Floorplan ideas
Hi everyone,
I’ve seen some really helpful replies on here and I’m hoping you may be able to help with our floorplan- just to make sure we’re doing the right thing and we haven’t missed anything… We have a 1950s bungalow with a 1980s roof extension- we’re planning to extend the roof further and replace an unsightly box dormer with 2 smaller dormers- resulting in more usable space upstairs. Redecorating the entire house, new windows, new plumbing, electrics, etc. We want to improve the downstairs layout but would rather not extend (I don’t think we need to). We’re quite happy with the plans for upstairs but we’re still not sure about the ground floor. I’ve added photos of the existing and proposed ground floor plans (sorry for the tippex and pencil amendments I don’t know how to do this electronically!).
What we like about the proposed plans:
We’re keeping the door where it is and moving the staircase over to get a more generous entrance hall- with a full height ‘atrium’ style space. We can walk straight into the kitchen from here (through a pocket door) with a view to our lovely garden. The kitchen is north facing so we’re hoping this doorway will let south light in. There should be plenty of north light from the rear 6m sliding doors and velux. Our lounge is double aspect, with plenty of light and views to the garden- we’d like to keep it this way and plan to open up the dining area to the kitchen to get one big L shaped space. The playroom can become a games room or 2nd reception room once the kids outgrow the toys- so we’ve put a pocket door here so it can be shut off from the open plan space.
What we’re not sure about:
The utility room is in a converted fuel store with low ceilings so it can’t really be repurposed for another means- it’s stuck where it is. It’s currently accessed via a shabby conservatory which we’re getting rid of, and will put a door in from the playroom. I would have liked the utility to come straight off the kitchen but this seems a good compromise. The playroom is in a very dark corner of the house- we’re hoping it will be much brighter once the opaque plastic conservatory goes. I thought about moving the kitchen to this corner but I’m thinking it might still be too dark and it’s a less nice view to the garden.
The kitchen layout is tricky with this floorplan. We had an appointment with Magnet and I’ve attached the visuals. It seems really cramped but maybe it’s not so bad? Maybe we’re being greedy but I thought we’d be able to get a more spacious working kitchen area. I’ve since tweaked the kitchen layout a bit- replaced one of the full height larder units with worktop and added some units to the window alcove area (although not sure what to put here). These plans have 1.2m between the peninsula and full height units, but I think we can stretch this to 1.4m if it makes it less cramped. That would still allow 950mm of walkway on the other side of the peninsula. Would that be a good idea or a mistake? Is there anything else we could do to get a better kitchen space? We talked about putting in a tiny extension to square off the room- but it’s a lot of money for not much extra space. Perhaps it’s worth it though?
I should mention we’re planning to have a ‘breakfast larder’ area where we can put the coffee machine, toaster, microwave, etc and hide them away behind cupboard doors. Magnet couldn’t draw in exactly what we wanted but you can see the coffee machine!
Sorry for waffling- I’m keen to see what other options there might be!
Comments (12)
5 years agoReally nice design! Though I'd leave out the american fridge and the units near the door. This will allow for a sidelight and/or wider door. Then I'd probably close off the lounge door, or at least one. Coffee machine could go next to the tall units (1 larder, 1 ovens, 1 fridge). IKEA has limited cabinet sizes, so might want to use some imagination with that (also keep the shelving left of the extractor). Could do a bit of overhang+stools, but since it's a traffic line I'd leave it open, much more practical+safe. The window next to the playroom could be a nice window seat.
And I dislike pocket doors if they are not a necessity, hinged ones with plenty glass would be lovely (or is the playroom door mostly closed?). Utility is big enough for a big freezer.
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Floor plan ideas
Comments (2)It looks very doable to remove the wall between dining and kitchen to create an open plan space. You could close the door to the kitchen from the wall then and have a bank of units to the wall against the staircase as well. This could alo make up for any storage space you might lose from the run along the separating wall, which you could mostly have as a breakfast bar instead....See Morelooking for renovation/floor plan ideas
Comments (6)Thank you @Jonathan @Devy brilliant plan. On a second thought I did not factor in the fact if we communicated the garage and the house we wouldn’t have access from outside to the back. So perhaps not the best move. And maybe to connect them the garage has to come down. 🥹. However like Jonathan has suggested may add value overall to the house. One thing I forgot to add is a bigger kitchen is needed as well and possibly a playroom/study. Also perhaps the garage can go as not fit for purpose. Any suggestions for plans to increase downstairs living space and hopefully get an en-suite upstairs?...See MoreHELP - floor plan ideas
Comments (2)I would investigate moving the stairs to the inner hallway thus reducing bedroom one. The bathroom could then extend across the rear of bed 3 and bed 3 incorporates the current stairs and overlooks the front resulting in three equal sized bedrooms. Downstairs, the front reception room could become the wc and utility and the kitchen and utilitiy area combined and with an extention becomes the kitchen diner...See MoreFloorplan Ideas needed!
Comments (5)Love your floor plan! I’m a kitchen/bathroom designer by trade so love doing this kind of thing daily!Apologies for the rough drawing, personally I think I’d bring the kitchen wall down inline with the stairs and lounge wall, knocking through to the diner and blocking the back door up. Then you can run units along here with sink and a couple of tall larders to house oven, fridge etc or on the bottom left wall. You could have a decent size island with hob and stool seating, with space for table/sofa to the right. If you desire a utility I’d be inclined to have a small extension only to the side behind the garage for this, and for a downstairs loo I’d pinch the back of the garage for this and connect through to where your water is in the utility. Not sure how much you use your garage but if you do keep a car in there then you’d possibly want to bring to align front of the house, if only storage you could use part of this for a bathroom. Later on potentially you could build on top of your garage for further bedroom & ensuite. Just an idea!...See More
5 years ago- 5 years ago
- 5 years agolast modified: 5 years ago
Thanks again for your comments so far. I've found a kitchen planner online and made some adjustments to the Magnet plan... I've changed the peninsular to an island and moved it out a bit to create more room around the hob area. There's now 1400mm between the island and oven/fridge wall and 950mm between the island and back door. But I'm now wondering if I should move the island further in to make it 1200mm to the oven/fridge? I've moved the main cleaning sink to the window area and put a smaller prep sink in the island. I quite like this idea although I'm not sure where the best place for the pull out bin will be. I think it should be on the island, where the main prep area will be but I'm sure I'd like it closer to the cleaning sink too.
Any critique for this updated plan? I quite like it- it seems much less cramped then before but could be 'bitty'? The wooden worktop area should have wood all around the sides too- couldn't quite get the look I wanted from the planner but you can probably see what I'm trying to achieve...
- 5 years ago
5 years agoWell JB, For a more centralised approach? Why not just go all open plan for the lounge/dining/kitchen area and remove all of the walls including the wall between the lounge and hallway to make an even bigger impression, change the U shape kitchen area so it has easier access to the play area and utility plus window inset space allowing you to have a deeper worktop semi-island as per my revised floor plan?
- 5 years ago
- 5 years ago
Richard L