Opening up integral garage (Lighting/Layout Dilema)

rinked

21 days ago

That seems rather cramped for storage. Have you considered insulating the whole garage, getting some marvelous glazing in front and then turn the former lounge into storage, aka swap those rooms? Could be less costly as my other idea, moving the kitchen over, to create storage space next to the utility.

Alvin C. thanked rinked

Jonathan

21 days ago

In part I agree with Rinked. It’s a shame to make the largest room in the house windowless. Put some windows on the front and buy a shed for the back garden.

Alvin C. thanked Jonathan

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Your space does not give you much flexibility so I agree it’s important to get the right furniture. I would definitely try changing the areas around. Your present sofas are large and bulky . A more streamlined design would do wonders to update your look , but I would not go for corner sofas . They are not space saving . My daughter has one that should seat five but in reality only three can sit comfortably . Your tv dominates this space so a change around might reduce its impact . I would also remove the dado rail ( unless it’s a period feature ) . The fireplace surround is elegant and would not look out of place if that became your dining area .I recently removed my living room curtains and replaced them with blinds . The illusion of extra space was instant . I do hope you find a solution.

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Hi. I wonder if you use the drawing room as your kitchen diner? You could then use your existing kitchen as the utility and include a downstairs toilet in there as well. I was thinking you could extend the hallway so that the door into the new kitchen diner is moved up slightly so that you enter from the area that is currently your kitchen. This would give you a full run of units along the wall between the new kitchen diner and the living room. You could then have an island, peninsula or u shaped kitchen in front of that run and have your dining table in front of the windows. For what is left of the current kitchen (after a square has been taken out for the extended hallway) you could have the toilet on the right (block the current external door) and a new external door in the middle of the back wall with units either side. The alternative is extend as planned and put the utility between the living room and new kitchen diner which would give more light to the kitchen diner area. All subject to plumbing of course!

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There are some really valid points made here so far and some thought-provoking space planning ideas so thanks so much for those. I wasn’t sure if people were interpreting the drawing lines near the dining table as a wall but they are in fact the outlines of where the RSJ structure would need to go. Also, the existing patio doors are drawn in but to tell you the truth I would remove those once I have building control sign off. Too many doors would be impractical and each one would need to have a door closer on it! But a necessary evil for fire reasons. I think the sprinkler systems are around £10K so I would rather not thanks. I see one design shows the living room open on the 1st floor but from what I understand that would not be allowed as there needs to be a safe protected means of escape from the bedrooms right down to the ground floor. The stairs need to be in an enclosure but correct me if I’m wrong. Using the garden doors as safe means of escape is a possibility and we have a side alley/access so a door could be added. On one design there is a utility which I am trying to fit in rather than just using the under stairs space for the washing machine etc. I don’t like the idea of walking through the kitchen instead of a hallway but I can see the point about that they wasted space. Although corridors are good place to hang art work and paintings! Also people might get in the way of the cook! One question which I’m finding hard to phrase…. At what stage in a property renovation does building control become applicable or more specifically when do the fire regs start to make an appearance? Is it because I’m adding a potential fire source to the garage? The neighbours opened up the existing kitchen on the 1st floor (see estate agent drawing) and combined the dining space with the kitchen. But there is no record of them consulting with the council but they did have to get building control for the garage conversion. Seems odd. But I just wander will the inspector be looking at the entire house (such as if toughened glass on patio doors) or just look at the conversion work in the garage? If I have to pass though the living room to get to the other staircase will this be an issue for example? I feel that I need to get a clearer ideal of what is really necessary and strip everything down to the essentials. I wish to spend a lot of time with an Architect but their time is expensive so I guess I’m trying to work out the best way to proceed in terms of the layout and design. The architect costs £80 per hour and he studied at a well-recognised University. He didn’t really listen or interview us but did one plan on top of my drawing and said shall we go with that then? He also said that access and egress is taking a lot of space which others are saying on Houzz. In one design I have opened up the whole ground floor space and changed the stairs to the front in a design but at what cost? At the same time I think I need to be quite pragmatic and too much structural changes are going to cost. The budget is not going to be huge for this house. Its not worth spending say £100K on this house as its next to a busy road and the property could end up being a real money pit. I was hoping for £50k finished but that’s with me laying the floor, decorating and making my own kitchen. Possibly being a laborer and doing the project timeline charts and ordering materials. Essentially, we need a family sized kitchen and since I have built a studio in the garden and park on the driveway it makes sense to convert the garage. The garage is long and narrow and more space I think is needed for a kitchen diner/family room. I am hesitant in placing loads of expensive RSJ’s everywhere and having sprinkler systems installed. Also, I don’t really want building control legislation to have to come into force on the whole house top to bottom. Maybe I’m being over fearful of Building Control! We had done drawings for a whole house recon fig including the top floor bedroom and where going to put two new staircases in. Building work got really expensive (Covid/cost of living etc) I got Nervous of increased materials costs too, builder so decided to scale back original plans and be a bit more pragmatic. We may have placed some constrains on the overall ‘ultimate’ layout design. But making use of the spare time available during the Covid restrictions was essential when it came to renovating the top floor bathroom. The top floor bedrooms work quite well as they are so I didn’t see much point in re-configuring everything. But I do get the message and it does make sense to have holistic approach in an ideal World. For me to take up the decking ready for the extension and cover up the astro turf is no real concern. I really wanted a home studio workshop and as the garage is going it gives more storage etc.

Alvin C.
Original Author

16 days ago

Yeh, lighting is my main concern even if its going to be a "cinema room" it will be dark all the time without windows.

Cost wise converting a garage door to windows would cost a lot more from what I have planned though, so will need to consider that.

Also do you know if removing the garage will lower the value of the house that's why I left a small space for storage just for bikes and stuff?

Jonathan

16 days ago

Your plan doesn’t work because you haven’t left enough room for the up and over door. Yes adding the cost of windows is a consideration but it’s going add value rather than remove it

Alvin C.
Original Author

15 days ago

last modified: 15 days ago

No the garage door is not an up and over, its a roll up so there is space. But I agree with the lighting issue, as the size it would be the main room but without natural light source.

Opening up integral garage (Lighting/Layout Dilema)

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Opening up integral garage (Lighting/Layout Dilema)

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