can I ask for your opinion on our extension ideas?

[MaryPoppinsPenguins]

We are trying to create some storage and a kitchen diner in quite a small house with a very awkwardly shaped garden! A couple of builders who have come to have a look have all suggested a floor plan similar to this....

But it's difficult to envisage and I'm not sure the space is the big kitchen diner I was coveting!

Any advice or suggestions?

Once we've decided what we want we're going to get architects drawings.

That's a long walk round with shopping - also too far from the living room - you could end up being tucked out of the way

Rather see the garden from the kitchen -

You would see the garden from the kitchen, the majority of our garden is at the side...

Ahh that makes sense then!

Don't have a separate play room, at that age you'll want to see what the DC are up to without having to always sit in their with them. Have a big family space which includes the kitchen.

I would not have the playroom off the kitchen. I would have the whole back as my kitchen diner. In the area where you have double doors off to the right, I would have a single door and make that area a utility room with loo and shower if you have room/funds. It also means you have air flow in the loo, whereas under the stairs you don't (I have a thing about toilets and bathrooms not having fresh air).
I would then have the playroom at the front, next to the living room, either accessed through where you would have had your loo, or off the living room.
You can still have your garage storage bit as it is

Lots of good ideas here, but also: if you're planning to get an architect involved anyway, why aren't you consulting them at this stage? A good architect will have lots of ideas about how to make the best use of small/awkward spaces, much more than a builder is likely to. You don't have to have a definite plan before consulting them.

We were trying to get a ballpark price from a drawing to see if it was feasible before paying architect fees....

From that drawing we've had two people come and give rough quotes which are fine, so now we're happy to go ahead... I was just worried someone would tell is it was tens of thousands of pounds more than we thought and we would have wasted the 2k or so on the initial stuff.

Can I just totally recommend getting an outside wall socket when you have your extension built. Makes mowing the lawn so easy.

Is there a possibility of moving the stair case?

Keep dining room as it is and change it to living room.

Make the living room in second plan into playroom but open it up so you can see in whilst you are cooking