Help please. Kitchen and lounge layout
I've been wrestling with this for too long. I really want to open out the kitchen onto the garden, so least option would be patio doors. However we had planned to extend at the back, either just the kitchen, just the lounge or across both. That side of the house is facing east so trying to maximise the light coming through, especially in the kitchen. If we extend the kitchen we would then have space for a table.
I have also toyed with the idea of grabbing some space from the lounge. There is no fireplace in the lounge, we have patio doors. The windows and doors in the kitchen are subject to change to help with a better layout. Ideally would like somewhere to sit, even just an armchair as I often have to rest while cooking. Can't sit on kitchen stools though (health issues).
I also want to put bifold doors to separate the lounge so we can watch tv and relax without interruption.
What would you do? Would be grateful for any ideas.
Thanks for reading.
Below is a very rough plan of an idea I had, which was open the wall to the lounge to create more light into the kitchen. The blue block would be the open part. Would it be weird? I don't want full open plan and I'm worried about having to go through what would then be kitchen diner to access the lounge through bifold doors. Those doors would be roughly where the dots are.
Yellow block is proposed extension
Comments (6)
5 years agolast modified: 5 years agoVery rough plan of one idea I had, which was open the wall to the lounge to create more light into the kitchen. The blue block would be the open part. Would it be weird? I don't want full open plan and I'm worried about having to go through what would then be kitchen diner to access the lounge through bifold doors. Those doors would be roughly where the dots are.
Yellow block is proposed extension
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New lounge layout - help please!
Comments (9)To throw another idea into the pot: there are some lovely spaces and opportunities for views here, but furniture is oddly arranged and blocks the flow. If the dining table were to be centred in the dining area, dropping a light to pool onto the table, it would create a convivial atmosphere for eating, and a clear view of the garden for everyone. Plus, all the chairs can be used. This area would then feel more of a 'room', and less of a 'walk-through'. The new doorway then naturally leads through and frames the view to the garden. Instead of blocking this with the back of the sofa, place it along the rhs wall near the bedroom. For this size of space, I would probably choose two comfortable, low-backed, armchairs instead of a sofa. This gives you much more flexibility and you can either push them close together, facing the sofa with a rug/coffee table between, in sofa style, or position them at right angles near the left hand corner, perhaps with a lamp table squaring them off. You also then have the option of placing the sofa directly in front of the large window in the winter when the garden is bleak, with a chair either side, facing the log burner. Assuming you want to primarily use this room for chilling out with TV, I'd put the TV in the top lh corner. This location prevents the summer sun reflecting off the screen, and you will have the benefit of being able to watch it while eating and within the flexible seating arrangements. Alternatively, seeing the fire while dining creates a cosy atmosphere and you could swap it round. Ideally, plan the location of the TV and fire around your family lifestyle, this is matter of preference and there is an argument for both. I hope this helps; you're creating a lovely, useable space - good luck!...See MoreCan anyone help me with reconfiguring my home /kitchen layout please!!
Comments (13)Whilst I understand the constraints of budget I think you are approaching the planning wrong. I think the way to do this is to decide on the layout that works best and then work out what you can afford to do now- perhaps you can make economies on purchases such as the kitchen cabinets to get a better Gliw in your home. An architectural designer or a concept planner are worth considering to help with this- they would also help you visualise the finished space too. If this were my house I would be thinking the entrance wasn’t big enough for the size of house and I would be concerned about privacy of the bedrooms at the front, I also don’t like the current kitchen being some distance from a window and being a heavy traffic area. Although I can’t see the layout properly I think I have got the sizes about right to show how I would do it. I have moved the front door to the middle of the house, shown a vaulted hall with stairs to two big upstairs spaces, shown the living space as completely open plan but with the option of using one of the downstairs bedrooms or one of the upstairs rooms as an extra living room. In my opinion there are often houses with long narrow extensions across the back that should have been better considered as invariably people need bigger spaces rather than more small rooms and retrospectively opening up the original house into this space is more difficult that building in the steels originally. So my plan doesn’t change any of the external walls of the original property but a couple of internal brick walls have been removed. I have just shown what is commercial and probably wouldn’t cost the earth but a designer would spend time trying to better understand your needs....See MorePlease help me decide on my lounge / diner / kitchen layout
