Advice on improving 1930s floorplan please (without an extension!)

3 years ago

last modified: 3 years ago

Hi there! I would love your opinions on how to improve the flow of the downstairs of our 1930s house that we’ve just purchased. We cannot afford an extension (for another 10 years or so!) so want to use our existing floor space in an improved way.

Additional details: There is currently a log burner on the left wall of the family room which we love & every wall you see in the kitchen (and connecting to the dining area) are chunky external walls.

Our garden is southwest facing.
We love to entertain regularly (preCovid!) and so an 8 person dining table is a must !

Featured Answer

ranj kugan

3 years ago

Hi.

I like the suggestions already here, but, for what it's worth, I have a few thoughts to add too…

I think your priority should be removing the angled walls between the hallway, family room and utility spaces as well as those between your existing kitchen and family room. These little walls divide up your space into pieces that just don't work - they create an incredible loss of useable space.

Personally, I would leave the access to the kitchen/ diner from the hallway completely open. I.e. I have no doors/ walls to this space from the hall. This gives a lovely long-line of sight from your front door all the way to the back of the garden and will allow all the beautiful sunlight from your back garden to flow right through your home.

If you would prefer to close off this space from the hall, I would consider putting the door in line with the back wall of the sitting room. This will give you nice square walls/ spaces to work with.

Now that you have good usable space, you can pick and choose how to use your budget to improve it.

In my opinion, the following suggestions would really transform your space and how you access/ use it:

As you like to entertain, I would consider moving the wood-burner to the back room (currently your kitchen) and turn your current kitchen into your family room - It’s in a great position to enjoy the garden and a great size for a snug. The wood-burner would become a great feature in this space. Once the wood burner has moved here, the current family room could then be converted into a wonderful kitchen/ diner, perfect for entertaining.

The left hand side of this room would make a perfect gallery kitchen. I would forgo an island in favour of an extra-long and hardworking dining table – the space may even accommodate one that seats 10!This long table would become the heart of your home - somewhere you can prep meals, have a casual natter with friends over a cup of tea, help the kids with their homework AND put on extravagant dinners.

To enhance the space, consider creating a doorway between the existing family room and back garden – this area of the garden would be a great place for some outdoor seating/ dining by the way - You can then enjoy the simple pleasure of stepping out of your kitchen to enjoy your morning cup of coffee as your mood takes you. It will also extend the possibilities of entertaining to the outside.

Transform your new family living space by creating doorways between the existing kitchen and back garden. I would encourage you to open up both walls as much as possible –blur the lines between the inside and out. This allows you to extend your family space to the garden and will flood your downstairs space with light.

You have a variety of options available to you as to how you might achieve this – bi-folds, French doors or sliding doors are all great options, but you could stretch to fully retractable walls of glass - if your budget allows!

Given its position, your new family room will feel like a well-lit sun room most of the year. Its size and position, away from the central spaces of your house, also makes it a great place for a snug – even more reason to reposition your fire burning stove here! To finish off the room, place a good sectional sofa along the boundary walls to cosy up on and dot with occasional tables.

Explore options for floor to ceiling blinds/ curtains to draw over your new expansive windows, so that the room can easily transform from day room to cosy retreat at night. Play up the textures, rugs, cushions and upholstery in this room so it invites you to snuggle up. Adding a lightweight, sheer layer to the window treatments might be a nice addition for the summer - allowing you to open the doors to get air in, but shield from the sun.

If you have also opened your new kitchen to the garden, your new kitchen/ diner will now connect to the family/snug via the outside too. This means you have a warm cosy space to retreat to from the garden when the cooler evening temperatures set in, and can just as easily pop into get some extra ice, for example, without having to break up the party.

There are some changes you might want to do to enhance the practicality of day to day life too.

If you were to create a doorway to the utility space from your new kitchen/ diner via the space under the stairs, for example, you would be able to access the utility without having to go through the shower room!

If you like clean lines – consider concealing the entrance to the utility by running a long line of fitted floor to ceiling* storage unitsalong this right hand wall and across the utility room doorway. Keep the units in line with the width of the stairs so that you have an unbroken view down from the hall and really great storage! Most homes can never have enough storage, however, if storage isn’t your concern, you could also use the space to house an American-style fridge/freezer, home office space or even a wine fridge – handy for when entertaining and conveniently located for you to stop off at, on your way to the snug.

*I suggest floor to ceiling cabinetry, as I would consider blocking up the window here - it doesn’t appear to have any great view, has limited light exposure (it is surrounded by buildings on all 4-sides) and its north westerly light anyway. In our home it would better serve as a giant wall of storage, however, you can keep the window if you want by having upper and lower cabinets and building in some worktop space.

If after the above, you can stretch an extra few hundred pounds, you may want to create a doorway between the sitting room and new kitchen/ diner: Placing doors in between these two rooms gives you the flexibility of opening up the space for entertaining, and/ or keeping the spaces separate when you want to keep things cosy/ formal or just keeping the mess in your kitchen from view!

Imagine opening them up as you invite guests seated in your sitting room over to your table… or opening them from the kitchen to retreat back to the sitting room for a nightcap. Make the opening extra wide/ tall to create drama.

Keeping the opening wide will also be great for parties. When your doors are fully open, the two rooms will join seamlessly, providing good natural flow/ circulation space through your home - guests can socialise and move throughout the downstairs - not be stuck in different rooms - much more sociable!

