Utility and downstairs shower room possible in terrace house?

[c00k1e]

Hi guys,

We are currently looking towards buying a mid terrace house in London.

I have attached a similar floor plan below. Has anyone maned to create a utility room/shower room in such a set up. We will be looking to extend to the rear and kind of have a open plan family room/kitchen (see attached 3 year old like attempt) but I don’t want the noise of washing machine etc in family room and also want to have option of separating the kitchen /family room with folding doors or similar.

Could this work or am I mad?

Thanks in advance

Oops BR refers to bathroom/shower room and UT is utility

yes it could work... but why would u want the kitchen facing the rear and not the family room? or both?

... but u hv also drawn the bathroom and utility way too small. itll take up much more space

thanks for the reply Archipops

its going to be a kitchen/diner area, hence facing the rear. Also I couldn't see how I would have the option to separate off the family room if it was at the rear.

Utility room - i was thinking if worse come to worse have a cupboard type thing in space specified, and stack the washer/drier.

shower room - the space we have could fit a small toilet/sink there, but want to see if feasible for shower too.

If i give up on the idea of having a passage way from the front directly to the kitchen, that would give me space to have a nice size utility/shower room, but I just don't like the idea of accessing the kitchen via another room :/

I’d do something like this

The family room section has no windows , would it not feel a bit weird to close it off with doors? Why do you feel the need to do that? You still have the separate front room anyway. I think it's best to treat the kitchen/ family area as one space.

Silver’s sketch is ace! solved!

I was just going to make the same suggestion as Silver. Having too many corridors takes away from usable space.

Yep agree with silver too!

I'm in the process of re-configuring our mid-terrace. There have been some compromises along the way because of levels, drainage etc, but we've ended up with a utility / pantry and a small shower room, by doing away with the dining room.

We'll also have a small cupboard in the hallway, as otherwise there's nowhere to dump coats, bags etc. I'll get measurements and draw a floor plan for you in the morning...

OP I have a similar layout to you. What we did was carve a bit out of the middle room (your family room) to make a combined utility/shower room. So there is a door on the left into it before you get to your kitchen.

I agree with decorhate - I would want to max the opportunity to create full height windows across full width at back of house - so would put a big utility / laundry / loo /shower etc in the darkest windowless part of the house - so back half of existing dining room. the bigger this room is - the easier it is to keep your house tidy and organised.

I think Silverspot's solution is ace! I wondered if you could carve a bit out of the family room but this way you don't have to.

Hi guys,

I was trying to keep away from having totally open plan. As we rent something similar at the moment and the kids are always moaning about the noise from the washing machine/ mum and dad talking/ cooker hood. And it sometimes does my head in with all the noise they make when I want piece and quiet Also we get moaning about trapping through the room when they are watching something. But if that’s the common consensus that a open plan area is better. Probably I need to think things through.

I like the idea of carving utility room out of the family room area Decorhat do you have a drawing or something cause that sounds an idea.

Thanks guys for your suggestions

Using the dark bit to be a utility shower WC would give a better result but would be a lot more expensive as you’ll have trouble accessing the soil stack (I’ve assumed the bathroom is above the kitchen?) and you’ll need a more expensive T steel to create the super room.

As we rent something similar at the moment and the kids are always moaning about the noise from the washing machine/ mum and dad talking/ cooker hood. And it sometimes does my head in with all the noise they make when I want piece and quiet

Can’t the children have the separate front room then and the adults keep the super room TV and toy free?

Here's a very rough sketch of what we've ended up with. Our middle dining room had been knocked through but was still quite dark (and overlooked), so it works best for us to have this as utility / shower room.

From looking around I think most people struggle with how to use the dining room in terraces - it normally ends up being a miscellaneous walk-through area any way.

I have had second thoughts about eliminating a reception room and what that means for property values but we'll be here for long enough for that not to matter too much.

You could separate the loo and put that under the stairs if the soil stack is there and expensive to move - then put everything else in the big utility.

No kids watching TV the in the big space ever!! Ipads with headphones at a push.

Another vote for silver.

Front room could be adults only peaceful retreat (Or even kids only for all the toys crap etc)

Family room/kitchen for everyone. Why would you try to separate this? If you're already thinking how to separate it then you don't go to the expense of creating open plan. the front room is the separate space you want for peace.

Don't separate the shower & utility, it's fine in one room. do you definitely need a downstairs shower? We had in our old house but only used for the dog! Very rare anyone was fighting for the upstairs shower. Think how your HW works as well can you use 2 showers at once?

Some glass doors/bifolds along the back & a couple of velux windows would be nice

Good idea from sun - think about how your family use the space. I've spent many hours waiting for DP to finish a marathon poo before I can start a load of laundry - separate wc and utility were definitely a priority!

We also have a passive-aggressive conversation every morning about who should have a shower first - with a second shower room downstairs, that eliminates a daily guilt trip!

We've discussed leaving the DC's toys & consoles etc in the front room, so they can congregate there and leave us to have a civilised coffee / vino in the kitchen-diner, not quite sure of that one yet.