Family space in victorian through lounge

[Harissaontoast]

We're going to be moving back from overseas to our London house some time in the next year. We have a lovely big apartment here, with a huge open plan living room and a play space. We're not going to be able to recreate this in London, but we'd like to think about how to use the space a bit smarter.

At the moment we have a through living room/diner- the Floorplan attached is a house nearby which is identical, apart from we've got more of an arch (square) between the two spaces, and we've got a french door at the back. The 'diner' is a lovely light space and is currently set up with a dining table- which we never use as we always eat in the kitchen (apart from Christmas day!). So it's dead space really, the kids used to sit there to draw a bit but they mostly did that at the coffee table.

I'd like to have it as more of a flexible family space which can be used by the kids (6 and 9 so a bit beyond playroom age) for hanging out, maybe homework, music practice. Possibly find some reclaimed folding doors for between the two spaces. But we can't think how to lay it out. Some sort of table/bench and a comfy seating area would be great, but I don't want it to look like everything's pushed back to the sides. Has anyone done anything cool with this space or have any ideas? The house has nice high ceilings so feels airy. I wanted to knock down the wall to the hall and have a big space with the stairs in but it's been vetoed...

Up for being very playful with the decor- we have quite quirky and eclectic taste anyway, so nothing slick.

we have a big open plan room and some things that have worked for our kids include

• hanging seat like this if you can get strong enough fixings www.amazon.co.uk/Samay-Hanging-Hammock-Kids-Complete-Rope-Dark
• big soft rug for lying on to play
• industrial style open shelves used for Lego and then more Lego. All the models are always on display to be built & rebuilt as needed.
• bean bags

maybe a round table would work if you don't want it against the walls. It could go in the corner nearest the french door

and a piano for the music

We have similar but the kitchen has been extended to square it off, the dining room is dead space (our kitchen is big enough to hold a 8 seater table. Thought about putting a utility/loo in there - too expensive. I can see with good storage the diner would be a good playroom for us I think it will become a desk space and a place to store stuff. I want a downstairs loo under the stairs.

Mine isn't a victorian house, nor a kitchen diner, but is a similarly shaped space.

I've got a larger lounge in the bit at the back, with sliding doors onto the back garden patio.
Pocket doors (slide away into the walls) in space between the rooms and both rooms have a door into the hall.
The front bit (which is smaller in mine, and slightly cramped - yours looks more equally spaced) was a playroom which has evolved as my kids have got older.

The playroom space was added when the kids were about 9 & 4.

Initially I had storage and large toys (play shop, kitchen etc) in there plus a small IKEA children's table & chairs and it was used for train tracks, lego, playing, drawing, hama beads etc.

With the pocket doors open it was just an extension of the lounge so the kids didn't feel shut in and on their own.
At night we just shut the doors on the mess 🙂.

Over time it gained a tv & gaming set up, a corner sofa bed, another bookcase, and became a 2nd lounge area.

It is now (kids 20 @ uni & 17, so don't use it) a study for me when working at home (not so much now but used all the time in covid) and the sofa bed has been appropriated at the weekends by the Great Dane belonging to the bloke I'm seeing.

I love the pocket doors to be able to close off the space or have them fully open as required.

I'd put the wall between the two rooms back in, keep your front room nice and tidy for grownups and then go to town on a proper playroom for the kids. Toys, bright, fun decor etc.

When they get older you will be grateful for having two spaces and can make it into a teenager den for when their friends come round. Open plan doesn't work with teenagers.

That room is always tricky! I would definitely do reclaimed doors as a divider – gives you more options and adds interest, and means you can keep open plan if that works for your family or close it off if you end up with teens that need their own space (one size doesn’t fit all and “open plan doesn’t work for teens” is something I only see on MN, not real life).

Obviously the dream is nothing at all except a grand piano, but reality calls. Built-in bookshelves/music shelves/toy shelves along one wall? And a built-in bench? That second room in Victorian homes is often skinny so built-in maximises the space. Then things on wheels: a big ottoman could work as you can play board games on it, use it for snacks, homework, colouring, etc, but also push it out of the way on its wheels when floor space is wanted for rampaging. Treat the room as a movable feast: walls lined with the built/ins for books, records, toys, instruments, homework, everything the DC use and need, which is easily adapted as time goes on – they grow out of toys, the shelves stay but the toys don’t.

Can you reinstate the original door from the hall so the room can be accessed from there rather than the sitting room? Then you can have an L-shaped sofa which lends itself to the space I think without looking “pushed to the sides”.

Our playroom/family room is a good size at 4m x 5m and has the following: sofabed (also a hanging chair and rocking chair, we've deliberately gone for more fun furniture whereas the sitting room is more grown up), piano, wall of bookshelves, wall of storage, space for a desktop computer, 'art table' (never used for art, it's just a dumping ground), table football, TV. The TV is fairly recent but with 3DC (15, 13 and 10) we found we needed a second big screen.

I'd say you probably want to separate the front and back unless those rooms become very small. Do you want one to be for TV and one quieter/for music? Or both with a TV?

Following - our house is identical! We have the dining table going on and never use it, it is DDs crafting area (MESS). I picture a piano and bookcases and an armchair one day…

Also v interested in the toilet set up @Harissaontoast as we don’t have a downstairs loo… is it tiny?

Oooh loads of answers. Glad to see the love for reinstating the folding doors! Ideally we'd then put back the door from the hall to the front room but then we'd have nowhere for a big sofa.

I think we'd only have the TV in the front room, not have a second. We'll take some of the advice on board on fun flexible furniture as well.

I would love just a grand piano! We will have to make space for a small electric one and a couple of guitars.

@DaysofHoney the loo is petite but not cramped at all. I think at some point previous owners had one under the stairs but that would have been tiny. But yes the table just ends up a mess with stuff everywhere.