I don't see much value in reconfiguring the shower room/ utility spaces. It is definitely handy to have a downstairs loo in a family home. So only consider the expense of changing these if you wanted to make space for an office, as someone has suggested. However, you could block off the doorway from the shower room to the utility if you have opened this up from the understair and don’t like the idea of being on the loo and having to ensure both doors are locked!

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Comments (13)

PRO
Nest Estimating Ltd
3 years ago
Hi, once you have decided on a layout, we can provide you with a budget cost estimate. The budget cost estimate provides a detailed breakdown of works and expenses as well as highlighting potential areas where you can save money. If this is something of interest please send the plans and photos to hello@nestestimating.co.uk and we can provide you with a quote
hmtay thanked Nest Estimating Ltd
User
3 years ago
I would open up the kitchen and family room by removing the dividing walls.
hmtay thanked User
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berrecka
3 years ago
I agree, remove the walls between the kitchen and family room to create a large, open family space. If possible, bring the wall of the family room/ hall back in line with the family room/sitting room wall so that a door to the utility room can be created from there.
hmtay thanked berrecka
Petite Maison
3 years ago
There's no doubt about it. The internal hall between the family room and kitchen is blocking the flow and wasted space........take down those 2 walls and that's all you need to do to have a lovely home. Your utility room is in a good spot off the bottom of the stairs.
hmtay thanked Petite Maison
maria harrison
3 years ago
last modified: 3 years ago
I would make the shower room a home office and close off the door to the utility room. I would then make the utility room a loo/laundry room as there should be room for a toilet, sink and washing machine (stacked with a dryer if you have one). I would make the door way access from the hallway under the stairs. If loos can be fitted under stairs then a doorway to that room should be easily done.

I would also open up the space from the kitchen to the family room.

Depending on how you use the spaces, an option would be to move the kitchen into the family room and make that a big kitchen, dining room and small family/sofa/children's area and then make the current kitchen a smaller family room that eventially you would open up with an extension. Really depends on how you use the spaces as a family.

Enjoy it, looks like a lovely space with much potential!
hmtay thanked maria harrison
Stuart Buckingham
3 years ago
Maria got there before I could - definitely consider moving the kitchen to the left side of the family room (I know, it’ll mean moving your lovely wood burning stove) but then the kitchen is in the heart of the house. Take down the wall between hall and family room and family room to kitchen - then you’ll have a lovely flow of light from back (south) to front of your house and it will feel really airy. For the existing kitchen, turn that into a family / casual sitting room with big bifold or patio doors on each wall - only requires adding bigger lintels where the existing windows are (and your wood burning stove!) and install patio wall lights so that you can see the outside when it’s dark and you aren’t faced with dark black windows during the evenings. If you have a few features to light up in the garden (a tree / bush / pond) that will help extending the view beyond the patio. I like others ideas of accessing the utility room from the family room. Then either have the sitting room as a more formal / quiet room ( if you have a young family) or if you are now working from home, it could incorporate a work area (in the bay window maybe?). A downstairs shower room is handy if you have a dog! Or do running / cycling - the use of this room really depends on your lifestyle. Hope some of these ideas help.
Jane Botham
3 years ago
Hi some lovely suggestions here. Why not take down the walls between the family room and the kitchen and brick up the door, then move the kitchen into the family room but just have it as one long run on the stairs side. That would leave your wood burner inplace and leave you room for your big family table plus some lovely free standing storage pieces - depending on the vide you want to create. The family room window could be made into french doors, or if budget allows big bifolds. The existing kitchen would then become a snug/playroom, again with either bifolds or french doors so you can spill out into the garden.
hmtay thanked Jane Botham
Tim Baker
3 years ago
Agree eliminating the lobby is a no brainer. Accessing the utility from the hall/family room might be structurally complicated ie. expensive. If budget is limited think about linking the outside doors with a canopy to keep the rain off. There again I live in Manchester which might reflect in my priorities!
hmtay thanked Tim Baker
hmtay
Original Author
3 years ago
All very helpful comments, thank you! The odd rectangle space to the right of family room is a wasted space, but I'm torn between making it into a pantry (with a door into the kitchen) vs opening it up into the family room. This awkward space is actually quite small - We would only be able to add about 3 cabinets in that awkward space and I wonder if that makes the flow feel a little odd, especially as it wouldn't be in line with the kitchen cabinets due to wall difference.
J W
3 years ago
You have some great ideas on here. It’s s nice that people are giving such advice for free! We have a similar problem but we haven’t finalised our purchase. Is there a way for the last person who posted to give me some layout advice please?
User
3 years ago
J W, if you start your own discussion with some details, I'm sure someone can help you out.
margretg2
3 years ago
Bit late to this but are any of the walls that people suggest you remove load-bearing? If so, that can be very expensive. The wall has to be braced and a steel inserted to support the wall above. We did that recently and it cost thousands. Bear in mind, too, that while open-plan has been fashionable for quite a while now, it can leave a house feeling unbalanced, and it does have disadvantages, which I won't go into here. On the other hand, swapping the kitchen with the family room sounds an excellent idea.

Advice on improving 1930s floorplan please (without an extension!)

ranj kugan

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Advice on improving 1930s floorplan please (without an extension!)

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