How to extend my house? With floorplans!

[ExtendRoundTheBend]

Hi,
I've been in my house for 6 years and am keen to extend, if I can convince DH it's worth spending (borrowing) the money!
We have 2 kids, primary age. Main issues are that the kitchen is small, well laid out but no room for a table. We could do with another toilet, shower room really thinking long term. We like our location so don't want to move. Thinking also of a loft extension to get another bedroom/ensuite. The 3rd bedroom is a box room so fine while my DC is young but they will outgrow it as they get older. House is detached but still close to neighbours.
Any ideas as to what could be possible? Want to extend the kitchen out to line up with the playroom and link to the living areas but don't particularly want a huge living/dining kitchen that can't be closed off from cooking/washing noises and smells. Excuse my drawn floorplans, not to scale but gives a rough idea!!
Thanks for getting this far!

Can you extend over the garage, making an en suite, taking some of the bigger bedroom to make access and then your kids would have two similar sized bedrooms. How many more years will you need a playroom? You could extend the kitchen to encorperate the playroom. The playroom could then be a family room later.

Thanks for your response. I had considered extending over the garage but was worried about a corridor and making a bedroom smaller. Do you think that would be cheaper than a loft extension? I know I need to get an architect round really!
It would be great for the playroom to turn into a teenage den when they're older and have a separate living space for the kids. Can't figure out if that space would be better as part of the kitchen. Happy to have one dining table area in the house rather than two.

You could probably go out at the back and the side but depends where your neighbours are in relation to you. This type of floor plan always ends up with having to sacrifice some existing bedroom space for a corridor unless you only go into the loft.

I'd swap the dining and play rooms; a play room with no windows is fine in the centre of the house, later a teen-den. Then extend across the back as a dining/informal sitting area looking at the garden, with a small access into the current kitchen (if you don't want open plan).

I would swap the current playroom and kitchen round and knock them through. Then previous kitchen (which would already have plumbing could be utility/wetroom. Knock through the living room into garage, which could be turned into a play room now or teenage den later on.
You would lose box room if you went up into the loft most likely so would be back to three bedrooms. Building over the garage probably easier and would give you an extra bedroom. Then you could use box room as a study.

Extend over the garage with the small bathroom becoming ensuite

Extend the kitchen to make a kitchen diner - diner being the current play room - across the back of the house - turn current kitchen into the play room kids den
Living room becomes a snug for grown ups and the dinninh room becomes a second lounge for guests / entertaining

I would convert the garage into a second reception room. I’d make the kitchen and dining and play room a large kitchen space. I’d do a loft conversion with en suite

Thanks for all the ideas, lots of options and things to think about! We could extend the kitchen back but not to the side as we just have that passage to the fence.
I had thought about the garage but like to store things in it (especially if we were to convert the loft) and not sure we'd need all that for living space. There is space behind the garage next to the dining room but not sure if that space is worth using. Like the idea of the kitchen diner along the back of the house, but then is it weird walking through another room to get to it? Could I get a utility room in part of the current kitchen space? Can I afford any of this!! I've been thinking about this since we moved in and still don't know what the best use of space would be.

Do you use the playroom much? How old are the dcs?

I would think carefully whether you could make changes without extending first. Eg knocking through rooms, moving the kitchen etc. Eg could you create a utility in the kitchen, move the kitchen to the existing dining and knock through to the playroom making that a dining area.

Block off the lounge so its not a through room.
Open up the whole kitchen/dining room/playroom to make a family dining kitchen.
To the rear of the garage build up into that open space and add a shower room, somewhere for the washer and dryer and a back door into the garden.

So the house has already been extended twice already? Assuming playroom & loft extension are both later additions? I wonder how much further the planning dept would be willing to allow you to extend the property? Have the neighbouring properties set a precedent for large extensions?

Kids are 4 and 7 so it holds a lot of toys currently! Reconfiguring rooms without extending is definitely an option, but think it would be nice to keep another reception room too.

The loft isn't yet converted, it's just storage for now through a hatch! Playroom was put on in the 80's. Neighbour next door has an extended kitchen but not extended living space. A few doors down has a loft conversion and extension over the garage, not been inside it but could be a mirror image of our house originally. And there's only two of them living there, they said it was built like that when the house was built ( they've been there nearly 60 years!). I should suggest a house swap 😁

My dcs are 8&6 but we never really had a playroom because they play where we are!

We’ve now got one open plan kitchen/diner/living area plus a separate lounge. The separate lounge contains their toys etc and will eventually be some sort of teenage retreat as they get older.

So it might be worth planning for when they’re a bit older.

I’d look at moving the kitchen to the middle of your house and having a utility either where the kitchen is or behind the garage.

Basically think about how you use the house, how you will use the house then decide on what’s best.

Really helpful advice. I like the idea of closing up the lounge, knocking kitchen into dining room, keeping doors to the playroom/second living space, and creating a small extension to the back of the garage for utility/loo. There's a shed there at the moment but that could be moved. Then there'd be more space to put a bedroom and ensuite above it!
You've cracked it.
So how much will this cost me....

I’d do the same as already suggested.

Close off the lounge sonits totaly separate.

Open out kitchen / diner / playroom to make a kitchen-diner-Family room.

Do a small extension onto the back of the garage for a shower room and utility.

Go up into the loft at a later date when you need the extra bedroom.

A lot of architects will do free home visits for an initial consultation. Would definitely be worth arranging a few appointments and seeing what ideas they come up with (both concept, feasibility and rough costs)

I’d block off the living room. Knock through kitchen and dining and make that one big kitchen diner. You could build a utility/bath etc behind the garage accessed through the dining room.

Or build behind the garage and make that your kitchen. Existing kitchen can be used as a utility room /bathroom

If you block the living room off -
Change the dining room into a kitchen with the kitchen being the new dining room - add full height doors to the outside for light

Then use the play room as a conservatory with lots of comfy seating again with big doors for light

The living room can now be a playroom or teen room or grown ups room