Please comment on my house remodelling is it future proof what do teenagers need ?

[Evilveg]

We are remodelling our house and are thinking through our plans. Am a regular but have name changed so I don't out myself.

Could you help me future proof my house as I can't afford to get it wrong. I doubt we will move from this house and will be leaving it in boxes hopefully in our nineties.

We have two children a 10'yr old and a 8 yr old and no pets yet but would like a dog at some point husband very messy and I think I planned a space for everything but

Downstairs
Kitchen knock through to dining room open plan and then into a family tv room all on the back overlooking our garden and a real fireplace
Utility room with access to garden with sink and space for clothes rack and ironing board
A separate kids tv room/playroom/computer and all the other crap they have
A study downstairs for adults only

Upstairs
Master with ensuite
Two singles beds but big enough to have a small desk
Family bathroom
Spare room with sofa bed

Anything else I need to know ? Or pearls of wisdom as this is eyewateringly expensive but it will be worth it.

Anyone remodelled and got any advice ? Thanks

Is the adult only study big enough to sit in or will you sit in kitchen diner with kids in playroom?

Is the kitchen/dining area and family tv space all one big room?

I agree you need somewhere for adults to relax - we haven't got it quite right in our house (5 bedrooms for 3 of us but still end up with teenage DS lording it in the 'best' living room ), I am currently in a bedroom which we use as a study, OK for using the computer but not exactly relaxing - probably why I spend so much time on mumsnet .

Study only big enough for desk
Should I have a adult only sitting room ?
Yes the kitchen diner and family tv will be one rectangle room but different floors to zone areas

I think good idea to have kitchen/diner but I would have a separate lounge/sitting room. It gives everyone space to be by themselves if needs be!

as most people have laptops or tablets ipads etc so unless you work from home and need a separate room I would reconsider the study/office as could probably be replaced with a larder stationary cupboard instead. With that in mind could you make a guest room with en-suite down stairs instead and then make the children's rooms both en-suite and large enough for double beds by encompassing the guest room space upstairs. IMO that would be a better use of space for teens/ returning family's visiting when they are grown up etc

I personally like separate rooms rather than big open plan as I think it gives you more scope as time goes on. We have a decent size kitchen but no room for a table in it, we have a separate dining room with a piano in it too and a separate lounge plus a conservatory off the dining room. This gives us the dining room which is used every meal time, music practice (well assuming they learn the piano) and homework, the conservatory has seating as well as a table in it so can do relaxing, playing or homework, lounge is then for seating, TV and playing. I like being able to shut doors on noise etc.

SO for your plans I would say kitchen diner is fine but I would keep lounge area separate. If you do plan to get a dog then think about whether you would want to have your dog going in every room or just some, do you want it to be able to wander around the kitchen and dining room or would you prefer it didn't etc. this could make a difference to how you want to lay things out.

All bedrooms with en suites is future proof... doubling up office with a drop down cupboard bed (Murphy bed) as guest room is a good idea - adding a downstairs loo / ensuite to office / guest room is fab ! Lockable utility room with dog flap to outside is good to keep any unwanted pooches etc out of your home - while allowing yours in door and outdoor freedom if you need to leave him or her for the day ?! Entrance from garage into house is handy for wet weather days . Electric garage doors... Pantry and big prep island in kitchen ... Drinks fridges in kids play room. Wifi everywhere - pop up TV's that you then only notice when you want to watch something ! ( less likely to be just left on that way too) and enough storage for a place for everything - so no excuse for it not being put away !!!

Excellent lots of good advice here, good comment on doubling up spare room with study thinking on it we rarely have anyone to stay over regularly so it does seem silly to give them a double room over the kids room

I completely agree about having separate rooms. I know the current trend is all for open plan but it can be highly frustrating! Having lived with both arrangements, we are reverting to a separate lounge where the family can watch TV, read, play games etc. If there is only one big busy living/eating space then there is nowhere to escape to!

I prefer a large sitting/dining area rather than small separate rooms but I do think you need a separate area for visiting teens to hang out in.

My thoughts- the single rooms for when the DCs are teens sound very small. My teens like having a double bed (useful for lounging on, working on and for sleepovers) as well as big desks in their rooms.

We weren't using our study/spare room much so changed it to a teens tv room. This has been a great success; teens use it most weekends and it is available as a spare room as it has a sofa bed for older visitors who are staying. This is better use of space than having a spare room that is only used for a few weeks of the year.

I wouldn't be without the downstairs wc/washbasin. We find it especially useful when grandparents are visiting as they can't easily get up the stairs to a bathroom due to mobility issues.

Something that people comment on when they visit us- worth passing on - while we had diggers in digging out a driveway - we asked them to dig out the trampoline - it's a big one and was dominating the garden ! They dug out 4' deep - wrapped chicken wire around the legs (several times) and a few well places stakes too - then back filled the edges with pea gravel - we then turfed up to the edge - the up shot is - a 16' diameter trampoline - that is at ground level - with 4' of clearance space underneath it - (same depth as height if it were standing on level ground) but you look out to the garden and just see the garden - no trampoline taking over ! And it's easier for children to get on and off them selves ( ok for my age children - I understand some may not like this idea ) anyway - just putting it out there !!! Have fun with your renovations ! Put yourselves and your wishes first as A. You are paying for it and B you will gain the benefits that way !!!

