Hi Jophilip I've been pondering this all evening and this morning! I think to maximise the space and light you have to move the services (utility, wc) to the left hand side of the house. I would change the current downstairs bathroom to a cloakroom for all your storage needs. I would block off the wall in the sitting room to make this a more formal space to escape to in the evening. I think you would need to get rid of the wall on the right hand side and incorporate that narrow space into the kitchen. Then you can get the light into the middle of the house with velux windows. I'm just not sure with moving all that plumbing and the wall it would come within budget. Hopefully a pro will give some input, apologies for the crude drawing!

Some Ideas below for your questions: Downstairs we want to convert the garage into another room, that can act as a guest room when needed. In terms of the rest of the downstairs we are thinking opening it up and possibly an extension at the rear. Would love doors across the back and potentially moving the kitchen to the rear. A separate utility would also be good. You are able to open up the whole of downstairs if you wanted to, the key is the structural supports that would hold your house upstairs this work can be expensive, however with smart design from the architect and structural engineers would help reduce the costs significantly, Converting the garage of the existing house it is a straightforward process you might require planning approval for this. usual costs are £6000 to £8000 plus vat to do this depending if you require to move the services such as gas and electricals or add a en-suite. Opening the rear of the house, the most common practices when it comes to open plan kitchen, dining and lounge is the beam that acts as a box beam to hold existing structures this will give you an open plan kitchen, dining and lounge areas, options are amazing to what you can achieve whether you go with flat roof where you can have 3m by 3m lantern or pitched roof that has 3 or 4 veluxes and kitchen with the island or 5 panel bifold-doors making your house look and feel great. This will come at an "cost" if you imagine a terraced house extension that is 3 meters out 5 meters wide will cost £35k plus VAT and that is only for building cost(to plaster finishes considering your foundations are 1m deep only and no manholes or other services required to be relocated) plus your second fixes such as kitchen, windows, doors, flooring, painting, paving and gardening etc.. by time you calculate all in you will be on £50k - £60k plus vat (depending on type of finishes you will go for) The key is to prepare properly and really make sure you can afford it. The consultation costs are additional you require architectural drawings and technical drawings, structural engineer drawings and calculations, party wall agreements if within 3 meters from neighbouring properties, build over agreements if thames water owns any pipes on your land, planning permissions, building control for inspections, clear overview of any trees that are around your property this can really push your costs up of underpinning if required. Consultation costs by the time you are ready to build can cost £3k to 5k all in above depending on size and details. Hope this helps and clarifies some questions about design, construction and costs. You can read more about design and build process on our website: https://www.nuhous.co.uk/design-and-build

Hello! Wow! Thank you very much for your advice. So, there is a radiator on the right hand wall. That is where current owners put their tv. Not sure it will fit, will measure up soon hopefully. The TV could go on a smaller unit to be honest, and will make sure radiator is turned down! Just worried that there isn't enough room for a corner sofa there with the door to the hallway..(see photos on rightmove) I LOVE the idea of large mirrors either side of fireplace. Pinching that! ;) My current living room is decorated in shades of greys and lots of gold. Thinking of going navy and gold but not too sure. Sofa colours argh! Huge thanks I'm very grateful. Katie

Thank you both @rinked @minnie101 for your comments and feedback. I think flipping the kitchen to the other side of the rear extension looks like it could work, but I think we'll lose some essential kitchen storage space. I like the way you've increased the depth of the utility space, it makes the area look a lot more fuller. If we were to go back to the drawing board and start completely from scratch, how differently would you lay out the spaces??