Cheap ideas for this kitchen/dining room please

[Homesunderthehammer27]

Hoping to tap into your collective wisdom for a bit of creativity.

We are buying a very low cost auction property with the intention of doing it up and selling it on. In total, we have about £15k to do up the house in its entirety and this includes new boiler, bathroom, carpets etc so we really don't have very much money to throw at this.

Currently there is an oddly shaped, small kitchen extension attached to a decent sized dining room. We are going to replace the kitchen, but we were wondering if there was a simple way that we could (very cheaply) create a well designed kitchen/diner without removing any structural walls - we accept that the gas, water and drainage would have to be rerouted but the changes should be minimal. If it also had room for a sofa/tv, that would be good.

I've attached a diagram. The floors are concrete. I'd wondered if there was a way that the current kitchen could be divided with a stud wall to create a small utility room. A fridge/freezer could stand in the old kitchen and the door into the dining room could be removed. There is a large understairs cupboard with what appears to be a stud wall along the dining room.

Any ideas that spring out at you? All gratefully received

I think you should keep the kitchen where it is and block up the back door to create a U of units to maximise the space. Put french windows in the dining room to access the outside and spend a bit of money brightening up the side return. There is no point dividing an already very small space to create a utility room - the house is small and doesn't need one. By keeping the kitchen separate, you don't need a utility room anyway as the people who eventually live there will be using it simply as a functional space to prepare food as opposed to an open-plan living/dining/kitchen where the noise from the washing machine or boiler would be a nuisance.

£15k is not a huge budget, especially with the list of works that you need to address. Do not try to reinvent the wheel on this one.

Agree with lalalonglegs ideas and comments

Agree although I'd have units on back and side walls and divide living and dining rooms. If you're going to squeeze anything in how about a downstairs loo under the stairs?

I'd relocate the kitchen to the dining room. Make a downstairs WC/utility or study from the existing kitchen. That way, you stand the most chance of making a greater return on your investment if it is for resale rather than a rental as most buyers would prefer a more spacious/impressive kitchen than a dining room. FYI, I do this sort of thing for a living.

If you are buying at auction, double check what fees you are liable for upon completion - hidden fees can eat up a potential profit margin quickly.

Good luck!

Agree with Pradaqueen. You need a big wow kitchen to get the best price on resale.

Thanks everyone. The kitchen is so small that there is barely room for an oven, washing machine and fridge as it stands. No tumble drier or dishwasher is possible - that's when I started to think about using the dining room instead. .

If I were planning on living there, the French doors would be something I would like - but I might be more likely to look at extending the extension. Will look at costs (but they mount because we would also need stairs to be built up to the doorway).

Downstairs loo would be opening into the dining room (don't want to take out supporting wall) and that would put me off buying so probably not.

We are going to put doors between the two rooms - the 70's arch but with different carpets in each room doesn't quite work

I think also I’d be tempted to leave the old kitchen completely empty (with flooring and services neatly capped) as buyers can then decide what they want to do with the room. I would definitely put a eco under the stairs if you possibly can. They add value. Opening directly into kitchen not ideal, but most families would prefer this to not having one.

I’d also ask local ea if a 3 bed house with downstairs bathroom would be worth more. Unlikely but in dome areas they are, and you could do this very cheaply plus still keep toilet at least upstairs

WC

I would imagine that many buyers would plan on extending the kitchen rightacross theback of the house so I wouldn't spend any time trying to make something "wow".

I think lala's plan is the best option given the budget and planned future for the house.

Can you stack a washing machine/drier under the stairs to free up kitchen space?

Add upholstered benches on two or three sides to the kitchen area and make into a cosy dining area. The dining room can be a kitchen area with sofa to flop on.

I would imagine that many buyers would plan on extending the kitchen rightacross theback of the house

I think really only in London this is 'worth it'? Such an expensive build that for a cheap property its not typical.

I really don't see how you could do it for £15k since you are alrady having to do boiler, bathroom and carpets.. but I would partition the kitchen vertically to get a WC on the right hand side. in the back left corner I would stack a WM and TD. This makes best use of accessing the water point (and I assume soil stack is out the back too?)

Then in the dining room you could put in an L: of units on the water/window and gas point side.

I think really only in London this is 'worth it'?

That depends on your definition of "worth it" really. It's not worth it from development point of view but to someone who wants to live in it it may well be worth it.

The OP herself said she might look at doing that if she was going to live there.

Separate the sitting room from the dining room with a stud wall. It will make furniture placement and kitchen design much easier.

@soupdragon the wow comes from selling the lifestyle in a budget friendly way. A side return is very rarely worth it. Usually better to just move to a bigger house, unless in London

Some food for thought here. I'd not even thought about having the dining area in the current kitchen.

Washing machine under stairs would need all sorts of plumbing/drainage work, so unlikely on our tiny budget, but a condensing tumble drier and freezer would let us have an under counter fridge and more worktop if we stayed with the existing kitchen.

Virtually every house on this street has an extension - originally for an indoor bathroom. We are lucky this one has a double storey extension so the bathroom is upstairs. Quite a few have full width extensions so it does show people will pay for their own amenity without necessarily expecting to realise a profit from it.