Advice - Knocking through rooms

[Rollergirl1]

We have a double fronted victorian semi-detached house. To the right of the front door is the living room that runs from front to back, with patio doors at the end of the room going out into the garden. To the left of the front door is the dining room. And further down the hallway we have the kitchen, with utility room leading on from it.

I would like to knock through the wall from the dining room to the kitchen, and the wall from the kitchen to the utility room and knock down the end wall and replace with concertinered (sp?) glass doors so you have a view through to the garden. So esentially we would have the entire left side of the house as one big living space. I think this would be great. DH thinks that we when we come to sell that we will lose on the fact that we have less rooms. At the moment the dining room is a wasted space as it is hardly used. If we did this then I think it would become the heart of the house. And do people still think in terms of how many seperate rooms in a house adding more value when you come to sell?

This is something I really want to do but DH is very wary and I think he has quite outdated views on what sells.

For the record we aren't looking to sell anytime soon but I just think it would be lovely and would also be a feature point when we do decide to sell.

Opinions please...

Could you put stud wall/folding doors back up on lounge side to make 2 rooms? Perhaps a lounge and a study??

I would do but also install sliding room dividers so you can have it as one open living space or divide up - which you may want to do when entertaining or the dc older etc.

I like cyb's idea - I think it is nice to have at least one small, quietish space to retreat to.

My DB has a fairly large modern detached house with central hall &, originally, living room on R, small dining room behind hall, & kitchen behind integral garage on L.

They extended quite a long way to the rear, & divided what would have been a very long living room like yours into a smallish study at the front (probably 11-12' square so not that small) & a long living room, with patio doors, at the back; the much-longer-than-before dining room is open to the kitchen. It works very well.

You could move the kitchen into the rear of the living room where the french doors are.Then make the dining room a grown up sitting room Keep the utility and then you can use the kitchen as a large study/den. That way you keep the 'rooms' and still have open plan feel but no walls to come down

evening nodders, how do

Hello cyb Have you finished exams. Was in your neck of the woods last week to look at sofa in JL only to be told it had been taken off display and I would have to go to oxford st! Ds fleeced me in the shops though

We did the folding door knock-through, in our very similar house in the UK. Like you, the dining room was never used. Fab. I don't think we ever closed the doors, though!!

And we had no trouble selling when the time came.

Do you have a floor plan we could look at?

We knocked through our living room and dining room but installed doubled glass doors. It means if we want a cosy room we close them and when we have people over we open them all up.

Could you knock a big gap in the doors and do something similar, that way you get to compromise with Dh.