Is this room too small to be a lounge?

[amazonianwoman]

We're (well I'm, DH not getting involved enough) still trying to work out how to reconfigure our house. It's only taken us 6 years so far...

Our existing lounge is about 6.5m x 4m and we can easily fit in 2 large sofas away from the walls and a large armchair, coffee tables, bookshelves etc. It's not particularly cosy though. It opens into the dining room - about 5.5 x 3.5m - which is basically a corridor and the large dining table is only used for dinner parties/big gatherings.

The kitchen is 5.6 x 3m - enough room for a small 4 seater table. It feels detached from the rest of the house (playroom between kitchen and dining room) especially when the kids are home from school and in the living room. They could be in another house! Sometimes a bonus but not very sociable...

So, we're considering converting the living room & dining room into a very roomy kitchen/diner/family space - I can visualise this working well. And then the kitchen would become a cosy lounge with a woodburner - the original chimney breast etc is in there. Previous owners stripped out all the fires and I'm desperate to have one back!

My dilemma is (if you're still awake) is 3m too narrow for a lounge? The chimney breast alcove/walls also jut into the room by about 35cm, although the actually width into the fireplace is a little deeper, around 3.2m.

It's a pretty big 4 bed house with enormous garden - would it be out of proportion?

The only other option I can see is to extend beyond the kitchen to create a kitchen diner but this would cost at least £25k and we bought at the top of the market so don't really want to invest too much more.

I hope this makes sense...!

[amazonianwoman]

Oh forgot to say, a builder took my last copy of the floor plans otherwise I'd put them on my profile. I'll try to get another copy...

[BertieBotts]

I think that sounds fine as it would be a room with a different sort of purpose - more of a cosy seating/chatting/reading area, somewhere to curl up with a book or a good friend or with DH, kids etc for a cuddle (would you be able to fit a TV in there, would you want one?)

And then the other open plan living/dining/family/kitchen room would be for the more active stuff, kids' games, entertaining, TV with games console (rather than for watching films or whatever) - it's hard to say without knowing the house, but I don't see why not? I think you'd definitely need comfy seating in the family room too, though.

[LynetteScavo]

Hmm....it depends what you want to do in there....I think it would be more of a "snug" with room for a desk or tv, rather than a lounge, where you might entertain people. If you plan to entertain in the large family space, then I think it's fine.

What's happening to the playroom?

[BertieBotts]

(When I say games console I'm thinking something like wii, kinect etc which needs quite a lot of space rather than passive controller-use although it would also serve the function of keeping this out of the relaxing sitting room!)

[amazonianwoman]

Thanks for your replies.

The playroom will remain a playroom until they no longer have plastic tat! Then I guess it would be a combined study/extra space for the kids when they no longer want to be anywhere near us

There's enough room in the playroom for the Wii. In the family room I reckon we could fit two small sofas.

I need to get the plans on my profile don't I?!

[amazonianwoman]

I'm thinking that whenever we "entertain" people usually gravitate to the kitchen rather than the living room, so there would be a large dining table, an island which would sit 3 or 4 and 2 sofas to sit 4. We only seem to congregate en masse in the current living room at Christmas or if everyone wants to eg watch a rugby game!

[FishfingersAreOK]

I think it will depend on what doors go into the room. And what the light is like.

In our last house we had a sitting room that was about 7m x 3.4m. We had to have furniture against the walls - because of the width but also it was like a corridor - there were double doors going into room in the bottom left, then 3/4 way along the same wall - and then patio doors at the end.

I would be a bit wary of 3m. But if just one door into it, it would be more do-able. Especially if it is going to be more of a "snug"kind of sitting room - the evenings, the adult time. Then lots of space is not maybe such an issue?

I love the space we have created - and the open plan living is so temptingly close (well I suppose we are having it in a way in the static). I would try to get a balance - but work out which space you are happier to compromise on.

Try some graph paper and cut out of furniture to see if your stuff would fit. Or move your current sofas/furniture in your current sitting to the boundaries of what the space would be IYSWIM and see how it feels. Or find an on-line room planner, plot it for you whole house and then let US plan your house. Like this. I LOVED this one. www.mumsnet.com/Talk/property/a1584738-Where-to-put-the-laundry-room

[amazonianwoman]

There are windows on 3 sides facing north, east and west, and the one door is towards one end, so that would work. I do think its probably too narrow though

We have a holiday static and I love the open plan living

I started an online planner but got frustrated when I couldn't get fireplaces etc to work. Will try again!

How many days til you move in?

[FishfingersAreOK]

Our static is 10feet wide -3.04m. It will depend on your furniture.

Our tsunami of crap furniture is arriving from storage on Monday (could have got it earlier but away for the weekend so seemed pointless to clutter up the last finishing jobs with stuff and would mean I would spend the whole weekend thinking "I could be unpacking" rather than enjoying myself.

Planning a few days to get the main room and bedrooms straight and then move in hopefully before the end of the month. In some ways dreading the stuff arriving. I have got used to life without crap. But so looking forward to our marvellous space.

Have shoved a couple of shiny photos on my profile for you.

[amazonianwoman]

So exciting, bet you can't wait. I know what you mean about the crap though. I'd like to move just so we can offload a lot of 'stuff'

Hmm, our van is 12 feet wide, so it would be even narrower than that.

I think we need to move onto the next plan...

Thanks again and good luck with the move!

[doradoo]

Can you mark out 'sofas' on the floor with paper/tape to give you an idea of where they'd come to?

Another idea I'd heard was to lie on the floor and look at the ceiling to get an idea of the size of the room empty.

My old house was a cottage with a 3x3m sitting room, we had 2 big sofas and the tv in there and it was cosy without feeling cramped. If it's only really going to be a snug rather than where the family will congregate then it should be an ok size.

Where would you put your christmas tree - I know it's only for a couple of weeks, but it's always one of my questions when looking at a house!

[amazonianwoman]

yes I always think about Xmas trees - smaller one in new lounge and big one in kitchen diner I think!

It's difficult to mark out sofas as the kitchen units are in the way. I MUST get started on a planner...