New knock through plan

3 years ago

After a number of years and much advice from you sensible creative people we landed on a plan. To knock through to the back of the house to make a long kitchen/dining/sofa room. A third builder has just been round to quote - and changed everything!! He suggested something a couple of you actually suggested (Minipie and Rinq). I’ve also accepted that with three children and recently a dog, I need a utility/boot room more than anything! So can I ask you guys what you think of this? I don’t want the new square bit to be so big it seems empty but don’t want to fill it so it feels squished! Draft attached. New wall in red, sofa area blue, kitchen green, dining red. Please excuse the shoddy plan. Any opinions very welcome (even/especially the negative!) x

Comments (5)

PRO
The Kitchen Lady UK
3 years ago
Hi Hannah,

How exciting. I have a few thoughts on your layout though.
1. A 6m kitchen is very long/lot of cabinets = expensive and might get you to your 10k steps by the end of cooking supper!
2. The sofa looks like it's in a pretty window alcove but looks into the room instead of outward so no garden views.
How about not having the glass doors (or making them smaller) and having an L kitchen with island in the window as then you can be looking outside as you cook or socialise on your island facing inwards. Then if the sofa goes on the current kitchen wall, it both faces into the room and looks out into the garden.

If you want any help with visualisations or to bounce some ideas around, just give me a shout

Emily x
Mags D
Original Author
3 years ago
Thanks Emily. I can see myself on roller skates to get up and down the length of units now 😄. I’ll have a play around with that idea on paper. Thank you! X
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I think given the description above I would look at maybe going somewhere between. A pallete of light greys or pale neutrals for the majority of the cabinetry, with a strong feature colour in a selected area. Have you started planning the layout yet? An island or tall pantry or appliance cupboards may be the perfect place to do this. It is amazing how a bold dark tone against a crisp white wall can create the illusion of extra light, adding a bright feel to the space. In terms of the worktop, I think I would look at a reflective surface such as a white quartz, the light reflective surface will help to throw the light coming down from the velux windows back up to the walls. If an island was part of the deisgn I would maybe consider a warmer wood tone for the tops here, depending on your preferred style of cabinetry. With more traditional cabinets oak is an obvious choice (although I like Ash as a less common alternative, with fantastic character). For a more contemporary space walnut or wedge could create some of the contrast you are looking for, and compliment the darker tones in the feature cabinets. Obviously this is a bolder choice, and you may feel more comfortable carrying the same surfaces right through. As a final note if you really do think the area will be a little dark, bear in mind that mushroom tones can often end up looking very brown in subdued lighting, so consider where you want to use them carefully. Hope this is some help. Chester & Morris.
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Jonathan
3 years ago
Personally I think the new plan is a huge step backwards from the plan you posted in March. I suspect that the cost of removing all the walls propping up the first floor and building an extra 1.5m will cost more than your previous plan to leave the original house fairly untouched and build outwards. I suspect the earlier plan will add far more to the value too as it will be bigger and you will have an impressive sight line through the house.

Perhaps you should be returning to your earlier plan and finding way to accommodate other storage- you don’t need a modest room for the washing machine, freezer and dog bed when there are so many other places they can go in a big house. Personally I think it’s much better to have your freezer in the kitchen, your washing machine upstairs near where the beds are stripped and laundry created and the dog at the foot of the bed.

I also think that the new planned utility is a barrier to the garden.

Separately I don’t think a 6m long kitchen is too long as you don’t have to fit corner to corner. By the time you have accommodated a fridge, freezer, larder cupboard and side by side ovens you have used 3m of wall space and if you intend putting the hob in the island you will need further wall space for the sink. A 3.2m island with space to circulate and stools will also fill the 6m space.
Mags D
Original Author
3 years ago
Jonathan! Just when I think I've made up my mind! :) Thank you so much for your comment. As always you talk sense. I am really struggling with the storage though. The thought of a utility/boot room to throw all the kids coats/bags/shoes is very seductive (how sad). We should get quotes for both options coming in pretty soon so that will certainly add to the respective pros/cons list.
Jonathan
3 years ago
There are loads of ways that coats and bags can be stored and look stylish and therefore fit into a kitchen or hallway. If you make the storage out of kitchen cabinets you can make it feel planned

Whatever you decide- best of luck.

New knock through plan

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New knock through plan

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The Kitchen Lady UK

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