House Layout help

[user1470135942]

So i'm doing up my new (old battered) house and would like some layout help for the ground floor. I've decided to alter the layout a bit as my mum will likely be moving in with me and she is elderly and has occasional mobility problems.

I've attached a rough sketch and wanted help on:

Front room 1 - Lounge/Diner

• the picture shows a wall between the two rooms but I wondered if I should keep these rooms separate as per the picture or have a large door which would open out the two rooms into almost one large living space.
  

Positives? Potential of a large living space end-to-end almost.

Negatives? Can't place a sofa either side where the door would be? Also, the lounger/diner has a tall angled ceiling (not sure what these are called??) and the front room has a traditional flat ceiling so walking from one to another could look odd?

Kitchen/WC
There is a rather long WC next to the kitchen - I could potentially reduce this in length and add some space to the kitchen? Or should I leave the kitchen square shaped as it is?

Spare bed / shower room at back
This is designed for my mum.

Any other thoughts?

[user1471549018]

Is it you doing the extension or is it already there? I personally would make the lounge diner into a kitchen diner. Keep the 2 front living rooms separate (maybe dedicate one as hers). Have the old kitchen as your mum's room and increase the size of the WC to make it her shower room, then have the 2 rooms at the back as a utility and WC.

[cestlavielife]

The bedroom at the back is tiny. No room for future needs eg wheelchair. give her one of the front rooms. make the spare into big walk in wet room suitable for wheelchair access

[user1470135942]

I had the rear extension done before the mum plan happened.

I've talked to her and she doesn't like big bedrooms so really it would be a place to sleep and then once awake she can use any of the rooms as opposed to staying in her bedroom all day. The small shower room adjacent would be just hers and maybe make it into a wet room?

With regards to the future, if she does end up needing a wheel chair, i'd probably then just give her front room 2 but at this time she doesn't want anything so large.

I'm not a fan of kitchen-diners personally (cooking aromas and all that) so that's why I thought the kitchen separate would be a good idea.

Any ideas on keeping front room 1 and the lounge/diner separate or walk through doors?

[SoupDragon]

Could you put "pocket" sliding doors between the two living rooms so you don't have to waste space for traditional doors to open?

I'm not a huge fan of wide open plan spaces though. I'd keep them separate

[SexNamesRFab]

I would be wary of creating an unconventional layout which would put buyers if when you come to sell. Are you extending to create the bed/shower room? Or just reorganising a room that already exists?

To answer your question... What benefit do you get from linking rm 1 and the lounge diner? They are both nice big rooms in their own right, so not space. Plus they are not rooms which need to be connected for functional reasons (i.e. like a kitchen/diner would need to be connected). And why do you need 3 sitting rooms?

Your mum may not like big bedrooms now she's in her own home but if she moves in with you, her bedroom would be her only space, so would likely need more room to feel comfortable/house her things. I can't even see room for a wardrobe in the back room.

So, on reflection, I'd make living room 2 a bedroom/sitting room for your mum and turn the room at the back into a luxury hotel style bathroom with a walk in shower.

[user1470135942]

The spare bed/shower room is all existing.

If keeping the existing kitchen, is there any merit to shortening the WC and adding some space to the kitchen?

Thanks everyone for the ideas which i'm definitely considering.

[SisterViktorine]

I think I would put big folding doors between the kitchen and front room 2 so you could open that up and use it as a kitchen/ diner if you had guests, Christmas etc.

Move the downstairs cloakroom to between front room 1 and current lounge/diner. Make this cloakroom big enough to be adapted for wheelchair should your mum ever need it.

[SisterViktorine]

Do you not want a utility room?

[user1470135942]

There's a medium sized cellar which I will be using as a utility room and will be housing the boiler, hot water cylinder etc.

[Joinourclub]

What are the front rooms currently used for?

[user1470135942]

Nothing at the moment as it's under renovation.

[flownthecoopkiwi]

no access from kitchen to garden would annoy me. I've leave the two rooms separate, for people with children esp, it is good to be able to have a separate living space for evenings etc.

Is there going to be room for a table in the kitchen, otherwise it looks like a long walk...

[user1470135942]

There is access to the garden via the kitchen if you look at the bottom of the kitchen there is a door into a lobby which opens to the garden.

As it is, the kitchen isn't large enough to act as a diner too, so it would be just a place to cook. As there are plenty of other rooms, the larger room would have a dining table as indicated.. it's just across the hall :)

[3boys3dogshelp]

The two rooms knocked together would make a long room which would make it feel narrow imo. I wouldn't knock them together.
Do you do much cooking? My grandma lived with my parents for years and as she became more frail she wasn't able to stand for long periods so couldn't really 'be' in the kitchen with my mum while she cooked. When she came to our house (dining kitchen) she would sit and chat at the table. Might not be relevant but I thought I'd mention it.

[user1470135942]

Have decided against knocking the two rooms into one as they are, as pointed out, fairly decent size individual rooms anyway.