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Home Decorating Dining Rooms Design Dilemma

Help me with downstairs layout

3 years ago

Hey! We have viewed a house that we like but the downstairs layout has me stuck. It’s already been extended so that isn’t an option. The corner of the L is quite dark so I wondered about changing where the door is to get some light in but would that mess up the kitchen layout?

Any ideas would be much appreciated!

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Comments (5)

PRO
DOR Architecture
3 years ago
Firstly it is possible to extend or alter an extension if one was built. Under PD usually you should be able to extend further to 3m (and more under prior approval) but obviously there are then additional costs involved.

The issue here is that you seem to have is the bisecting wall which blocks off the light and views of the garden. You are also going through the lounge to get to the kitchen.

You could try removing the bisecting wall to create an open-plan kitchen dining lounge.

It is nice to have the kitchen against one wall to allow you to have an island and dining table next to the natural lights from the garden, and then keep the lounge semi-separate by allocating the front room. The plan from the agent seems wrong with the sizes but maybe this is a suggested rough layout?

www.dorarch.com
Deb Olivia
Original Author
3 years ago
Thank you for your ideas! I also thought about taking out the wall but was unsure if this was possible because there seems to be a steel running down one of the cupboards in the kitchen, I’m assuming this is where they must have extended a few years ago? I’m not sure if this can be removed?

Also, I like the idea of a separate living area and I’d ideally want to keep the fireplaces, how could we achieve this with an open plan idea?
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Hiya, What a fun puzzle. I think like @guardianangelservices have said, there are a lot more questions before working out the "right" answer because there are a million options, it's about finding the right one for your family. From a first look, I think there is a reasonable easy/least expensive option which would give you the bigger kitchen but without touching the newly finishes left side or moving a bathroom and that would be to move the front door to the centre of the house. Personally, I love a hallway, not walking through the middle of a room to get to the stairs or to hang your coat is a luxury to me so removing the centre hallway to open the spaces up would actually be a compromise. However, gaining the extra meter or so of kitchen might be all the difference you need to fit in a table and then it's about decorating the hallway to create the feeling of light. Actually having a glass door will make a huge difference as light doesn't travel around corners very well which is why it is so dark at the moment. You could keep the coat room space by keeping a little bit of the kitchen still, the hall doesn't have to be a straight line, it could have a coat nook or cupboard built into the new space. If you want to chat further about how it might work for you, I offer a free zoom chat for bouncing around ideas www.thekitchenladyuk.co.uk Good luck Emily
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PRO
DOR Architecture
3 years ago
It is hard to tell how big the spaces are, but if the square footage are permits you could introduce a wall to separate the rooms as there are two doors existing from the entrance lobby. We have designed and used some very sleek folding partition walls on past projects but they do tend to be a little pricey. The best thing would be to find a good local Architect who can physically see and design for the space. Then together with a structural engineer (which they will often bring on board)

they could seek to minimise the amount of structural work to make it all work, but it does look quite possible. good luck

www.dorarch.com
Deb Olivia
Original Author
3 years ago
Thanks so much for your advice! We will do just that. I completely forgot to include the measurements my mistake! Do you think the measurements are doable?
PRO
DOR Architecture
3 years ago
Thanks, though it is still difficult as the shape of the rooms is not usual. We usually design in 3D using the floorplan after a survey to test layouts and do flythroughs. If you were hoping to do some initial feasibility you could try the app Magicplan which allows you to make imprecise 3D layouts with furniture

www.dorarch.com

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