Hi all can anyone input ideas on where we could move our downstairs toilet to so we can be more open plan? To be honest we as a little family aren't fussed about a downstairs loo but I feel we need to have at least a tiny one to not damage the value of the house. Including image of our existing floor plan.

Underneath the stairs if there is enough room?

yes, the small room under the stairs seems the obvious solution?! might need to move the door down a bit so you're not walking into side of basin.

Thanks guys yes I thought of understairs cupboard too but all the electrical boxes etc are in there and also would it then feel like the loo was in the middle of our open plan living area then (I really hate it when downstairs loos aren’t in a discreet place!!). Would there also be issues with putting in or connecting up to the existing soil pipe? That side (stairs side) of the house is an external wall with nothing beside us?

Add a porch incorporating small loo onto the front of your house? Would that work? Would obvs involve moving waste pipe.

Oh I hadn't thought of that thank you! Not sure we have enough space at the front but I will explore that idea :)

When was the house built ? As you aren’t able to just whip out the loo in some newer ones.

Yes I just realised that last night!!! New build in 2015 so building regs is ok to be an issue in terms of the loo 😕 I’m really gutted as we just can’t afford an extension or probably even a conservatory so taking the loo out and then removing the non structural wall between the loo and the living area seemed like the best way to get more of a feeling of space In am

affordable way. I need to find out from

building regs if a loo under the stairs would be acceptable as then we could get a quote for doing that but NOT do it until we sell (if we decide to sell it wouldnt be for at least 5 years). Not sure if a loo under the stairs would be accepted though?

the Access needs to be wheelchair friendly

https://www.planningportal.co.uk/info/200130/common_projects/34/kitchens_and_bathrooms/4

Which aspect/s of the ground floor do you want to be more open plan? Remove the wall that creates the hallway? Remove the wall between the kitchen and sitting room? Or the whole lot? Because I think there would def be scope for altering the existing wc layout so it is still the same size but shifts to a vertical position against the wall with a new access point. But obviously that would depend on what else you are planning on doing to open up the space.

Well unfortunately cost is a massive factor so opening everything up (which I would love!) involving RSJs etc I think is not an option. My original thought was to not have a downstairs loo so we could claim that space into the living area by removing the non structural wall between the loo and living room (the part if the wall over on the stairs side would need to remain as it’s structural) so essentially there would be no door or wall from the hall to the living area but the kitchen remains as it is (so a separate room). Obvs this now does not seem possible due to need to retain a downstairs loo. What would your idea be for a new access point to the loo?

View from front door down the hallway

Door to loo on the left hand side and door into living area

View of wall between loo and living area - the wall I wanted time take down to claim loo space into the living area

View into loo

Is your downstairs loo quite large? I think I looked at these houses when my brother was house hunting. We couldn’t believe the difference in what passed building regulations. The new build house he actually bought had the toilet under the stairs and was much, much smaller. I really don’t think it could be classed as accessible so I’m not sure how the developer got it through. The door is fairly wide but you couldn’t get a wheelchair in.

Hi yes I would class the loo as big - annoyingly big given the living area space is ok but not brilliant! Yes I’m sure I have seen new builds with much smaller downstairs loos so maybe we could get away with one under the stairs (not that we would put it in until we needed to sell as we simply don’t need a downstairs loo for just the 3 of us - our child is long past the stage where only having an upstairs loo would be a problem - in fact our last house only had an upstairs bathroom and we all survived just fine!)

When we commented to the sales staff about what a waste of space the toilet was they suggested using it as a space for storing wine. It really seemed like they were clutching at straws 😂.

🤣🤣🤣 WTF!!!! Just lazy design really with no thought to how space and perception of space available can really improve enjoyment of even a modest space!

My suggestion would be to take advantage of the loo being large and turn it into a “lootility” with washing machine and laundry drying space in there as well. This will gain you more space in the kitchen and get the laundry noise out of there. Then open up the living room to the hallway - sounds like a small change but will feel more spacious.

If you can squeeze your understairs items into the lootility as well then you could also open up the understairs space and that would give you an expansion of the sitting room. Honestly though I‘d keep it as storage - just make the best possible use of that storage you can.

You could also consider changing the kitchen doors to double pocket doors, this would add a feeling of space while allowing you to close off the kitchen when you want (mess/smell/noise etc).

Hi mini pie thanks - how would we open up the living room to the hallway when the loo is beside the living room? Which bit would we take down?

Hi, if what you want is to get rid of the bathroom to connect the kitchen and the living, why don't you make a small loo on the right side? I would do it with the same depth as the understairs closet, next to it. Then you can do it it less than 2 metres in length and will not have a problem with a inclined ceiling. You then can make a discreet pocket door or go bold and add some of these barn doors. I agree that where it is now doesn't make sense.

Thanks Silvia actually we were going to leave the kitchen alone as we can’t afford the structural beams etc needed to open it up as well as cost of new kitchen etc. What we wanted to do was take down the wall between the loo and living area to open up the living area to the hallway and pinch the space from the loo for the living area. Big problem is the loo needs to go somewhere else building regs would deem acceptable. When you say put the loo to the right hand side do you mean into our living area?

So I’ve had an idea to leave the loo where it is but shrink the depth so we could the remove a good portion of the partition wall into the living area leaving a smallish return piece of wall where the smaller loo is - where I’ve drawn the red box on the plan is the bit of the exiting loo plus the partition walls we would know out so no door to the living area. Any problems or pitfalls anyone can spot?

the loo would be right off your living room - and in a weird corner of the room sort of way, making the living room a funny shape that wouldn't be useful. you could reduce it a little in depth, but I'd keep the door into hall and not try and make that red box part of the living room - accept that it's a nice big hall with space to hang up coats or something.

