Hi Imran, Very exciting to be starting your project! I'm not going to make any suggestions on how to layout your space as I'm not an expert but having just gone through a very similar process I thought a few words of advice might be helpful? We were looking at remodelling the downstairs of our house and got structural engineers and architects involved but to be honest it was our designer who was the most help and has stopped us making a couple of silly and costly mistakes with space planning (nothing to do with colours, paint choices or curtains!!!) I would highly recommend working with someone who can do some 3D models and renders of the proposed space for you, so you can see how it will all look. Our designer was amazing and we ended up with 4 or 5 different computer generated 3D images (and YouTube videos!!!) of how the space would look as you walked around it. Not only was it amazingly helpful but she also saved us a lot of money on structural work by pointing out things that would have been costly and not really add anything to the space. I've attached a couple of pics of our space and then the 3D images she did for us. Structural work and remodelling is expensive and our designer (Gina from Create Perfect) was a fraction of what we're spending on the house (far less than I would have expected) and has been worth her weight in gold for getting the space right! I was also surprised by the amount of money we saved using her trade discounts for things like worktops, appliances, carpeting and lighting etc) We're in the middle of building work right now, so I can't post any finished pics but my advice would definitely be to spend a little bit of money now and make sure you get it right as the wrong decisions with walls and structures are mistakes you can't change without a lot more time and money! Good luck whatever you do- it's all very exciting!!!

Hello Assia, If I was you I'd definitely look at hiring an interior designer/architect even to help you with this project. It sounds fairly major and you are best off getting someone who can spend the time it needs helping you to achieve what you want. Houzz has loads of interior designers, you can check out their reviews, get an idea of pricing and look at their previous projects before you decide to contact them. Many interior designers actually offer a FOC first meeting, so even if that's all you decide to do it may be worth getting someone to come and look at the house etc. Hope this helps!

Hi Suzanne, Here are a few ideas that will give you everything you want with the least impact on your budget. Please understand that I'm only working with a floorplan and a small write-up of preferrences, which limits some of the imput without pictures. Starting from left of your floorplan and working our way to the right: Current Office = new 2nd reception Taking advantage of your southfacing garden with best views: Convert current office into the second reception room/snug/tv den/second closed off living area that you wanted. Knock down wall between office and breakfast room. Add wall - deviding breakfast area in two - this will give you a triple aspect room, taking advantage of the light and garden views & access. Depending on preferrences and your fence line, change windows to double doors and-or enlarge window space on south-facing side to add concertina doors out onto the garden. You mentioned you didn't need an office downstairs - put added a desk in this room if you keep that window as a window rather than convert to doors in case it is helpful. But of course, you can configure your furniture in any of the rooms for how it works best with your lifestyle. This will be a narrow room - hence a snug, garden room, extra tv lounge. A chaise lounge type sectional will give you the snug seating along with a chair or two. However, if you do want to do any extention work, you could think of adding that to the left side of your home to make this room wider and more all-purpose. Breakfast Room = new 2nd reception lounge & utility/hallway As already suggested above, divide the room into two to gain a triple aspect snug/enclosed lounge board up the doorway, or put wall where the doorway is not impeeded (as shown). Convert the rest of the Breakfast room into a tidy (appliances hidden behind cabinets or closet doors) utility area. You'll want to make this room look more like a hallway when not in use as a utility, connecting the rest of the house to your second enclosed lounge. Leave the wall and door between the current kitchen & the current breakfast area as is - which will hide this utility area when in use and muffle any noise from appliances. Garage = Garage you mentioned your partner wanted to keep the garage. moving it seems silly as doing so would possibly knock-out some of your light & views. also by keeping this as is, you will get the benefit of having access to the rest of the house via the garage & 2nd reception lounge, rather than having to go outside. Kitchen/Dinning Room/Hallway = Open Plan Kitchen / Casual Dinning Placing the kitchen cabinetry from the front current dining room window - along the wall shared with the garage & on the opposite wall traveling out into an extended countertop/breakfast bar. This will create a galley shaped kitchen that you can use a number of triangle patterned work stations to make this kitchen functional & beautiful. Put your casual dining area where the kitchen now is and add double doors to take full advantage of the views and the days you'd like to have the doors open onto the garden. Enjoy the double aspect light & open plan space. Keep your privacy at the front through the new kitchen with appropriate window treatment or frosted glass treatment if necessary Living Room = Open plan living room / dining room + kitchen / casual dining By placing a support in and partially removing the wall going from the new open plan kitchen / casual dining into the current living room, you will get the open plan lounge - kitchen - dining that you want. Open the wall from almost to the door next to the downstairs w/c to almost to the stairs (where the current living room door is now) (as shown). The current living room is very large, and can house both a living room - lounge area and a more formal dining room (if that is what you want) or a hobby space - music area or other ??? (there are many possibilities). Keep as is = Porch, Downstairs w/c, stairs with closet underneath for storage Porch gives you extra insulation, privacy & storage Downstairs W/C allows you not to have to move & install new large toilet waste plumbing which is often a higher end budget item Closet underneath stairs - storage! (cleaning stuff like mop & vacuum or coats or whatever) Stairs - by not changing the layout or location of the stairs, you won't have to do costly renovations upstairs (just do any cosmetic updating you desire instead as you didn't mention wanting to do major changes to the upstairs) and can use your budget more wisely downstairs. This plan should give you everything you said you wanted on your list and give you the most bang for your buck without needless spending -- or at the very least give you a few new ideas to jump off from. I've added a picture here. Sorry so un-professional. I am retired, so just keeping my hand in. Best wishes & good luck!

Hi Michelle, your new home looks gorgeous. I do agree though to change the kitchen/dining situation. The idea to build an extension and break through the kitchen side makes totally sense. Just to confirm is the garden room like a conservatory? It might not need necessary to build an extension all the way from the lounge to the breakfast room, maybe an extension from the dining room to the breakfast room is enough. Not sure, what walls are load-bearing. It could break up the outdoor space a little by having a patio out by the lounge and it's a bit separate from the new extension. I hope that makes sense? We have recently done our extension, it's also a 1930s house. I've written about our renovation in this post Kitchen Make-Over Scandi Style, maybe the before and after photos are interesting to you? If you have any further questions, don't hesitate to drop me a message. Good luck!