Comments (15)Thank-you very much for the comments. I hope it will be a great space, but playing around with it and changing the design at the last minute is getting a bit stressful! This is the design that the build company showed us initially - just their initial thought as it how it would look. I found feeling the area where they had positioned the fridge/freezer very tricky. We want a free-standing french larder style fridge and the doors and level of matching with the rest of the units didn't seem like a good fit. The support pillar for the steel that crosses the island in the attachment below has also been a real annoyance. It sticks out 23cm, so it can only really go through empty-ish cupboards. Clearly anything to the left of that steel is difficult to vent. On the design in my intitial post, I was intending to have a dropped ceiling element that stretched just beyond the steel. This would let me have a powerful extractor and exit the flew onto the flat room (hidden by the drop ceiling 'box'). I like the idea you describe of a full wall of units, then island, then table. I guess Jonathan's proposal is similar to that. While I love the efficiency of the "4 double door" hideaway I just don't like the aesthetic, so will need to think about something else. Bringing it back to what we need... Utility room: enough to stash the washing machine, store the vacuum cleaner and hang a few clothes. No need for a sink. Free Standing, 90cm wide fridge, nicely framed either by wall of kitchen units. Waist height oven with an additional "top oven / grill (broiler)" - so at least one full height column. Good size kitchen island with at least two seats. Approx 90cm induction hob, plus a gas domino hob. Powerful, externally venting extractor over hob. I'm relatively open to moving the kitchen/living area to wherever it works best. I'm also not desperate to have the hob on the island (but that would be nice). As far as I know, the builders haven't done anything that can't be easily adjusted at this stage - but I think that will change in a couple of days - and they are planning for the kitchen to be in the old part of the house. As for rooflights - I thought, perhaps wrongly, that it would be light enough with the big bifold doors. It is an east facing room, and the old room had some sliding paitio doors and it felt bright enough. So I have left roof lights out on the basis that - but I'm also concerned about noise. (Cheaper too!). The biggest window we can gave without incurring significantly more cost is 1800mm x 1000mm - I'm minded to be 2 or 3 of these in that middle section. Thanks!...See MorePlease help with awkward lounge layout
Comments (9)I haven't had long to look at it, but that is a tricky lounge. A decent size but an awkward shape. What would really help is knowing the measurements of each and every wall in that lounge. Moving walls and doors can be expensive and you should always consult a structural engineer. By moving the doors and walls, even though it makes the room technically smaller, it'll feel more useable. I moved the kitchen door to the corner, which frees up a bit of wall space to hang the TV. You would need to move some kitchen units, so I've put them against the stairs. You could fit more here anyway. I've moved the hallway door in a bit to square the room. I don't suppose you really NEED to do this, but it will make the room a more standard shape and make better use of the hall storage. Either of the layouts I can think of would equally work with the door where it is though. Sorry I haven't got the software or the time to draw the layouts but hopefully you can get the idea. The two layouts that spring to mind are 1) an L-shaped sofa in the window corner, with a single elsewhere (where the measurements were maybe?) You might fit a small desk by the double doors. OR 2) an L-shaped sofa partly under the stairs overhang, with the TV on the long wall opposite where it is in the photos. You could maybe put a single seat beside the double doors, and a desk in the corner near the window. Without moving walls, I'd maybe put an L sofa in the window corner and a single in the corner by the double doors. You might fit a small desk (110mm?) under the stairs. As I said though, if you could measure every wall, that would help get a better understanding of what could go where....See More- 5 years ago
- 5 years agolast modified: 5 years ago
Hi Amber
I can see why you’ve been wrestling with it as it is difficult to figure out the best options with such a long stretch of kitchen and lounge.
An extension could make both these rooms appear longer/skinny and maybe darker. My friends added a similar extension with a large window on one half and patio doors on the other, with both the side walls being solid brick. This did make their original rooms darker so if you did decide to go down this route, perhaps consider a design incorporating more glass than brick?
I did come up with an idea similar to what you had in mind but i don’t know if it is possible (I have left tiny parts of your dividing wall between your existing kitchen/lounge still in place in case supports are needed). There’s a rough drawing below to help you (and me!) visualise it.
- the kitchen is moved to the front of the house, the yellow rectangle represents a chair that you could tuck under the counter, or if necessary lose the counter and place an armchair here; alternatively you could place an armchair / swivel chair where yellow circle is?
- this could be whatever type of glass opening you like or combination window/door (you might be able to reuse part of what you already have?)
- dining table area
- this could be whatever you need it to be – a sofa with side tables, a sideboard with wall hung TV above, a floor to ceiling storage wall, etc
- bi-fold doors to close off the lounge (could go for half glass for added light)
- again, whatever is needed – another sofa, a media wall, a mix of units/desk and open shelving above
- this could be a place for a wall hung tv or fire or both! (if you did need to retain part of the original dividing wall to support a beam, you could make a shallow false wall behind 7 which would be great to hide any wiring, sockets, etc)
- could leave as original window if this works or make it into a glass door
- patio door to garden/bi-folds - match up with 8
- a longer section of wall here may be useful depending on how you intend to use the space
At the very least, i hope this offers some inspiration and stops the wrestling! Just consider what your family’s needs are and when you have decided on a layout, I would draw a ‘to scale’ plan with the actual size of your furnishings (incl. 5). This will make sure you are putting walls and sockets in the right place and help to determine what type/size openings work best.
Best of luck and would be great to eventually see the final productAmber Tallulah thanked pazzomed - 5 years ago
Jonathan