Hi colour wise we had thought we would leave a small

bit of the wall so the toilet wasn’t flush with the living room (!) - how would it make the living room a funny shape by removing the partition wall?

if you left a partition wall between living room and loo then it would be better than taking it all out. but all that space in the red box is still going to be circulation space - no change to what it is now, just less doors/wall. I would rather have a rectangular room than one with an opening which it just a bit wider than the hall. it just seems like a bit of work to not really gain much from it? unless you want that space just outside the toilet to hang up coats or have a use for that space to make it something other than a big space outside the toilet. maybe a glass door into living room rather than a solid door would help with light thru the house and give that more spacious feel you are after, without losing the benefit of a door that closes.

I guess what I am after is when I come in the front door to look through and see more of the living area as I think this would create an overall more spacious feel - at the mo there is a nice sight line from the front door straight out into the garden and the hall is nice and spacious but when you actually walk into the living area it’s a bit meh - like the build up from the hallway and front door was really goof but the room itself is disappointing!

ok now we're getting to the real issue! sounds like you need to layout the living room differently or redecorate maybe? maybe your furniture is the wrong scale for the room (too big) which is making it feel too enclosed? or dining chairs with high backs that are blocking the sightlines across the room? changing those to lower chairs can make a huge difference in opening a room up. other things you can do too though, but you need to post pics of your living room if you want help figuring it out I think.

Have had another think - could you put in a wall where shown to create a hall so your stairs aren’t off your living area. Get rid of the walls I’ve crossed, including your cupboard, to create under-stairs space. Keep the loo as a room but block off the actual toilet (plasterboard/MDF??) and use the room as a big cupboard? You’d have storage, space for coats and shoes, possibly washing machine and shelving. Open-plan can drive you mad when there’s ‘stuff’ everywhere!

Thanks HA unfortunately some of those walls are structural so we can’t afford to take them down just at the mo - but I’m going to keep you inner lobby idea in my mind though ☺️

Thanks colourwise I’ll try and pop some photos of room up tomorrow but sitting in the room now it is definitely the partition wall out into the hallway and the poly doorway that is troubling me most!!

Pokey not poly!!

Hi Imperfectly, so when I say open up the living room to the hallway I really just mean open the living room doorway wider. You would take out all the wall that surrounds the living room door, so instead of a doorway you have a big opening as wide and tall as the hall. The top left two red crosses in HA’s diagram.

It isn’t a big change by any means, but may give you more of that open feeling you want especially when you walk in the front door. On the other hand you would lose the ability to shut the living room door so it‘s a trade off.

Which walls are structural?

Hi mini pie thanks that’s exactly what I am trying to achieve - more of a sense of space until we can afford to extend out the back. Yes I know from work our next door neighbours have had done that the wall into the living room is mainly partition (up to the bit beside the understairs cupboard which is structural) so taking this down should ok cost wise and maybe I just need to accept the loo as it is!!

I may not have understood correctly, but if you want a larger living room area, wouldn't it be just as easy to build a conservatory/extension on the back of the living room into the garden?

Just spotted you are saying you can't afford to extend out to the back. Sorry.

No worries Picasso! Once we’ve recovered from the impact of Covid on our business we’ll get our extension 🤞 just have to make do with some tweaks for now ☺️

I mean this (sorry for my paint skills). You can access from the same side as if coming from the stairs. You can then make a slider, so you don't need that much space.

Having suggesting taking down the wall around your living room door, I’ve just noticed your lovely wood flooring which woudl get messed up by that - unless you can get spare planks? If you don’t want to mess with the floor then you could consider inserting an internal window next to the door, where you currently have the square white mirror and cabinet. You could also replace the sitting room door with a glazed door.

Another couple of ideas to help make your living room feel more spacious - without making the actual room bigger:

1) I wonder if there is storage taking up space in your living room? For example the cabinets each side of the TV? If so then if you re jig the loo into a small loo and a small storage room, you can move some storage there and free up sitting room space.

2). I notice you have a big dining table in the sitting room - is this used much, seeing as the kitchen is big enough for a table? If not, then removing it or replacing with a small extending table would free up space.

Hi mini pie yes funnily enough last night I started to think about having glazed crittal style doors as an alternative to trying to move the loo!! Will also have a good look at all the furniture in living area and see if we can get a bit sleeker (although the dinI guess table I can’t part with!) ☺️

Hi there, I think you have a lovely house and I like the view of the garden from the front door. However I notice that there is quite a bit of furniture in the hallway that obstructs this view, as does the dining room table and bench. I wonder if you would get the open feeling you are after if you were able to move these? Ps I agree that the loo is super cool!

thanks Wumi!! I LOVE this idea!!! unfortunately we were not redoing the kitchen at the mo so I think moving it with all the expense that would entail probably wouldn’t work for us at the mo but it is definitely something we could do in the future ☺️

Aww thank you Kiwikate - I feel guilty for hating on our loo now it’s getting some love on here 🤣 yes I think we need to work on our furniture placement and decluttering! Getting rid of the high back bench for a bench that doesn’t have a back would improve the sight line from

all angles I think 👍☺️

Ah, sorry misread your post! I agree with Kiwikate downsizing/reducing furniture will make your space feel more open. Also having furniture that is raised off the floor (on legs of 20cm or more or affixed to wall) makes a massive difference. For example; the TV units could be put on legs or attached to the wall so they’re floating.

I would suggest waiting til you have more money to do what Wumi suggests as this is the best and most practical idea.

Great idea for the tv unit Wumi will be doing this for sure 👍 yes twamleyk I think decluttering and changing out some furniture is the best thing for now ☺️