Over-thinking, dazed and confused..help!

[Alkemi]

Starting to feel seasick from overuse of ipad to research this dilemma FOR DAYS ON END ..it has to stop. I need your feedback please to regain sanity/clarity... i am about to refurb a seventies bungalow currently arranged as small (3mx 4m) kitchen, ( 4mx 6m ) living/diner, and three double bedrooms. The master has French doors to rear garden. Kitchen is too small to fit all modern appliances in for laundry and food prep, and too small to eat in. The site slopes so can't extend it. So... My plan is to make kitchen into what my gran always referred to as 'the back kitchen ' a sort of utility plus dishwasher/ recycling and fridge freezer space, the current (adjoining)living room then becomes a decent sized kitchen diner and the master bedroom a living space / tv/ study/ guest room.. as all but the youngest child has left home.. But would you sacrifice a bedroom to get an eat-in kitchen and utility?

Anybody? Here's a floor plan.. (Ignore the balcony bit... another fevered fantasy...) Any advice / pitfalls/ something I haven't seen..?

Bedrooms 2 & 3 seem awfully big with such a small living room. And only one bath? So I can see why you are thinking to remodel. What about a slightly bigger living room-kitchen (open plan?) and a slightly smaller 3rd bedroom? So no need to lose 3rd bedroom completely.

This is a variation on what you've already thought of without sacrificing a bedroom.

With the French doors there make the master bedroom the living room - knock down the cupboards(?) against the wall between the bedroom and bathroom to make it bigger.

Take space off what is currently the living room to make a much bigger kitchen/diner. Remainder of the living room becomes the third bedroom.

It's not clear which side of the house fronts onto the road from your diagram and where the garden is. Presumably the patio is level? If so, extend outwards to the edge of the patio the width of the current kitchenand you could create a small utility room to the lhs of the current kitchen so you are not eating in the same room when the washing machine is on, etc. Put a sink in there as well as appliances.

And I just thought of something else. Are the neighbouring houses the same floor plan and has anyone else done work to theirs? That can give you ideas/inspiration and also clues as to what not to do. I've seen several extensions on the cheap over the years where you get weird internal windows and funny configurations because it was cheaper than knocking down a structural wall and putting a steel in or taking space from a big room for a corridor.

I'm on a roll: when you've extended the kitchen, add a decked balcony to the back of at least part of the patio extending the flat usable space; it can be supported to deal with the slope.

Another option. Assuming no supporting walls that can't be reasonably easily dealt with. Move the 3rd bedroom (make it a bit smaller) into the living room, and put the bathroom between it and where the kitchen is currently (hopefully plumbing not too far away from that). Then back the back section one big living/kitchen room with white goods built in (don't think you have space for a separate utility room.

If you are careful you can claim back some of the wasted hall space.

You could also use one of the bedrooms as an office cum guest room.

Goodness! The inventive brilliance of online collaboration. What's it called ? Hive mind? Thank you everyone. So just to clarify.. The patio is at the rear and very narrow before the (1/3 acre) garden slopes steeply up and away to a road at the top. Awkward little extensions have been added cheaply to properties either side of me, just to house a washing machine. I don't have a big budget and my builder said that the floor space an extension behind the kitchen would create would be awkwardly narrow. I need to keep the existing footprint of the building. Here's another image of the existing layout from an app called Interior Design (caution- highly addictive...)

I'm not sure but I think a couple of bungalows near me have the same layout. In which case, they have put a small extension onto the front, to get the following:

Small extension on current living room, and then use half the existing living room plus the extension for a 3rd bedroom, while the other half of the existing living room is knocked into the kitchen.

Then the former master bedroom becomes the new living room.

If you can't do that, then could you simply knock the living room and kitchen together and have an open plan living / cooking space,perhaps with French windows on the back?

Can't see floor plan as on phone, but, another thought - can you extend upwards and turn it into a house so have smaller bedrooms upstairs and a lot more room on the ground floor?

If your dc and others only stay occasionally, you need more living space than bedroom space.

A few people around here have done so.

First reaction...
Cut the end of the corridor to the bedrooms off at the same point as the dividing wall between the two front bedrooms. Put a door at the end, adding the extra space to the end front bedroom.

The back bedroom could possibly fit an ensuite backing on to the main bathroom.

Move the door to the bathroom so its not directly opposite the front door.

Knock the wall between the kitchen and living room and go open plan with french doors to the garden.

Turn the front bedroom closest to the front door into a second TV/ living area....useful when you've gone open plan and easily converted back to a bedroom if needed or if selling.

It would be nice if the door (perhaps double) was moved to be roughly opposite the door (perpaps double) to the kitchen/dining/living so that if you had friends and family over people could spill over from one to the other.

The internal volume of the place is massive if you count in the roof space and underhouse garage. Ultimately I would love a converted loft - it is huge - and would double the size of the property but sadly would eat up my entire budget. I am thinking of selling a few years down the line. The site is too big and steep for typical retirees to manage,so i need to remodel it to suit a family who would love its large rambly garden as safe play space for kids and pets. There is a steep flight of steps to the front door. I thought French doors from a kitchen diner on to a balcony at the front, with a windy path up through the front garden, might make it feel more accessible.

I think I am possibly the only person who things open plan living is hell!

Okay so the slope is up from the patio...that changes things a bit.

I would still consider extending the kitchen over the patio with a door to the remaining patio at right angles to the bathroom window and a window at the end of the kitchen extension. Maybe even conservatory style to bring light in and bring costs down.

