House renovations plans for critique

last month

Hi, we’re planning a ground floor rear extension and have talked through with professionals to come up with this art of plans. The living room isn’t changing at all (and we don’t want it to) and for the new study/guest bedroom we’ve designed it to have enough space for a proper bed for visiting parents. The other key thing for us is the window seat, which we’ve put on the sunnier side. Welcome any thoughts or feedback on these plans before we finalise!

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Sarah L

last month

With the sink run and peninsula adjoining the tall units, how can you make full use of them?

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Comments (23)

CWD
last month
I'd turn the door into utility to hang the other way around so the washer/dryer are not behind the door - or move the washer/dryer to be besisde the boiler unit and move the sink closer to the door. I'd also hang the external door into utility the other way so it opens onto the wall rather than the boiler unit (or could you switch the boiler and washer/dryer as the boiler behind door isn't such an issue).

Kitchen layout: I prefer sink on island but that's just my preference. I'd also think about having the peninsula coming from the bottom/garden wall rather than from the top interior wall - to provide full access to those tall units and to save having to walk around the peninsula every time you need to get to fridge or sink. That would make the windowseat shorter, but since it's only 600mm deep it's more of a perch for an adult anyway - a kid would curl up into it whatever length it is - so that might still be ok. And if you only have one route into the kitchen I'd make it miniumum 1000mm as 900mm would feel a bit tight.

And I'd have that central window as a glass door (it might be already, not clear from drawing), as that'd be the door you use everyday to access garden. Sliding doors are more annoying to use and the end of that windowseat run would be a good spot to be able to chuck shoes for garden.
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Let me stop you there. We are not allowed to build a shed by the fence. Apparently, there is a rule that a certain percentage of your lot needs to be open (= garden or unused). We exceed that percentage anyhow, but fortunately we're not obliged to tear something down :-). I should tell you the background story of the house. It was originally planned as a wool warehouse. The huge storage area at the rear was intended for trucks. Our garden was the driveway. The wool store went bankrupt even before the building was finished (1966). In 1967 the local tax collector had it's office here, because the building of their new offices (across the street) was delayed. That explains the strange internal division within the house. After the tax man left, it was converted into a house (I think around 1970). It has been renovated at least twice, but never structurally. Last reno was done in 2009, by an elderly couple with a 100% different taste than ours. We bought it in 2010. It was at a bargain price for this location, certainly for such a big property. Nobody really knew what to do with it, I guess. But we saw potential. We tore up the driveway and made a garden there. But Jonathan's idea about softening the boundaries is brilliant. We really need to do that, probably after the renovation of the house. One thing I haven't mentioned and it's not really clear in the plan: in our pantry there is a stairway to the cellar. This somewhat limits what can be done there.
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katlucy
last month
last modified: last month
Could the door to the shower room be opposite the coat cupboard so you could keep the under stair cupboard as well, perhaps recess the door a little into the shower room to give a little more circulatory space?

I wonder if you could have the lower part of the tall kitchen cupboards accessible from the utility side for less often used equipment and vases etc and shelving above the bench on the kitchen side?

I would shorten the peninsula by at least 15cm to give a wider gangway and perhaps lose the cabinet by the patio door and oriel window and extend the window bench perhaps?
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Jonathan
last month
I think the plan is pretty good.

I echo what others have said about the tall units in the kitchen. I think you will need at least a fridge and oven and larder and so perhaps the peninsula should be on the wall at the garden end of the room to allow better access to the tall units.

Perhaps you could reimagine the glazing and put the window seat by the living room….. perhaps with a bifold window by the window seat.

Then double doors to the garden from the kitchen and opposite the hall door.
katlucy
last month
Tall units on the left side wall
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Tom B
Original Author
last month
Thanks all, incredibly helpful. You’re right Sarah, the designations of the kitchen cabinets are indicative only and tall units wouldn’t work at the end of the peninsula. But not having a fully thought through kitchen design is the part that is giving me pause; it feels like the current design might be on the squished side right now with all we are trying to fit in.

