To ask for your opinion on floor plan?

[apurplecar]

White one is the house we're buying. Purple is what Nextdoor have done.

Which would you choose and why?

I love the idea of having two living rooms, but I also love the idea of the huge dressing room!

Other ideas would also be really helpful!

I would knock through the kitchen into the dining room, but keep the sitting room separate. I prefer the layout of your house for the first floor - big dressing room is a waste in my opinion. You definitely need a family bathroom on the second floor. It’s a lovely spacious house, you are very lucky

We made our downstairs open plan but we put opaque sliding doors between the kitchen and the living room so that we have an option of open plan or private sitting room.

@Nogoodusername

I would knock through the kitchen into the dining room, but keep the sitting room separate. I prefer the layout of your house for the first floor - big dressing room is a waste in my opinion. You definitely need a family bathroom on the second floor. It’s a lovely spacious house, you are very lucky

Yes I think you're right.

Thank you

Photos below. The second and third were taken during the building work.

@Navykitchen

We made our downstairs open plan but we put opaque sliding doors between the kitchen and the living room so that we have an option of open plan or private sitting room.

I like that idea

I just love Crittal. I'm almost not bothered about how practical they actually are

It's a godsend when someone has the Tv on in both rooms or even if we have friends over (remember those days?) and the dc have the Xbox blaring etc.
They still let in plenty light but give privacy.

@apurplecar

I just love Crittal. I'm almost not bothered about how practical they actually are

It does look lovely. I would only caution that when I had just one three year old dc, I would probably have said the same. With 3 Ds, two teens and a nearly teen, they are noisy! Also useful for when the older two have a girlfriend over and we don't really want them in the bedrooms!

We're only having one child

@apurplecar

We're only having one child

Only you know how you use your space. I think the ideas you have a lovely and would definitely suit the style of house.

I wouldn't knock the kitchen and utility into one. Keep these separate, if anything have a large utility that you can dry clothes in too

I'd choose the purple one but make a few adjustments. I would close off the living room so that I still had a separate living space. Open plan kitchen/family rooms are great, but if I'm watching TV in the evening I don't want to hear the washing machine going. Plus I like the cosiness of a separate living room.

The master bedroom/dressing room. Personally I like the idea of a dressing room, but that one is far too big. What I would do is split the front master bedroom/living room to make a bedroom & a separate study/nursery. Then I would knock down the wall in between that bedroom & dressing room to make a big master bedroom with fitted wardrobes. The reason I would do this rather than have a dressing room is because that dressing room/bedroom only has that one window in the corner at the back of the house. I imagine with where it is positioned, it doesn't get a lot of light coming in, so by opening up the rooms you would get the front window bringing in that extra light.

As for the bedroom situation, I agree with everyone who said the lack of bathroom on the white plan is a problem for me. I think there needs to be a bathroom on the second floor.

I’d probably keep the utility closed off as well - our entire downstairs including utility is open plan and it’s a nightmare because the washing machine and dishwasher are noisy so I wish I had the option to shut them away when I’m on calls!

I'd have ground floor and second floor like the purple and first floor and basement like the white one.

I would always prioritise extra living space over a dressing room, but recognise that not everyone would feel that way.

We're definitely putting a bathroom on the top floor so will probably use the current bathroom as the utility and then knock the current kitchen and utility together