Making our 2 bed flat work for growing family.

2 years ago

Hi all,
We have lived in our 2 bed flat in central Edinburgh for 7 years now. We fell in love with it and paid much less than what we had budgeted for, thinking we would buy bigger when we needed to. But that has never happened!
We have 2 children (girl aged 9, boy aged 4). They are getting to an age where they are bickering a bit and bed times can be a night mare. Whilst I'm certainly not of the opinion that children SHOULD have their own room, I think it would certainly make life easier!
Despite having been approved for a mortgage that would allow us to buy a place in the same location with double the space and been viewing properties on and off for 18 months... nothing has really taken our fancy! We love this flat. Besides, there's a lot to be said for having a cheap mortgage!
What we are thinking about is adapting the space to allow us to live here longer.
Essentially: convert the hall cupboard into a toilet (the neighbours have done the same on the other side of the wall).
Then, parents move into the living room as our bedroom and the kids take a bedroom each.
That leaves the kitchen to become a compact kitchen/diner/living room.
I have attached pics (the sales particulars from when we bought it) with floor plan.
I appreciate it won't allow for a LOT of space, but we will all have more of our own individual space.
So I'm thinking U Shaped kitchen by the window (sink under the window), some worktop, fridge and pantry down the left wall. Small round table with 4 chairs by the old range. Rip out corner cupboards in bottom right corner which currently house pantry and washing machine and have small l shaped sofa here.
Or possible a banquette seating thing with table in that corner?
It has been suggested that we move the kitchen to the living room - this is not an option for us because of the existing plumbing, the old range in the kitchen (the flat was built in 1834) and we really want to keep it as original as possible.
All thoughts appreciated on how feasible you think this is and suggestions for layout!
Many thanks!

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Comments (15)

Becci C
2 years ago
Your post made me think of this story.... https://www.thesun.co.uk/fabulous/12334045/mum-uses-bunk-beds-split-room-instant-hit/ ... perhaps you could do something similar? You could give them the current living room so you have a bigger room to split up, and then use one of the bedrooms for a smaller living room.
J
2 years ago
I presume your not expecting to live in the apartment for long term. If that's the case I'd think about making the childrens bedroom into more separate spaces for the kids. Like mentioned by Becci, a built in set of bunks (as big as you can go) complete with curtains for privacy could really help. I'm thinking more like a platform with a mattress on it. So there can be room around the bed for personal treasures.
I think the small kitchen living space will be very hard (for me at least) to live with 2 growing kids.
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Welcome neighbours - we're also in Streatham. So, remember that Planning and Building Regs are two different things. Firstly, Planning. Permitted Development rules do not apply to flats, so things that can normally be done to houses pretty informally (loft conversions and extensions within certain maximum sizes are examples) need a full planning application for a flat. Look at the planning portal and check what you need to apply for. Lambeth is annoying as you have to do a pre-planning application if you want an opinion (they got rid of the duty planning officer advice a while back to cut costs) - a bit of a scam really, you would be better off hiring a proper planning consultant/architect used to Lambeth and getting your application right first time. We did everything under Permitted Development (house), so did not have to go down that route. Building Regulations then need to be complied with when doing the work allowed under Planning. Rather than organise site visits/inspections with the council, who are notoriously hard to get in touch with, we used a private company, London Building Control, who were excellent. It costs a bit more, but you don't spend your whole life chasing council employees who are unmotivated and useless (in Lambeth's case, anyway). Generally, internal changes (removing walls and using steels etc) do not need planning permission of any sort, but are definitely a Building Regulations issue: and you will need to show proper structural engineering drawings with calculations and steel specs etc. Good luck!
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I agree with Jonathan, you probably aren't going to get everything you want. My plan leaving the shower room and swapping the kitchen and bathroom is good. It leaves you a good sized bathroom for three beds, and a separate shower room. We all prefer our own plans and I like mine because i've used every inch possible. Plus, I only knocked down one small wall down between kitchen and living and put one wall up to make two bedrooms at the front. The master gets a nice big window with a private patio....nice feature. It also utilises the side entrance as a pantry gaining space in the kitchen. However, as Jonathan says either of the plans with no extension will leave an undersized living / kitchen / dining area. Thus an extension is necessary, but even that's pushing it. The budget just isn't going to stretch to all of the work in one go. I'm guessing you can just about do all the internals, which requires a new kitchen and bathroom, neither of which you could go mad on. Some of the rooms need better windows as you pointed out. It would still leave the undersized space at the rear, which would require an extension at some point, but the bulk of the work would be done. Either way, it's a very tight budget, it's an old house, and stuff crops up in those all the time that you don't expect. A healthy budget to achieve all, including the extension............with a contingency included for small disasters should be £60-80K
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Thank you for sharing Kate. We are aware and know that any final plans will have to work with existing service points. Hopefully, we will pull together one or two floor plans to share with a building contractor who is well versed in ex-local reno before sharing our application with the councils planning team. I did read on our council website that they have two teams - one that deals with planning and another that you can seek advice from before putting in an application. I think there is a fee to use the second service (much smaller than the actual planning fee) but they will give us a very strong idea whether our plans are likely to be approved or not.
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Claire M
Original Author
2 years ago
This IS clever! Food for thought!
Claire M
Original Author
2 years ago
Hi J,