We had put the window seat there as it’s the sunny side of the house and will get light from about 0930; the other side (where the living room is) is up against our neighbour’s tall fence, and so is in shadow until second half of the afternoon. And we were thinking of it as a built-in, rather than cantilevered, window seat to save costs. But I can see the impacts of that decision. Currently the kitchen would be approx 3172 wide and 4786 deep. I don’t think it would work to have an island instead of a peninsula + tall cupboards along the back wall and the kind of window seat we have now - the island would come down to 1789 x 1200 which feels tight. I also don’t think it would work to attach the peninsula to the wall at the bottom of the kitchen instead of the top and keep the window seat; anyone sitting there would be right up close to anyone who was using the kitchen for prep/cooking, so it would undermine that as a space to be close enough for a chat but not on top of the person in cooking. So I think that leaves two options: keep the high level design as is with the peninsula etc but play around with tall unit placement (for example, having a corner larder in the top left, and tall cupboards on either side of it before getting into the sink area with no uppers. OR pick up on Jonathan’s idea and move the glazing around, so we didn’t need to save 600mm at the bottom for the window seat and that might give enough space to make an island workable. It’s late now but I may draw up some hand designs in the next day or so to tease this out. Further views v welcome!

Well spotted on the door hanging direction CWD, I hadn’t noticed that yet and you’re right. I also like the idea about possibly using the end of the window seat run as a place for shoe storage if that was a door to the garden (we had been thinking of it just as a fixed window but open to changing that - main thing had been wanting a sight line to glazing from the front door).

On the door into the bathroom, the design is built around the current space, using the existing door and L-shaped entry into the kitchen for the bathroom. Our understairs cupboard doesn’t run the full length of the stairs but instead opposite the living room door there’s a space under the stairs to go into the kitchen. I’ll post a pic, it will make more sense! I had been thinking it would be nice to have that bit of space there to open up what might risk feeling like a long hallway before the house opens into itself. But will mull that over too. We definitely need a proper shoe and coat cupboard,and we’re thinking by putting storage next to it we could reduce the size of the utility room and move around where different types of things are stored.

Thanks for taking interest in our plans and bearing with my detailed update!
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Tom B
Original Author
last month
Thanks all, incredibly helpful. You’re right Sarah, the designations of the kitchen cabinets are indicative only and tall units wouldn’t work at the end of the peninsula. But not having a fully thought through kitchen design is the part that is giving me pause; it feels like the current design might be on the squished side right now with all we are trying to fit in.

We had put the window seat there as it’s the sunny side of the house and will get light from about 0930; the other side (where the living room is) is up against our neighbour’s tall fence, and so is in shadow until second half of the afternoon. And we were thinking of it as a built-in, rather than cantilevered, window seat to save costs. But I can see the impacts of that decision. Currently the kitchen would be approx 3172 wide and 4786 deep. I don’t think it would work to have an island instead of a peninsula + tall cupboards along the back wall and the kind of window seat we have now - the island would come down to 1789 x 1200 which feels tight. I also don’t think it would work to attach the peninsula to the wall at the bottom of the kitchen instead of the top and keep the window seat; anyone sitting there would be right up close to anyone who was using the kitchen for prep/cooking, so it would undermine that as a space to be close enough for a chat but not on top of the person in cooking. So I think that leaves two options: keep the high level design as is with the peninsula etc but play around with tall unit placement (for example, having a corner larder in the top left, and tall cupboards on either side of it before getting into the sink area with no uppers. OR pick up on Jonathan’s idea and move the glazing around, so we didn’t need to save 600mm at the bottom for the window seat and that might give enough space to make an island workable. It’s late now but I may draw up some hand designs in the next day or so to tease this out. Further views v welcome!

Well spotted on the door hanging direction CWD, I hadn’t noticed that yet and you’re right. I also like the idea about possibly using the end of the window seat run as a place for shoe storage if that was a door to the garden (we had been thinking of it just as a fixed window but open to changing that - main thing had been wanting a sight line to glazing from the front door).

On the door into the bathroom, the design is built around the current space, using the existing door and L-shaped entry into the kitchen for the bathroom. Our understairs cupboard doesn’t run the full length of the stairs but instead opposite the living room door there’s a space under the stairs to go into the kitchen. I’ll post a pic, it will make more sense! I had been thinking it would be nice to have that bit of space there to open up what might risk feeling like a long hallway before the house opens into itself. But will mull that over too. We definitely need a proper shoe and coat cupboard,and we’re thinking by putting storage next to it we could reduce the size of the utility room and move around where different types of things are stored.

Thanks for taking interest in our plans and bearing with my detailed update!

