide through to 5400 so there would be plenty of space for a brilliant kitchen depending on how you choose to layout the rest of the space. Plenty of island space and storage! If you're struggling with visualising which is a common issue, especially when you know a place well, people like me can really help. We can help with room planning, layouts and provide lots of 3D drawings so you can really get to know a space before you build it. It's much cheaper to change a drawing than once it's built! If it helps, I offer 10 hours of design work for £250 which often gives people designs they they feel confident to take forward with. I also do free phone consultations if you want to bounce some ideas around over the phone. Just get in touch if I can help Emily x
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Hi Rosey, Hope these answers help: There are plenty of different ways you could redesign the space so it would be good to get really clear on what you want to base designs on. For the drains this is not that unusual, and is likely to mean that it is a shared drain, so it's owned by your water utility company. This might be worth checking. Yes any raised external platform / patio would need planning permission and may be refused on the grounds of overlooking and reducing the neighbours privacy. I am running my Free 5 Day Get Ready to Redesign Challenge in a few weeks. You will find this useful because I created it to help people in the situation that you are in - feeling overwhelmed and not sure where to start. So if you'd like to join in that you can do that here: https://www.i-architect.co.uk/readytoredesign.html I hope this helps! Jane, i-architect.co.uk
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I’m not 100% sure I have the dimensions or orientation correct - hopefully I have. I definitely agree with taking out the stud wall between the kitchen & hall. I presume you will replace it but further away from the back wall of the house which will lengthen your kitchen. If you keep your kitchen in its current room I think you could have your run of tall cupboards as proposed in the new kitchen plan but switch the orientation of the island to run in parallel to that wall. Put the hob on the island and you will look towards the dining area as you are cooking. Having the island parallel to the tall cupboards is also a more modern look. If you take out the wall between the kitchen & current dining area too you would have the scope to make that run of cupboards a bit longer too by taking them over to your double-doors. I think you need to make that whole space at the back of the house feel like one large room (kitchen diner) - which could be achieved by including some of the same kitchen units in the dining side. Are you keeping the fireplace if you keep the kitchen in its current space?
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Sonia
3 years ago
Congratulations on your new home! Great plan. My house is 1930s and the kitchen was minuscule! One day we decided to knock down the wall between the tiny kitchen and the living/dining room. Best thing we ever did. We blocked up the wall (apart from the door) creating a kitchen/diner at the back and the living room at the front. I sometimes wonder if we should have left it open plan? That’s a thought.

I think swopping the kitchen and dining room over would be better. Of course it will cost more due to moving all the pipe work, but it would fit better.

Finding a really good builder is the hardest part. You could ask for recommendations from family, friends and neighbours. You could also ask for recommendations on your local Facebook Town Group. There are groups like Trustatrade.com but I’ve not heard good things about such groups. Once you have a list of builders 🙏 you can draw up a list of work you want them to do and get three quotes. The cheapest isn’t always the best though. Wishing you every success.
Nick
3 years ago
Based on the comments above, I think it is worth talking to a kitchen designer first. They might be able to give you a plan that keeps the kitchen more or less where it is, but taking out the wall be tween the dining room and kitchen and closing up the gap between dining room and living room. That would save on the replumbing. Even if you do decide to switch the dining room and kitchen, it makes sense to have the kitchen planned out, so you are sure it is going to suit your needs before you do all the work.
Angie
3 years ago
Congratulations on your new home, exciting times for you. When we bought our current house 5 years ago we had many plans to move walls and reconfigure. We were advised to live in the house for at least six months before starting anything major and that was the best advice. We are so glad we didn’t start straight away. Having lived in the space for a good while we came to see that our original (and exciting) ideas weren’t going to achieve what we’d hoped and we have now changed our thinking completely and love the house. So I’d recommend waiting a while before the chaos of building works, although having said that I’m just recalling a previous house where we did have a wall knocked down almost as soon as we’d moved in, complete with a toddler and baby!
So to answer your question, I think the comments above say it well. Good luck with whatever you decide to do, whenever you do it. Angie
Suzie H
Original Author
3 years ago
Thanks so much everyone, this has given us something to think about! Very much appreciated
PRO
ROOM4STYLE - Inspired Interiors
3 years ago
Here’s one more suggestion for you. I would not close the passage between living and dining room, but possibly put sliding glass doors there, so you can still put cabinets or bookshelves on either side.
I hope you can read my writing, I would open up the space between dining and kitchen, but close both the doors to the hallway and garden. That way you have lost of space for wall units.
I was not clear if there is a door next to the sink? If there is I would close that too, and turn it into a window, of if a door is required there centre it and turn the kitchen into a galley kitchen.
Hope that all make sense?! I provide a planning service in case you do need more help with this. Good luck! Petra
Suzie H
Original Author
3 years ago
Thank you Petra! This is so kind of you, love the idea of the pocket doors. For some reason the floor plan makes it look like there are doors all over the place in the kitchen that don’t exist!

Kitchen/Diner layout advice - 1930s Semi

Comments (8)

Alix W

The Kitchen Lady UK

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Sonia

Nick

Angie

Suzie H
Original Author

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Kitchen/Diner layout advice - 1930s Semi

Comments (8)

Alix W

The Kitchen Lady UK

Related Discussions

Sonia

Nick

Angie

Suzie HOriginal Author

ROOM4STYLE - Inspired Interiors

Suzie HOriginal Author

COMPANY

BUSINESS SERVICES

GET HELP

CONNECT WITH US

Suzie H
Original Author

Suzie H
Original Author