I think you should work out how much priority to give the different areas…… for instance there is a lot of dining space and circulation space but the sitting space is small and the kitchen is modest.

Consider if you should be planning for the infrequent entertaining days or for the everyday. If this were my everyday space I would want a better kitchen and a better living room because I think if your kitchen and dining space are here any upstairs living space will become under used. I also wonder if the possibility of opening the front of the house up excludes them possibility of having fixed furniture across part of that aperture?

So I offer an option.

Ps I think that the side window offers very little and I wouldn’t bother

Hey Jonathon,

Thanks so much for your thoughts!

Maybe I should have been clearer, we will have a living room upstairs and so there is a breakout from the kitchen.

Also, our planning permission was approved as long as the garage is 'in keeping with the rest of the close' and so bricking up the doors may take a second round of application.

There is already an existing window on the side of the property in the garage and so we will just be enlarging it. That side of the house gets the majority of direct light during the day.

Here is an early cross section of the house plans. The kitchen we currently have is tiny and on the first floor at the front, and will be replaced by a single bedroom on the 1st floor (starting where the soil pipe cuts through the room and covering where the bookshelf is currently)

You have missed two points from my post- firstly I think that the upstairs living room will get used less and the living room next to the kitchen will be used primarily….. so I think you should make it better.

And you can still have garage style doors at the front- my point was do you have to leave that aperture fully open or can you put something in front of the doors? I think you could have a peninsula style kitchen but have your opening doors on the far side of the peninsula. You can still walk around a peninsula to access the front outside space when you have good enough weather but you would gain wall space which allows a better kitchen size.

Is the soil pipe in position 7? No expertise in kitchen planning whatsoever but could the oven and fridge go in 8 and 9? Make 10, 11 and a new 12 full height but obviously slim depth cabinets. Also reduce the 800mm cabinet to 600 and use that extra space for the slim depth units with a filler. Move the (smaller) sink to 5 and obviously move the hob down too.

Alternatively just make the slim depth cupboards ( just 11 and new 12 by still reducing the 800mm sink unit) full height, which would balance with the tall units at the other end. Plus you could still have shelves

I would also be wary of making the space too ”living” area as it often makes living rooms redundant

I do agree with you Jonathan re a potentially redundant living room upstairs but just a different approach so it’s (hopefully) not redundant! Like you, a relative has an open plan kitchen/living/dining plus a living room and tv room. The living room is literally only used at christmas and now the tv room has become more or less redundant as the children are now teenagers! Just thinking if the kitchen doesn’t include a comfy sofa, tv, books, etc it will encourage use of upstairs (well in my head anyway!)