Hello Blade40, I like your ideas.. I too would build out from the utility/garage side to join the exterior of the living room to create one big space which you can divide with glass doors in areas.. - a gr8 idea! Maybe it's a glass side return? For internal division, you can also consider panels that slide to form a wall decorated to suit the room. Screens or semi permanent structures such as wooden slatted dividers as a means to section areas or screen off kitchen or other functional aspects of the home.. Thing to consider is budget? How much? and also spatially the garden- It looks quite big and so as I want to suggest some other ideas.. Think of your materials.. Think how you want your home to blend with the landscape.. Think of the environment... Southern California vibe is gr8! You can achieve the same kind of feel.. Open landscape and sea air, textures, light... chalky paints and layering.. Pale creams and stone colours for the exterior with creams and off whites in the interior. Consider natural materials for flooring Cork, Jute, Coir, Sisal carpeting or rugs.. Painted floorboards if there are any.. Large plants and plenty of open vistas! How you mix your materials for the facade of the house could also add to it's aesthetic splendour.. Woods, concrete textural cladding, earthy colours with large earthy stoneware, plants and large leaves... Landscaping and architectural features.. Garden landscaping too and split levels.. Internally.. Boho chic or Modern lounge luxury? :))

Do you need to keep a downstairs bathroom, or are you happy to have only the en suite until the loft is done? (bearing in mind this may put buyers off if you end up selling before you do the loft). If you do then I agree with SpaceMaker’s idea of moving the bathroom to the dining room area if soil pipe allows. Or if soil pipe does not allow (eg if soil pipe runs back through the garden rather than under the house) then at least move the shower and sink, so as to leave only the loo carved off the kitchen. The dining room could divide into a bathroom and utility on the left hand side (using the under stairs space as well) and then a corridor through to the kitchen on the right. If you decide you don’t need the downstairs bathroom then you could have the same sort of division but make it a utility and study space. You will free up quite a lot of space if you take out the chimneybreasts - in your shoes and budget allowing I would keep the one at the front so you can have a nice fireplace/woodburner as a lounge focal point, but then take out the others. Certainly a side return extension, with glassed over side roof and glazed doors to the garden at the end, would have a big impact on the size and feel. Rooflights are cheaper than a full glass roof and have the benefit of being openable for ventilation in the summer.

We have an architect and we are trying to get to the developed design stage of an extension/renovation project. Anyway, we are now happy with most of the design but struggling with the First floor layout. Because the house is not very deep it leaves little options. We currently have 2 good size bedrooms, a very small bathroom and seperate toilet, and a box room. What we want is a 2 ensuite bedrooms one of which, the master bedroom with an open concept bath feature within the room. (controversial to some). And a linen cupboard. The new stair way also eats into more space than our current one. We feel that although limited, the floor space is there to have what we want. ***We have river views looking out from bedroom 1 and street view bed 2 so we would not want to swap them round.*** We just need some nifty/clever design solutions. Is it possible to consult an interior architect for a second pair of professional eyes on the layout? Will this be an insult to my current architect? This is the latest plan after we realised we could have a bath we rarely use as a feature in our room. So we asked to do away with the family bathroom and have ensuite instead with the master having a bath feature. Looking at this design we still have to eat in to bedroom 2 with corridor. The family bathroom, they have included but maybe this is better than ensuite in bed 2? But theres no linen cupboard.. And bed 2 is very narrow and dont think would fit a double. Our current tiny bathroom is located in the bottom left so I thought having our ensuite here would make sense. Possibly steal some more space in order to give bedroom 2 enough for a double bed.? I know we are really limited here so any off the wall ideas would be really welcome!!! :D

If it's not the house that is causing you frustrations but it's more about feeling disconnected from the garden because of the change in levels outside then it sounds like you'll get most benefit from altering the garden. I would definitely suggest working with a garden designer or landscape architect on this. You could look at terracing the garden to create more of a gradually stepped approach so you can see more greenery and physically have a more gradual transition up to the rest of the garden from the lower patio. Changing the metal railings for glass or large planters that would prevent someone falling over the edge and adding greenery to the patio would help - I think they might be where the feeling of being in prison is coming from! But something more structurally radical would be more effective and could be really stunning. Best of luck with your designs.