No, probably won't manage it long term, but a few more years perhaps. I had thought about the platform bed a few years ago, I'll have another think about it.
J
2 years ago
Check out this photo from Houzz - https://www.houzz.co.uk/photos/vivienda-en-barcelona-contemporary-kids-barcelona-phvw-vp~25800912

You could always just get one of the the IKEA large platform beds and add a curtain around for quick and cost effective option. :)
Jonathan
2 years ago
Why not divide the kitchen into a bedroom and bathroom and then knock the bathroom and living room to create a bigger space for a living room/kitchen?
Jonathan
2 years ago
Like this
Claire M
Original Author
2 years ago
Thanks Jonathan, that looks good, but we really want to keep the kitchen in the original room. I think by doing it that way you could lose the character of both the living room and the kitchen. Plus you've still got an range cooker sitting in a bedroom then (which i HAVE seen around here, but don't really fancy it).
Jonathan
2 years ago
Surely you just move the range into the bigger room?
Jonathan
2 years ago
Just been working it out….. the living room and bathroom is about 45% bigger than the kitchen alone so better suited to an all purpose room.
arc3d
2 years ago
By moving the bathroom to the space between the living room and bedroom 2 you could convert the remaing living room space in to a third bedroom. That would open up the whole middle of the flat which could become you main living space. Also by eliminating the corridor it becomes the largest space in your home. You could use glazed bifold doors to create a huge open plan kitchen/living/dining area where you can still close off the kitchen (to comply with fire safety) and still have lots of light coming in from the kitchen window. You could also borrow light from from bedroom 3 with frosted glazing at ceiling level. This layout would give everyone their individual spaces all of which coming off a spacious central family area.
Claire M
Original Author
2 years ago
Hi Jonathan, no, we are not allowed to as it's listed and the range is nearly 200 years old (see details with pic in original post).
Claire M
Original Author
2 years ago
Hi arc3d,

That's a great layout - how would the plumbing work though? It would still need to get to the back of the house somehow. I like how big the living room would be (Heritage Scotland may say otherwise!)
Luciana
2 years ago
You could split up the sitting room into two rooms (would probably mean boarding up the fireplace). Some sort of windows in the partition wall would allow some natural light in to the space in the middle (see this ideabook for inspiration).
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https://www.houzz.co.uk/magazine/houzz-tour-a-gorgeous-parquet-floor-is-reinstated-in-a-city-flat-stsetivw-vs~148736933

The only issue would be access - one of the children would have to go through the other's room... maybe a screen of some sorts would help with that. Or you (the parents) could have the middle bedroom - the French have done quite a good job with all those mirrors. The bedroom by the kitchen could then become a snug/TV room, and you'd only have to accommodate a dining table in the existing kitchen.

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arc3d
2 years ago
Hi Clairebeth,

I think you mentioned putting a second toilet in the hall cupboard because your neighbours were able to do it?

The proposed bathroom is the same distance away.

If all else fails there's always the macerator pump option.

Making our 2 bed flat work for growing family.

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Becci C

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Making our 2 bed flat work for growing family.

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