...to ask your opinion on this house dilemma?

[SoupForLunch]

God knows whether anyone will be bothered enough to read (and process) all this….

My DP and I have just bought a house. We plan to knock through from the dining room to the kitchen to create one big family kitchen/diner. However, the two rooms are on different levels. The dining room is two steps higher than the little kitchen. We’re also going to knock the kitchen ceiling out because it has a pitched roof above. The higher part of the pitch is on the dining room side. We’ll put in big Velux windows, creating a nice high, light ceiling.

We’ve had two builders who have both said raising the kitchen floor is the right thing to do, in term of how it will look and how it will be to live in. They say that one level for the whole room makes more sense. We have small children so I can certainly see the practical advantage.

However, my step-sister, who works in something like interior architecture (I’m never altogether sure), likes the idea of the split because the height and light of the kitchen ceiling will add drama / interest. She says we could have the steps at one side and the breakfast bar /slim island straddling the rest of the height difference.

It’s a three-bed semi, so just a modest property.

Things we’re considering:

• If we keep the split level there will be a smaller food preparation area because the island part of the kitchen will only be able to be positioned where the step down is. It will sort of straddle the steps (higher on one side, lower on the other) so people in the kitchen will be a bit lower but able to see into the diner.
• In fact, this smaller food prep area will be the size of a small kitchen… which rather undermines the idea of having a big kitchen / diner…
• If we raise the kitchen floor to the height of the dining room floor, obviously we will lose height on the ceiling. Is this going to make the room that bit less interesting?
• What will future potential buyers prefer? What would you prefer? A step down, slightly dramatic, slight subterranean feeling kitchen or a no-step down big, clear room with a lower ceiling.

I’m not really thinking about cost at this point – just trying to work out what might be better.
I realise this is a funny thing to try to visualise… I just wanted to canvas opinion. Personally, I think the raised floor would be better but I feel sad about diminishing what could be a big feature – that high sloped ceiling with the light coming in.
This has been really fun to write with a crying baby and a nuts three-year-old hanging off me…. ha.

Yes - Keep the split
No - Get rid of the split

All one level. Wins in terms of practicality, safety, and flexibility of layout.

The steps and the space before and after them effectively become dead space as. You can't use that area for anything other than steps, OK in a massive roo., but not a normal size room.

I think it took 3 pages before it was suggested to lower the floor, but I think this is the best option (when you are not considering money). We knocked through and extended. The original kitchen was pokey and low ceilinged. Dug down 50cm or so and its amazing!

It does not sound to me that the rooms are big enough for statement steps, if it was a huge area it would add interest, in a small house it will be a waste of already limited space, awkward and a trip hazard.

I would raise it. Our house growing up had a split level and it was actually fine (and yes, more interesting) but I value convenience, lower risk, prep surface more.

Also the split level can be much more divisive. When you decide to sell no buyer will see a flat surface and think "I wish this was split level," but they could see a split level and wish it was flat.

No - get rid of the split I

I can't imagine how rooms can be at a higher level on the ground floor in the first place but, if you raise the kitchen floor, won't it be at a higher level to the living room/hallway!

Keep the step - it defines the zones

(Also from an interiors background)

Raise the floor

@TwoLeftSocksWithHoles - I love your thinking and also in case of flood you could move to higher ground

@SoupForLunch - Joking aside I would raise the floor and make the whole area the same floor height & find other ways of making it interesting. I could not honestly imagine my life if I were cooking a few steps down and the rest of the area was a few steps up - I would have to get a pogo stick to ask people if they wanted more of anything. Ds would not have this problem as he is tall so he could probably do the thing without. I do get the point about the dramatic ceiling but honestly for day to day living ( which will probably translate into other people's day to day living for resale if that is a concern) I would rather not be looking over the island bit like a meerkat.

My vote is for one level.

( I speak as one who has had her furniture cleaned and the lovely professional chap said - did you have an interior designer for this yes . Sometimes a house is for living in .

If you had a typical Victorian 2 rooms on one side , little back kitchen and were extending that across the back of the house . then two steps down don't think would be a problem. If you are thinking a 2 level kitchen with the cooking area lower - well I would look carefully because without seeing a diagram it sounds like a recipe for industrial language from there on in

But this is one opinion & you have others.

I wish you well whichever you do

(Do the one level )

Basilisk x

I have a split level kitchen/diner. I say raise the floor. It's a pain carrying dishes etc. up and down steps ( I actually have 4 step so a bigger split with the diner lower than the kitchen).

What do you think is more likey once the work is done;

You wish your kitchen had steps
You wish your kitchen was flat

It sounds like it would really constraint the design too, so even more of a bad idea to keep.

Raise the floor so it’s all one level.

I think practicality definitely wins over “drama/interest”. Not only because you have small children to fall down the step, but because when someone trips up/down the step carrying plates of food/glasses you’ll regret it if you leave it split level.

I also think from what you’ve said that you’ll get a more functional kitchen if it is all one level.

Here’s the way to decide OP. Sit down with squared paper and draw out your preferred layout for the room - kitchen, dining table, anything else you want to fit in.

Then see if the steps happen to fit well into that layout, without having to compromise something else. Bet they won’t.

Raise the floor get the kitchen. Diner of your dreams

If the house was bigger, I’d say split level but I think you need to raise the floor in this situation to give a sense of more space.

Listen to the builders. Raise the floor & have more prep space

All one level and in terms of selling in the future you will have wider appeal

Split level,only works on a seriously large area. A smaller one which compromises the kitchen unit wouldn't work.

I just loved the split level lounge when we moved here 10 years ago. I thought it was an interesting feature. Having tripped up it once too many times, to end up sitting on broken crockery, we had it levelled. I love it on a daly basis, every one of our visitors remarks on how spacious it all feels. If you have an eye on future sales then a split level will rule out many potential buyers.

Little steps like this are an accident waiting to happen, especially for tipsy visitors.

I may be biased though as my DM missed a step in exactly this scenario at a friend’s house and fell and broke her shoulder!

Having it all one level makes more practical sense, though the split does add interest.

I think you'll find a buyer no matter what you do, but you will lost some potential buyers with the split-- more than you would by losing a little "interest". So really, it's what you think suits your family best.

But then, I tend to feel that we shouldn't focus too much on "resell value" when it comes to our home, unless we are planning to put the house back on the market quite soon. As long as you don't make some very odd design choice that almost every potential buyer will hate and that will be difficult or expensive to change, you should be fine. In the meantime, it's your home! You're the ones living there, and it should suit your own tastes and needs.