Please Help! How to best use extension space to achieve our wish list.

3 years ago

last modified: 3 years ago

Hi,

Can anyone please help with our 1st world problem (feel bad for even thinking it's a problem - it's a very nice one to have!)

Below is our architects plan of our extension which will be built on the back of our house replacing an old conservatory. The wall between the kitchen and extension will be knocked through. The architect has put the kitchen in where it currently is, but extending it over the old internal door which will now be blocked up and adding an island in the middle (although not quite in the right place).

There are no windows in the existing kitchen and you walk in from the sitting room into it. it is quite a dark space and I am not sure how improved that will be when the wall comes down as the light has to come from further away.

I don't want to assume this is the best plan and would welcome ideas.

My wish list is as follows:

1. An island! (every girl wants an island don't they?) Not necessarily with anything on it - and definitely not the sink.

2. A sitting area with maybe 2 sofa's or a corner sofa with tv and maybe a fire.

3. Our dining table is 1800*900 - not opposed to bench seating on one side of it

4. An american fridge freezer (but I wonder why?)

5. An eye level oven

The lobby is necessary or at least a way of shutting the space off as we have a cat that I want to keep out of the kitchen area at night. He sleeps in the utility room and deposits his mice on the doormat for us or sometimes in a shoe. Would rather not find one in the toaster!

The existing back door is in the spot where the note says 'Window to replace door.' If we kept it there the utility room would feel small although the WC could perhaps be where the lobby is instead?

It is all one level.

We already have planning permission, it is meant to be started in the New Year and so changing the orientation of the lantern roof openings may not be an option as would need to go back to structural engineer and maybe planning. The internal space by bi folds is not currently deep enough to house 600 deep kitchen units but I think this could be changed.

I would be really interested to see if anyone has any inspiration or any ideas I haven't considered.

Thank you!

And to demonstrate how much time I have already wasted on this and in a bid to sort my head out - here are the pros and cons of 2 different options

Option 1 – Kitchen in new extension and dining area in old kitchen space

Pros

Will be a very light kitchen so nice space to be in.

Larger kitchen area

High ceiling so feeling of space

Can have a bigger island!

Will feel totally new and different

Will make the extension feel like less of an add on if it is the kitchen

Mainly sit at table at night so good if it is in dark bit of overall space

Easy access to garden for taking things out for BBQ etc

Could have dangly light over dining table as would be in a fixed position

Cons

More expensive as have to get kitchen water supply and waste into/out of extension

Lantern roof light would run in opposite direction to island so may look odd and unplanned (because it was)

Have to change internal wall sizes and bi fold size slightly as not enough width for kitchen units

Will have sofa’s /chairs facing island as not enough room to be able to have them looking down the garden or at each other

Extension brings us closer to next door and their sitting room window could look into our kitchen/sofa area (Con for both plans)

Would be a long straight kitchen, without all important triangle between hob, sink and oven

Could put hob on island but extraction more difficult/expensive if in middle of room

Not cosy space in the winter

Could be very hot in summer but don’t know

May want to change other parts of the plan, like entrance and where toilet is so complicates matters

Dining room area will be very large which may feel like wasted space (hence keeping the door into house where it is – use some of the space as doorway

Island would be under lantern roof light so couldn’t have dangly lights over

Losing proper sitting room that we used to have with conservatory so would be paying for expensive kitchen dining room (and just have sofa in the kitchen facing island)

Option 2 – Kitchen in old kitchen space

Pros

Not as expensive to do as all services already there

Can have proper second sitting room area with coffee table and tv, maybe fire too

Dining area in light space

May be better arranged for cooking, with triangle. So a more practical kitchen

Don’t have to change any of the existing plans (although feel like we planned the simplest cheapest space rather than what we ideally would like and a bit late now to change)

More flexible space in extension, could rearrange furniture

Cons

Kitchen in darkest area of space

Smaller island, may still feel a bit squashed around it

Not gaining much more kitchen (other than island unit)

Will not feel particularly different

People would have to go through utility to use toilet as could not alter plan as need door to come into extension as otherwise kitchen is broken up by doorway

Lower ceiling

Couldn’t have light over dining table as wouldn’t necessarily be in fixed space in extension

If you have managed to read all this -Thank you!

