Period house - sacrifice 2nd reception room to create kitchen/diner and separate utility/W.C.?

[Cottipus]

We live in a detached Victorian house- double fronted, has a central hallway/stairs. There are two large reception rooms (approx 16ft x 14ft) either side of the stairs. The kitchen is in a smallish extension accessed at the back of one of the reception rooms- perhaps 9 1/2 ft square?

Our main issues are lack of a downstairs W.C.- we have a cellar so there is no under stairs space. No sensible other place to put a W.C. either. The washer/dryer are in the cellar (no space in kitchen) and it’s a pain trying to get laundry done with a young dc. Kitchen space is limited as there are loads of windows in the kitchen so very limited space for wall units. So no space for keeping mops/brushes/vacuums etc. The back garden is small so extending further into the back isn’t a possibility.

We’ve had the idea to convert the reception room next to the existing kitchen into a kitchen diner and convert the existing kitchen into a W.C./utility space. This would suit our needs but obviously then we would lose a reception room, and putting in a new kitchen/services isn’t cheap. We don’t plan to move at the moment, but if in future we did would having just the one reception room plus kitchen diner put buyers off? It’s not really big enough to be a “living kitchen” with islands and sofas etc.

Welcome your thoughts!

Personally I would go for one reception room and a dining kitchen, with the current kitchen turned into a utility room and wc.

When I was house hunting, one of my non-negotiable criteria was a big kitchen that I could fit a huge dining table in!

I agree. If I were buying I’d def prefer a downstairs toilet and utility to two reception rooms, if the kitchen was a kitchen diner.

Definitely change it to that larger kitchen and a downstairs WC

Your plans are exactly what I would be looking for.

Thanks all, that echoes what I thought. I had mixed opinions from estate agents, one saying def put in a W.C./utility room, the other saying that buyers of period houses wouldn’t expect those features!

We have a double kitchen and downstairs loo/utility.

Suits us just fine. I pee a hundred times daily (thanks soda stream) and it really doesn’t bother me.

I'd do it too. How much use this the second reception ever going to see, realistically, as a separate space? The one thing that really irks me about our lovely house is there only being one toilet so I'll be looking for that if/when we move no matter what age the house is.

Does this mean the kitchen diner wouldn’t have access to the garden? If so that would put me off, sorry. But I may be imagining your layout wrongly.

any chance you can post a floorplan?

I think kitchen/diners can work well. I would go for something sympathetic to your period property.

Would it be possible to add a small extension to the side of the kitchen, just to have a downstairs loo, and then put laundry machines upstairs somewhere?

@heyha we barely use the other reception room at present as it’s dark and not really family friendly at present- so we’re planning to renovate/knock a window or french doors into here so it will get more use. That will become the main lounge.

@minipie no, there isn’t access to the garden from the proposed kitchen/diner- though the current kitchen has no access either. The house is raised about 2/3 feet off ground level so it’s not necessarily a straightforward thing to do- although that is a valid point and something to consider- we have two windows, perhaps one could become french doors? There is potentially space at the side of the existing kitchen but it would involve a lot of cost/building work for a toilet. And we still have the issue re no storage in the kitchen.

On holiday at the mo but I will upload a floor plan when we get back. Thank you for all your thoughts!

So how do you access the garden? You don’t have to go out via a kitchen. Plenty of people don’t. Is there a back door at the end of the hall? This would be fine and in keeping with the age of the property. I assume the reception room you wish to convert would have access to the hall and the back door?

That sounds perfect to me OP!

@bubblesbuddy yes, there is a back door in the back porch which leads to steps down into the garden. The back porch leads to the proposed new kitchen. Current kitchen is off proposed new kitchen, so actually closer to outside access.

There are quite a few double fronted Victorian properties round here and this layout seems pretty typical.

Sorry for delay in uploading floorplan- thought I had one but that wasn't the case so knocked this up on Excel- not perfectly to scale but enough to give a rough idea. Windows are dotted lines. Greyed out areas are chimney breasts.

So the kitchen would move into reception 2 and existing kitchen would become wc/utility. Reception 1 becomes lounge.

I think what you propose is the best solution. It will make a great kitchen and you have an easy access to the back garden too.

Moving the kitchen into the reception room, and adding the loo, sounds like great ideas. Moving the laundry upstairs towards your living space is not such a shoo-in to me as a buyer. You're essentially contracting your living space. I think I'd rather have a little study space or something, with loo at the end, in the current kitchen, and leave the laundry where it is. Alternatively if moving the laundry up, can you do something at the same time to turn the cellar into extra living space?

I agree with Serendipity, I would leave the laundry in the cellar, it won’t be a problem for it to be downstairs in a year or two when DC are older. In fact I know quite a few people who’ve just moved their laundry machines down to the cellar!

Carve a loo off the current kitchen and use the rest of current kitchen as a playroom opening onto the garden - much better use for that room than a utility, since you already have a separate place for laundry. Can become a study/homework/hobby space in due course. This means your lovely new kitchen/diner can remain (relatively) free of toys...

Some really good ideas here- thanks everyone!