We have had lots of fun going through all the options and suggestions on here and it's been giving us lots of food for thought! For anyone interested, here is our current thoughts on layout, without extending... I've used 'HomeByMe' which is great for me but limited compared to the professional-looking tools that people on here are using! Knocking through the larger living area into the kitchen and moving the WC from that rear corner. Splitting down the 'long' room into three spaces - a small 'snug' at the front, with a small "thrutility" (does that word already exist? If not, it should!) leading to a WC. Behind that at the back (which is actually patio doors in the bay already) would be some sort of a reading nook. The main living space would be opened up for family kitchen / living / dining. Bi-fold doors across the back to let that afternoon/evening sunlight in. Cupboard under the stairs is our only 'cloakroom' space (without building a porch which I'd rather not do if we can help it). So that is the coats & shoes space with things like prams having to live in the hallway. Don't think there is a better solution without sticking a porch on the front!! Uncertain on the logistics / practicalities / costs of adding a WC and utility on the right-hand side (next to an adjoining wall) - where does the soil pipe go or any of the water pipes for that matter? I guess the next steps would be to speak to builders about this, or employ an architect to go through it in more detail?

It looks very doable to remove the wall between dining and kitchen to create an open plan space. You could close the door to the kitchen from the wall then and have a bank of units to the wall against the staircase as well. This could alo make up for any storage space you might lose from the run along the separating wall, which you could mostly have as a breakfast bar instead.

Thank you @Jonathan @Devy brilliant plan. On a second thought I did not factor in the fact if we communicated the garage and the house we wouldn’t have access from outside to the back. So perhaps not the best move. And maybe to connect them the garage has to come down. 🥹. However like Jonathan has suggested may add value overall to the house. One thing I forgot to add is a bigger kitchen is needed as well and possibly a playroom/study. Also perhaps the garage can go as not fit for purpose. Any suggestions for plans to increase downstairs living space and hopefully get an en-suite upstairs?

Jonathan that design is 10/10 thank you. We hadnt thought about making the kitchen that big, it looks great. we will have to see what we can do about the window in bedroom 2 because the new wall would split it in two. ive just marked that up here, and ive also added where the eaves are, which start at abour waist height, and where the ceileing starts to slope down on the right.