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Comments (3)

Carolina
3 years ago
Hi, I've read everything, you're welcome, and will have a think about your dilemma. Meanwhile, I'm bumping your question to the top of the list again, so hopefully other Houzzers will take the time to read it too :-) And maybe they'll come up with some good ideas
Sooz thanked Carolina
Zoe Kelly
3 years ago
My main thought looking at it is that you have lots of lovely light going into the utility and not as much into the kitchen. Is there any chance of flipping the utility 90deg and leaving the back door where it currently is (so your porch/entrance area is where the right half of the utility is marked). You could then put dining table under roof light and get rid of the cut out corner in the extension & have a huge square kitchen to play with.

(I agree that current plan gives plenty of room for a separate living space, vs say just a sofa and side table - guess worth thinking about what’s most important!)
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The first one is the cheapest as it utilises the building as it is with no extension. It does use the space well, You have to weigh up what you need with what you want. The first one doesn't give the extra storage for coats, shoes etc and blocks the Hallway front to back, which is always good in a house, as it makes it feel roomy. Given your budget of 90K i'd choose the second one, as it's just a much better layout. You open your front door and can see through in to the garden with the doors open. There's a load of storage. The bathroom is bigger, the Utility is bigger etc. I would always encourage people to take their designs to local Estate Agents and run them past them. You need to check that you're adding value, not over extending and that you're not spending more than the house will be worth.
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Thanks for your advice both of you. We live in England to answer your question Gabby. Is there a rule in Scotland that the aisles have to be 120cm and if so why ? Jonathan, I was kind of thinking we would want to use the island for eating meals on like we do now with our current kitchen table, but I guess if the DR is open to the kitchen then it wouldn't be a problem to take a few steps more to the dining room table (because we use it so infrequently at the moment I am finding that hard to visualise). I am going to post a better plan of our current kitchen and dining room (with the pantry taken out) and I am also going to post a photo looking out from the window in our dining room. I am wondering if we did turn the DR into our kitchen could we make the window ledge higher and put the units in an L-shape so we could put the sink in the window? (and still have space for an island) I know this goes against some of my earlier points, especially about being worried people would be able to look in at us/and would create a more goldfish bowl feeling but I am just playing around with ideas.
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CWD
3 years ago
I agree with above - you're going to have a lovely bright utility! The usual way people extend is to put the utility and WC into the darkest bit (turning the utility 90 degrees like suggested above) which then pushes the kitchen/dining/living towards the garden end. But that would have involved more walls coming down - I feel like this is a case of you got what you asked for, but now you're asking for something else. I think the architect has come up with the best layout though for minimal work involved - putting the dining table in the dark space will just make it a corridor and you'll mostly eat at the island in the light room with garden views (other than dark evenings like you say when being in dark dining room will be quite cosy). I know people who have done that and regretted it and wished they'd put the kitchen in the dark bit as you tend to be doing something in there anyway and you'll be looking through the lovely bright space rather than being in it. Getting a decent second living space seems important to you so the current layout achieves that. You could perhaps add some high level transom windows between kitchen and utility to bring more light into kitchen (depending on where tall/wall kitchen cabinets are going to be and how ceiling is). Another option that you haven't mentioned is to put the new lounge into the dark space (then you'd have to call it a snug!). Leaving the new space as kitchen and dining. But perhaps you want the sofas to be looking onto garden, or you don't want it right next to the other sitting room - which is understandable. So it depends on what you'd use that living space for - or would also having a couple of upholstered chairs or a window seat in the extension allow you the flexibility you are looking for? Regarding the loo situation - I don't like having to walk through the utility to get to it (mainly as you're going to have to clean/tidy your utility every time guests come round, no thanks) - alternative is to walk through the WC to get to utility - would result in a bigger WC (you don't want to squeeze between toilet and basin so put them on the same wall) and a more useful utility space - and you'll have one window into WC and one into utility and nobody will be walking through the cat litter tray - could keep the pocket door idea so that it's more like one room normally, but easy to close off the messy utility when guests arrive (if that is ever allowed to happen again!)

Please Help! How to best use extension space to achieve our wish list.

Comments (3)

Carolina

Zoe Kelly

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