Open plan, yes/no? Part open with bifold doors?

[starshine1926]

I'll try again as posted in the wrong place just now .

I will be posting on this board frequently as I'm hoping to start renovating my house this year. It was DM house and since she passed 2 years ago I have lived here but not done anything. It needs a lot of work.

So downstairs there is a bathroom, kitchen, lounge and lean to utility (between house and garage). All rooms a reasonable size. Parents never used the lounge and virtually lived in the kitchen where they keep one room warm.

I too hate the lounge because it is cold and dark - one window and quite close to the front door. The kitchen is lovely - 2 windows and it gets the afternoon/evening sun. Now I realise the lounge will be warmer when I renew the double glazing and central heating, but I am thinking of knocking down the lounge/kitchen wall for more light.

If I remove the whole wall, I will have to support the remaining chimney breast in the loft. Also, I will have the extra light, but isn't one big room harder to heat than two? A good compromise would be to remove part of the wall (not the chimney breast where resides clapped out old gas range) and replace with bifold doors. I would love pocket sliding doors, but there's not enough wall space.

I could go mad and build an extension on the side of the kitchen so I would have two lovely, light rooms downstairs; but I'd still have a gloomy lounge and I think I need to get the basics right first before thinking about a conservatory/extension.

I would welcome your views on the pros and cons of open plan, especially keeping the area warm without spending a fortune on heating. I live alone so don't have to consider anyone else's needs and can do exactly as I like!! So many decisions......

Could you consider knocking down the wall on either side of the chimney breast, and having a dual sided fire? Presuming it’s central.

You could either put a gas fire or log burning stove in the space, and therefore heat both sides?

HI - could you draw out a floorplan of what is there now...
and what your options maybe like....and upload them (not talking technical just may be easier to help if can see...

if you know which walls are structural as well that can help as will help with scale of build works...

if you have a nice light open kitchen/living dining would you need an extension if just you? we did an extension which gave us that and we hardly ever go into our front room - but dc use it....

and if I was going to build my own house I would do less rooms as we just dont use them as will always use the bright/light/warm ones! (I would not have said this prior to doing our works I would have thought of having more rooms)

unless you would use the darker room as a study/office/workshop/craft room then I would definetly knock through...and add extra insulation under the floor/in the ceilings etc as well as new windows and probably a new boiler/rads - that has made a great difference to ours

You could remove part of the wall and use this type of door - it should let more light through.

cdn.shopify.com/s/files/1/0003/4668/5492/files/room-dividers-dining-room_600x.progressive.jpg?v=1530605841

I'm not a fan of open plan living and the few people I know who have tried it over the years have all had a wall replaced/rebuilt over time because they didn't like it (they found it hard to heat) and the layout didn't work for them (didn't like being under each others feet and there was too much stuff/toys/clutter always on show). They also found it noisy and one didn't like the lack of wall space for storage/furniture etc. Using the doors gives you more options for how you use your downstairs rooms.

We extended our south-facing kitchen to make a bigger room with space for a sofa etc and we spend most of our time there.

Our north-facing living room is gloomy but we embraced that, painted it dark and added lots of soft furnishings so it feels cosy and snug. You can add internal insulation to north facing walls if you have difficulty keeping the room warm.

Averythin, These are the plans of the house. The wall between kitchen and lounge was an outside wall so I would need an RSJ if I knocked the whole wall down. The rectangle opposite the worktops is an old Rayburn cooker/boiler so it makes sense to put a new cooker in that alcove space. I could also put a gas/log fire the other side of it in the lounge. I am thinking ahead. I might sell/have someone else living here in a few years so trying to cover all bases.

Open plan living is great if you have another room to escape to occasionally. A quiet space to read when people have the tv on in the main room, or to retreat to when teens have their friends round. Ideally you also need a separate utility room unless you want to iron and clean in your main room and try to watch tv while the washer and tumble drier are on.

I’d keep the separate living room and concentrate on making it cosy. Our living room’s a bit dark during the day in winter but lovely in the evening with the fire going. It’s nice to have a separate space from the kitchen to entertain guests too.