I wouldn't use that extension for the utility area. Instead I would take some space elsewhere in the room for that if you are set on having it. Or, could you turn what looks like a cupboard between the bathroom and living room into a utility space? Plumbing for washer from bathroom, dryer stacked on top, external wall near existing drains for drainage and knock a brick out for venting TD.

Extend forward from existing living room then you can have a decent size bedroom and a dining/kitchen. If d/k is big enough to include living area it could increase house to 4 beds for resale in future when perhaps you want to downsize.

You could fit an ensuite shower room in the bedroom carved out of current living room if you extend forward. Put it in the corner where new internal wall is backing onto kitchen and then obvious place for utility is the corner of the kitchen/diner on the other side of the wall and plumbing is in same area.

It's one thing using a bedroom for a different purpose while you are living there, quite another losing a bedroom completely by not thinking through a reorganisation.

Cross posted so didn't know about the garage underneath! The bathroom is the issue because moving plumbing and waste pipes would be a big and expensive jobs. That's what is getting in the way of re-jigging the living space as it's next to a too small kitchen.

You could go down into garage with massive glass doors where garage door is now and have living space there instead with stairs up into big kitchen diner where living room and kitchen are now. Small bedroom and a shower room downstairs. Voila four bed house with two bathrooms and massive living space!

Wowfudge thank you - the under house conversion had occurred to me because the garage is oversized and does have room to the right for a staircase that would lead up to the end of the hall ( where the previous owner decided to move the door to the bathroom... Madness....). I am hesitating though because of plumbing complications. There is a tap in the garage, but no drain. The manhole covers are in the patio behind the kitchen and bathroom, so up and above the level of the garage). I am guessing this would be expensive to sort out. There is a longish drive, enough for three cars in tandem, down to the road. I was also thinking that we might need the garage for storage, bikes, garden paraphernalia, and stuff we would normally keep in the loft, if it was ever to be converted, and I think a loft conversion might ultimately be as cheap as the garage to do ....decisions .. Decisions...

Another option. Make the master bedroom the kitchen/diner, and knock through the living room kitchen into one room with maybe french doors onto patio.

Plumbing is less of a problem with a bungalow - as long as you have access to the drains (although will add to the cost).

Burnished silver - your plan is genius. I love the idea of extra space in the front bedroom, but the built in cupboards in this room would be the natural point to put in a staircase if the loft was to be converted. Hmmmm....but REALLY like the idea of the double door connection to the third bedroom from the kitchen-diner. It would make the living spaces much more flow-y. Thankyou!

Key thing to think about with any work you will have done, especially as you say your are thinking of downsizing in a few years is not to spend money you won't recover when you sell. Also the actual added value of your spend is important. No point spending £100k if you only increase the value £20k at this stage.

Now if you have paid off the mortgage that's less of a consideration, but you don't want to end up with a house that is overpriced in relation to similar local properties if you haven't truly increased the value as you are trying to claw back your spend.

We have a cellar with endless possibilities, including kitchen/diner with direct access to the garden because the house is built into a hill. It is above ground at the garden side of the house. I'm waiting to see the sold price of a very similar house round the corner with that conversion done without increasing the ceiling height (we would increase the ceiling height otherwise it feels too much like a cellar) to see what it might be worth spending.

Wise words wowfudge. We bought ten years ago pre-crash, knowing it was a 'project', lived in it for a while without funds to do much, then let it out for several years while we went traveling. We are now thinking of settling back in to the area and, while not mortgage free, will have paid off a substantial chunk of it. The placed is in a pretty part of the world and has 'potential but is now in desperate need of remodelling and upgrading - more or less everything. I had it valued a couple of weeks ago and it is,in its current state, worth about £50,000 less than the average detached 3 bed locally. So I'm thinking - wood floors, new bathroom, dining kitchen, utility, insulation, new radiators, neutral decor inside and out. It's just the room plan that is perplexing me. Bungalows are flexible and having a range of choices is a mixed blessing.

Do not pay for insulation - you should be able to find someone who'll do it for free, e.g. your utility company. But do have it done; you'll notice the difference.

Really? I knew the were ECO grants for insulation and was about to ask a diamond bead company to do a survey, but they have estimated £600 incl. grant reduction. I had no idea that it was possible to get this done for nothing..

Have a look online. British Gas did our cavity wall insulation for nothing. It may be that freebies are available now and then rather than all the time, but it doesn't actually cost a huge amount and it'll be easy to do a bungalow.

Think I've cracked it... Thank you so much everyone! Put double doorways into 2 sides of third bedroom,which becomes a living area, throwing light into gloomy hallway. Extend bathroom into hall alcove, incorporating hall cupboard to make linen cupboard. Create ensuite by extending the built in wardrobe in the master bedroom. Make doorway into kitchen diner from hallway. Kind of open plan but still clearly zoned with enough wall space left for artwork. It does get rid of a bedroom but it will work better for us and that ultimately I guess is what a home is all about x

Would you have budget to put a porch on ? If so - with your latest design, then you could get rid of the hallway between your new living room and new kitchen - making the living room bigger.

I think is a mistake to have no living space to the back of the house with garden access The utility room is taking up a prime location. A utility room can fit in a tiny corner. All it needs to be is a washer, dryer and laundry storage. American houses tend to have the laundry in the basement. Would you consider moving yours down to the garage? If not, I think we can still find a better spot than where it is now.