I'm not a fan of en-suites everywhere as a way of future proofing... Mainly because that's a lot bathrooms to keep on top of. We went to look at a house where they had done just this and it just felt very wrong and unnecessary (and the teenage ensuites were manky despite the house obviously being cleaned for viewing). I would rather have more than one bathroom but not necessarily attached to a particular bedroom.
We're going for a bathroom & a shower-room both upstairs but not attached to any particular room. It means that there's enough space for family & guests and I don't have to worry about kids when they are young not cleaning/flushing/leaving taps on out of my sight.
I've lived in open plan and normal layouts and tbh open plan I think is suited to those who don't have kids at home but that's just me.
Rather than look at it in terms of rooms, try thinking about how you use space now, things you really need space for, how you would like to use space in the future & any future space requirements (more children/elderly relatives living or visiting, working from home etc) and then also think of things you really hate. (for me it's tripping over kids toys = we have a playroom)
Once you've made those lists - every family member should do it. You can then translate it into rooms and how they flow.
Because what suits me & my family is unlikely to be the same as you & your family.

Having provided my two early teen DCs with a large attic room with TV and power and hardwired internet to share as their sitting room, plus a small bedroom each, they promptly hit their teens and didn't want to be in the same room watching the same tv etc etc. (boy and girl, chalk and cheese). Really need to think ahead to bedrooms big enough for the teens to hang out in if they want.

If it's a big house and full of steel beams worth integrating some hardwiring to route internet around the house too. And it's impossible to have too many power points.

Although the current trend is for families to spend more time together in rooms hanging out as they each have their own laptop/tablet so the kids can be facebooking on their laptops and dad can be watching the cricket scores on his iPad while they are all pretending not to watch Bargain Hunt on the big tv.

Obviously consult all the self-build magazines which are full of house plans and good ideas (and bad ones too).

Oh my best housebuilding investment - a tap that you could programme to run a bath to a certain temperature AND THEN TURN ITSELF OFF.

I would suggest double beds for teens. My DS1 is now 6ft 3 and his wee brother is inches taller than me. Single beds are not really big enough.

In my experience you won't need an adult free room. As they get older they are out more,sleep late and use their rooms like bedsits.

Also agree that ensuites are not a good idea. A bathroom and separate shower room with maybe a separate wc would be my suggestion.

Excellent some great ideas dh and I are going to go through all these and incorporate some into our plans
Useful point re having loads on ensuites and the need to clean them !

Anyone got any experience of a shared ensuite between two children with a door from each bedroom? Or is this vbomkers

Second the notion you can't have too many power points. They'll come in when you're too old to change the wanky halogen spots in your ceiling and need side/floor lamps in order to angle the light and change the bulb.

Tap handles should be push/paddle types, not turn, for older hands.

Double beds for teens.

Big powerful shower
Big powerful Mac
Big powerful fridge
Crisps

The kitchen, dinner, TV room will be where you all will spend 99% of the time. The kids will move their toys through there you will sit in there in the summer as the french windows are on to the garden and in the winter as the fire is there. I have a huge Island in the kitchen section you do need to be ruthless with it as it is a very easy dumping ground.
As someone who has one of these rooms what I would do differently is make it even bigger, make the utility room bigger (so all the pans can go in there when entertaining) and make my study bigger (as it is a bit of a dumping ground).
I am moving house shortly the living room, kitchen, diner in the new house is the entire 1st floor, downstairs large study, large uitlity room and garage. Three beds on the top floor two bathrooms.
Currently I have a 9 year old girl and a 19 year old student girl on this basis you can never ever have too many cupboards in bathrooms.

Have you got space for a downstairs shower? V useful for when you might not be able to use the stairs and, in the meantime, for cleaning the dog. Make sure your boiler can cope with two showers at the same time if yor teens are using it as well.

If big open-plan room at back, get the most silent extractor, dishwasher and kettle than you can afforde. Cannot emphasise this enough as we didn't! And, yes, you need a separate reception room as well to get away from teenagers watching non-stop Hollyoaks/Big Brother/Don't Tell the Bride etc

My two use a Jack and Jill bathroom. It usually works fine but every few days there are ructions when one DD leaves the bathroom without unlocking both doors. Then the other DD gets cross as she can't get in the bathroom without going through the other's bedroom.

Having two access doors means you need a reasonable sized room or sliding doors to save space.

I agree about the taps. Turn is ok if there is something to grip, not just a smooth cylinder. Easy push top toilet flushes are great, avoid ones on the side of the loo that are short and need your whole weight behind to push down like my PIL's have.

We're having a master suite with ensuite, a guest room with en suite (we may have a lodger/au pair in the future) a family bathroom with loo, basin and bath and then a small separate shower room on the landing. Hoping that will keep up with our two. We have DS in the box room currently and really needed bigger space for him. Both kids will have double beds in their rooms. When spare room is unoccupied, it will double up as my sewing room/study but I suspect we're going to need to make it pay for the first couple of years at least!