skip to main content

House layout & garden redesign

2 years ago

Our lounge is quite dark as north facing, would it be worth swapping layout with kitchen or remove internal wall?
Garden is desperate for a redesign as basic new build layout? Any help would be appreciated

Sort by:Oldest

Comments (6)

Richard L
2 years ago
White/offwhite paint works wonders bouncing light around...
PRO
The Kitchen Lady UK
2 years ago
Hi Alex,

Sounds like you are definitely in need of some light boosting ideas! As Richard above has said something as simple as a paint colour change can help to boost a certain amount of light as a small fix as can strategically placed mirrors and lighter coloured furniture, however if you are finding that the layout isn't working or the lack of light is becoming more than a little niggle then it is definitely worth looking into further to see what can be done.

Do you happen to have any floorplans or overview images of what the current layout looks like so I could take a better look and have a better understanding of where your current services are located please?

More than happy to help give you some foundations for ideas.

Many thanks,

Charlie

Covey Kitchens

www.coveykitchens.co.uk
Related Discussions
Redesigning downstairs layout.
Q
Comments (11)
Okay, with a view that you could totally change it around, do you use your garage e.g. do you have a driveway. The kitchen feels too small and my suggestion would be the most amount of work one would do but I think you wouldn't regret it. Make the garage the living room and convert lounge and dining room to kitchen dining room open plan space. The old kitchen could then be the utility and study and keep the WC as is. If thats not an option than nothing is going to be as effective or useable which is the problem and there is no other way to make an open plan kitchen dining room.
...See More
Need help with redesigning my rear garden after house renovations .
Q
Comments (23)
Ta da! Hope you can see the photo ok, had to use the flash (click to enlarge). Tried to keep things fairly simple without compromising on the lawn space and just bear in mind the sketches aren’t to scale. From what you say I think you’ll definitely be wanting a path to link the different areas together but what materials you use for the path is entirely up to you. Hopefully the sketches are self explanatory but I’ll give a little more info. Sketch 1, I added a water feature on the left but you could put anything here, it just breaks up the border a bit. Sketch 2, I brought the pergola forward a bit so it’s not so shoved up the corner. I think this will more pleasing especially as you’d have room for planting behind. In both 1 and 2 the shed is positioned widthways as again I think this would look more pleasing. Sketch 3 is going from Jonathan’s idea of using a curve. Pergola would have to be custom made tho. Used a corner shed and circle patio in bottom left is mainly for decorative purposes. Sketch 4 I’ve swapped things about and created a little yard area for shed on the left which is surrounded by trellis. This might be a great way to disguise unsightly things like compost bin etc. The feature could be anything like a little water fountain, statue or bird bath. Anyway hopes this gives you some inspiration and feel free to plan things how you’d like them and I’m pretty sure Sonia can advise on planting suggestions 🙂. Love 💕 your extension btw.
...See More
Garden Redesign, Advice Needed!
Q
Comments (9)
Hi I think you should consider completely 'flipping' the space, using the grass area as your driveway/parking area, and joining the rest of your current parking/bin area to the paved area you already use for sitting eating. To show you what I mean, in the image below the new driveway area is in blue, and the new garden area is in red. I appreciate this probably means more work/cost in digging up and turfing some paved bits and paving some grassed areas, but to me the advantages are: a parking area wide enough to get two cars in and out past the other; it consolidates both the spaces you use for leisure into a single, larger area; your kids will be able to get to the play area by the back door, rather than by the front. This might be safer/more convenient; and if you built a fence between the red and blue sections you could improve security by removing easy access to the back of the house. Hope this is a helpful suggestion. Mark
...See More
How to redesign our downstairs layout
Q
Comments (19)
Colourwisedesign, what a beautiful home, they've definitely made an amazing transformation. I like the glass doors, I'm just worried about light but I'm going to look into this definitely as it looks fantastic. Thanks so much. Yes, we have a back door to get into the kitchen that goes in via the conservatory at the minute. My only reservation with laundry and toilet in the area you mentioned is it'd take up space of my decent sized window so it'd darken the kitchen but I love annavals idea of a small toilet under the stairs. Thanks so much. Annaval, wow, I can't believe how similar your house was before, sharing this is fantastic, what a fantastic large space you've created! I can't wait to have the same. Thanks so much for the pictures and floor plans. I am thinking a toilet in the area you mentioned would make sense, I know its a small space but I don't even mind if I just fit in one of those toilets with a sink above, you'd only use it for a second anyway. We have 2 nicer bathrooms upstairs. Can I ask, on the side of the kitchen that I can't see from the photos, do you have worktop space? The opposite side to your hob. Our current kitchen just has wall cabinets but I kind of feel it's a waste of some space. Interesting seeing you've put your laundry on the side, we could do that, we have the space but my husband is regularly carrying tools and large things down the side of the house to the bottom of our garden where we have storage (he's a builder so think he needs to be able to do that really). So I think that rules out side extension for us. I'm thinking there might be a small amount of room on one side of the new extension though as I don't mind if it's a tiny room (stacked washer and dryer and a small amount of space to put some clothes out to air - I've seen them cables on the ceiling to save space). Only reason I want one is because I get sick of seeing my washing on my clothes horse in the kitchen all of the time! It makes it look messy. Thanks so much everyone. I just need to work out this utility area (if I can have one). And work out if I want a glass wall or not.
...See More
hedgehog99
2 years ago
Where do you spend time in the daytime - lounge or kitchen? I’d be wary of putting a kitchen in the darkest spot - instead I’d focus on making a cosy lounge as I’d guess that you are usually in there in the evening anyway. Knocking through might be an option but you’ll get better advice about that and the garden if you post some floor plans and photos.
Alex Douglass
Original Author
2 years ago
Ellie H
2 years ago
What about Crittall window/door type to separate kitchen and lounge to let light pass through?
PRO
The Kitchen Lady UK
2 years ago
Hi Alex,

Thanks for sending the floor plan across.

I think the layout works well, keeping the kitchen where it currently is. Especially as you have the lovely garden view. I think an option to consider would be opening up the two rooms - kitchen and living room. This would create a really large entertaining space. If sofas are positioned correctly along with the dining table you can still have separate 'zones' in the room with it being open.

I am assuming you have a patio door out to the garden. A bi-fold would work really well at boosting in some more light especially if it was to run the majority of the wall (budget permitting) otherwise a full height window either side and inline with the patio door would be a cost effective light boosting solution.

If opening up the two rooms isn't a possibility you could look at effective lighting, that can help boost light in the areas of the room that appear darker.

If you would like us to have a look in more detail or would like a chat over the phone about layouts, CAD designs etc then please do get in contact.

Kind regards,

Charlie

Covey Kitchens

www.coveykitchens.co.uk

Sponsored

More Discussions

Large sliding door or keep small French door and window

36

How could be best layout our kitchen/diner/hallway?

12

Advice re updating a tiredbedroom please

6

How can I fit an induction hob in place of a range cooker?

5

Inserting a bathroom downstairs and adding a separate toilet

0

United Kingdom

Tailor my experience with cookies

Houzz uses cookies and similar technologies to personalise my experience, serve me relevant content, and improve Houzz products and services. By clicking ‘Accept’ I agree to this, as further described in the Houzz Cookie Policy. I can reject non-essential cookies by clicking ‘Manage Preferences’.