What would you do with this flat

[olivialegg]

Hi,

My youngest has finally settled down into a place of his own and we are downsizing to help the kids out with deposits. We are completing on the below in two weeks:

www.rightmove.co.uk/property-for-sale/property-30617511.html

I was hoping to do some work to make the place nicer. What would you do to the place? We have about £12,000 to spend I was thinking of knocking down the wall between the bedroom and living room and making the whole thing open plan, incorporating the hallway to make it bigger. But then where does the kitchen go? And where does the corner sofa go?! I love corner sofas. The bedroom at the back would be bit bigger and nicer. Also then the door to the loft room would come off the living room. It's driving me crazy. Hubby says I can manage the 'project' myself. The place definitely needs a new kitchen anyway and I was thinking of doing wooden floors everywhere.

What would you all do? Your opinions will be hugely appreciated! The only furniture we are bringing is a sofa and a bed!

Thanks y'all!

I'd keep the hallway which looks quite wide and put lots of storage there - shelves, shallow cupboards etc. I would move the kitchen into the bedroom and knock through to the living room and the bedroom, of course, would go where the kitchen is. I would probably block up the hall door into the new kitchen so you could only enter through the living room - that would make it easier to put a table or extra units in it.

I don't think I would change it because I am not a fan of open plan myself, but if you are going to then knock living room into bedroom and put kitchen in part of what was the bedroom or in the right hand half of the living room as you look at it on the floor plan.

Turn what was the kitchen diner into a bedroom and separate a section off as a utility room backing onto the bathroom so you don't have the noise of the washing machine in your living room.

Open plan suits some not others - we would have bought this as a first time buy as is but would have rejected the same space as open plan (don't like sitting watching TV with cooking smells) and I don't think we are that unusual. It's a lovely flat as is. Looks like it would benefit from some decent storage as lalalonglegs suggests and a general lick of paint and soft furnishings. The kitchen is dated but probably doesn't need more of an overhaul other than new cupboard doors and your DC will probably appreciate a space to have friends around and entertain without the mess of a party taking over the rest of the space. It's lovely, good luck!

I think lala has it. I would do that. Plus wooden floors throughout and nice rugs from a noise point of view.
I love Warner flats - great choice btw.

I agree with lala too !
Hope you will all be happy in your new homes !!

You would need to check what walls are load bearing before you go knocking anything down or even planning what to knock down.

I like Lala's idea, if it is feasible to move plumbing and gas piping, etc. for your budget. You could do a partial opening French doors or sliding doors sort of thing between the new kitchen (former bedroom) and the living room, which would give you the option of keeping it all separate. This might solve the load bearing wall issue if there is one. Other than that, a good oven hood and excellent noise reducing dishwasher would keep kitchen intrusion to a minimum, and try not to burn pizza.

Wooden floors would be lovely.

I would go with lala's idea as well. It seems daft to have the kitchen where it is.

I wouldn't like the bedroom to be open plan to the rest of the flat because sometimes I like to retire to the bedroom for peace and quiet. also, it would make it more difficult to sell further down the line.

I am at the price. Our 4 bedroom detached house in a naice area is worth about the same as the asking price as the flat.

Same as pp's, I'd swap bedroom and kitchen, but wonder if this is possible, due to where plumbing/waste etc is accessible? Presume the 'loft room' is not described as a second bedroom because it doesn't meet planning regulations?
Also at what you get in London for your money, as Bunbaker says, you could get a freehol 3/4 bed detached in a naice area where we live.

Whilst I would swap the kitchen and bedroom, I wouldn't knock it into the living room. I'm not sure wooden floors are a great idea in a upper floor flat.

Would you be allowed to have wooden floors in an upper flat?

That was my thought - can't see that being popular with the downstairs neighbour.

FadedRed, you are correct. The loft room doesn't meet building regs, although it was done in about 1995 so maybe could try to get it 'regularised'...

echt I think most floors in these types of flat are wooden. It seems to be in vogue. I would like wooden floors throughout.

The wall between living room and bedroom is load bearing. I think I will try and make a partial opening and have the french doors or something mentioned earlier. If it all gets opened up I feel the room could just be abit big and square and I can't picture where everything would go! Hubby says that although we will stay here for a long time we can't do anything where we wouldn't get any of the money back. Plus I just spent some money I shouldn't have on some furniture so I am in trouble!!! Doubt he will let me try and get put a wood burner put in now...

oh and thanks for the suggestions!

There's lots of good suggestions above but I doubt your budget of £12k would scratch the surface if you want to relocate the kitchen/ knock down load bearing walls.

We spent more than that on mainly cosmetic refurbishments- no moving of pipes etc in lounge/ bedroom and bathroom.

It's scary how quickly it adds up and trades cost a fortune.

"I would like wooden floors throughout."

Having lived in a downstairs flat I can confirm that if you had wooden floors it will be hell for your downstairs neighbours.

Wooden floors in an upstairs flat?

You could put a soundproofing layer under the wood floors. You would sacrifice an inch or so of height to your rooms.

But all of this will cost more than your budget.

I think the sitting room is a good size already but would open up the fireplace. Give it a more homely/cosy feel. It doesn't seem to have any focus.

If you're considering on knocking down ANY walls or relocating anything you also need to put an application in to the freeholder as it constitutes a material change and you don't own the walls (even inside the flat) - a lease confers the right to live within the premises for x number of years, the structure remains the freeholder's property.

A lot of them are not keen on relocating bathrooms and kitchens either as they are usually on top of each other (as that is where the pipe work runs) and putting them over a bedroom or living room can cause a lot more damage in the case of a leak.

Nooo, don't have wooden flors in an upstairs flat. Your neighbours will HATE you and I wouldn't blame them.

It does look like the majority of rooms already have wooden floors fireside.

So? It doesn't make it ok. It probably looks lovely, but it will be hell for the neighbours below and that needs considering. There are ways of minimising the noise from a wooden floor, but they almost certainly cost more than the op would want to pay.

Oh and I'm only about the tenth person on this thread to suggest thinking again about having a wooden floor.

Oh sorry that does sound a bit snippy Millii. I didn't mean it to. I really shouldn't post on here when I haven't woken up properly yet.

Wooden floors do look lovely in flats and I can see why people want them, but they are rarely neighbour friendly.

And you weren't actually disagreeing with me, so I will just slink away and pretend I didn't post the last 3 posts. Ahhhhhhhh.

You might find that carpeting is condition of the sale. It was in a flat I looked at in 1984. It was binding on both upper and lower floors.