PS in the picture the door straight ahead would go and become a wall, and the open door in the top left would become the door to the bathroom on the current design.
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Tim Baker
27 days ago
Get a structural engineer's input into the steel requirements. They may have knock on implications for your design in terms of required support as well as cost.
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PRO
Bespoke Glazing Design
23 days ago
We do love window seats. Feel free to get in touch with us.
HU-905957467
16 days ago
It will be a lovely family space. My concern would be that the entrance to the kitchen area is too narrow. I think it will feel cramped despite the overall size of the kitchen. It would be also be nicer if the window seat was by the living space - could you swap the position of the kitchen with the living area?
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tab darcy
15 days ago
With the bottom left being the sunny spot, I wonder if shopping the kitchen and fining would work better? That 'storage' would make a great pantry and you could have a full length window seat as a dining bench.

For your utility, I reccomend not stacking the machine but having a full length hanging rail above them for drying with a dehumidifier. Love the full shower room but if the entrance yo thd headroom was nearer to it, shoes etc could go nearer the front door.

Good luck with it.
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Tom B
Original Author
14 days ago
Thank you so much all for super helpful further thoughts. They’ve prompted us to think about moving the kitchen out of the bottom left space. It still makes sense to have the window seat there for sun reasons. Have drawn up two rough sketches of what it could look like with the kitchen in the bottom right and top right. They’re to scale-ish (sofas are def not to scale) and you can see the changes to what glazing we put along the back wall. Would v much welcome any further thoughts on these, particularly views on which would work better. In either case the utility and parallel to it will be in the old part of the house, so light from the skylights and glazing but darker than the rest of the space.
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Tom B
Original Author
14 days ago
Option 1
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Tom B
Original Author
14 days ago
Option 2
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CWD
14 days ago
I'd put the kitchen in the darkest bit - you tend to be standing when in kitchen so can see over the dining table to the garden. Whereas you're sitting at dining table - and if it was in the darkest bit, then your view is of the kitchen rather than the garden. I'd still try and have an island though.
HU-905957467
13 days ago
I think option two is better. As CWD pointed out, you will be standing in the kitchen and can look out to the garden. If you were sitting at the dining table in option one, the island would block your view and it would feel darker. I also like U shaped kitchens, as long as they are wide enough, because everything is accessible. Plus you still get the peninsula so it will feel open. Only concern with this option is the close proximity of the doorway to the kitchen and the utility door. Not really a problem if the kitchen door doesn't have an actual door on it but could be annoying if there was. Good luck with your decisions. I'm sure it will look great.
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tab darcy
12 days ago
Tom B
Original Author
11 days ago
Thank you both, esp Tab Darcy for the mock up. You’ve def got us thinking about whether to move spaces around. My wife doesn’t want the windows seat to be used for dining table seating, and we’ve been trying to work out how to deal with the chimney breast, which is 360mm deep and 1500’m long.
Tom B
Original Author
11 days ago
1500mm long. (Sorry not sure why my comment posted already!) So it feels like it disjoints the kitchen too much unless we build a false wall to extend it. Taking into account ideas shared here we’ve come up with two further iterations which we’d love thoughts on. One with the kitchen at the back and a coffee / breakfast station inset into the wall next to utility door - and the other if we turn the window seat into an oriel window and so can fit a larger kitchen in (my wife is quite likes the idea of the window seat being in the kitchen so someone can sit there and chat to someone who is cooking).
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Tom B
Original Author
11 days ago
Option 1
Tom B
Original Author
11 days ago
Option 2
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clare7850
11 days ago
last modified: 11 days ago
(HU-905957467 here on my other account) I still prefer your previous option two. I think you will appreciate having the living space in the sunnier position, including the window seat. Your new option one has all the areas (living, dining, kitchen) in the optimum locations, but I think the pantry entrance could be awkward with the position of the island. The previous design with the false door to the pantry would look nicer and is kind of fun (will need good lighting in the pantry obviously). Also, in the new option one I think the passage through towards the garden generally seems a little crowded, between the seats on the island, utility door and coffee bar.

If you did decide you prefer the kitchen at the bottom left, I think your new option two is better than the original design. I can also see that it means you don't have to worry about the chinmey breast. I do think the window seat will get more use if it is not in the kitchen - it seems a less pleasant place to sit and you already have seating at the island at a better height for chatting to someone standing up working in the kitchen. But you have to decide what works for you.
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Jonathan
11 days ago
I prefer option 1.
I think the window seat should be in the sitting area, when it is next to the kitchen you will be sitting too low when compared to cabinet heights (plus everyone stands in kitchen which is why taller seating like bar stools are popular
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House renovations plans for critique

Sarah L

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