Home Extension Thread 2019

[4yearsnosleep]

Time to start another extension thread. 2019 for lots of newcomers and hopefully lots of finishers too!

We're Day 5 of builders on site and have a roof framed. V excited about the big velux

I'm so excited for you Worrisome!! I'm dreading the packing part actually! Think I'll end up chucking/donating most of my kitchen stuff as I've budgeted for all nice new!

Woohoo @WorrisomeHeart! You must be so excited!

I have started to attempt to be all organised and decant things to look nice for the new kitchen.

Spoke to both the architect and the builder so all is good again. Builder says he would always re-measure again anyway. I am going to have to try not to stress until the build actually starts as like others in the thread have said, the trades know how to handle it and what I might have lost sleep over is a tiny niggle.

But in saying that, why is it so hard to choose a kitchen design??? I feel like I've been thinking about cupboard placements for years and YEARS!! Urgh!! I want it to be future proof so a few years down the line OH doesn't kill me when I say "I wish I had more storage". Is it overkill to have a 1000cm tall corner cupboard and a tall 600 too? I have had a look at the walk in corner option but the one that the company stocks doesn't look as though it uses all the space well. More like a step in than a walk in. There really should be a thread just for kitchen design!

What's your current thinking Soaked for layout? I deffo don't think the 2 would be overkill! I'm planning loads!

I know that feeling! One thing we definitely have enough of now, is storage! We reused the old kitchen cupboards and drawers in the utility and have ended up with around 4 spare cupboards in the new kitchen 😆

The new American fridge/freezer is here and it's wonderful! Thank you for the recommendation 😊

Photo before packaging was removed!

@avocuddl - if you’re looking for new kitchen accessories, sign up for Pro Cook’s newsletter. I think their deals are good. I’ve bought roasting tins, knives etc from there for my new kitchen.

@soakedat3 I am ordering a corner larder cupboard with 3 x 60 tall units beside it. I’ve even planned what items will go on each shelf/drawer.

Hoppahouse - once again, I am with excitement at your kitchen pictures!

Wow Hoppa the ff is amazing!! I'm so getting that one too! I love it!

Thanks @MyNameIsJane ! I will take a look!

That FF is basically the Thread FF now 😂. I can’t wait to get mine, it looks great!!

Re kitchen design - I have been planning ours since Feb using the DIY planner 😂. We will have 1 x tall double pantry unit and then a tall double oven unit but everything else will be pan drawer style or wall cupboards because of an annoying beam in the way. I have also planned out what is going on each shelf and I keep dreaming of how nice it will be to use when using our crappy current kitchen.

So further update on the start date, the architect has said he needs longer than the new date to do plans so back to the original start of mid June. My worry now is losing the builder but hopefully he’ll be ok to hang on still!!

Ooh question on kitchens actually - our current plan is to have be sink against the wall with a normal sized wall cabinet above. Do you reckon I will get annoyed with the head height issues? I keep seeing it down with shorter wall units and longer ones and just can’t decide.

🤞🏽 builder holds on worrisome! I'm sure they will because you've come this far!

I'm not sure about the cupboard above the sink. I've just had a look on Pinterest and it seems to work better if the cupboard is not full size like you say and there's a gap for a shelf or something just above. I think that would be nice and you could have some plants or something.

This is our kitchen plan. Anything anyone would do different?

I was wondering if I actually needed all the wall units and maybe replaced the ones by the cooker with open shelves or something?

I've got FF envy. Not started looking yet but bar is high now

Planning the kitchen was quite stressful, but after all the worrying, I love what we've got. We have our sink by the wall and wall cabinets above it - they're quite high though, in line with the tall unit and oven housing unit, but no chance of hitting head on it. I'll take a photo later.

So, floor guy says he'll redo all the floor edges and sealant. The area that isn't flat needed thinking about... I've attached a photo - the green line shows where the old floor is and this part slopes down a bit. I have suggested levelling the floor so the kitchen is completely level, but slopes down, out of the kitchen to the hall at the blue line - so there's no big step. What do you all think? Am I right to ask for the green area to be levelled up?

And what a great idea to plan out your cupboards and have an accessories budget - I failed in that department! 😆

I have suggested levelling the floor so the kitchen is completely level, but slopes down, out of the kitchen to the hall at the blue line - so there's no big step. What do you all think? Am I right to ask for the green area to be levelled up?

I think if people can walk across the green area from bottom left of your photo to top right, you have to have that area level from a safety point of view,
Having a "ramp" down the blue area might be better than having a step down out of the room

Thank you! I hadn’t thought of that! I’ll post my house floorplan in a bit and welcome everybody’s suggestions! :)

Thank you so much! I hadn’t thought of that option and it makes so much sense! :)

Do go with the smaller units!! I lived in a rented place with full units above the sink and it was so annoying - I’m only 5’6!!

Hi, this is my house floorplan (in red is an approximate location for a single detached garage). The house is semi-detached and to the right of the floorplan (ie to the left of the house) the side return width is about 1.8m.
There is a high fence there and not much light.

I would like to add on the groundfloor, a proper kitchen with dining space to seat 6 (but no breakfast bar area) and space for a couple of sofas, with access to the garden (west-facing with lovely sunsets), plus one utility room, and one downstairs cloakroom (or maybe have just one bigger room where these two are combined? Which is your favourite?)

How big should the kitchen-diner plus family space be so that it’s not massive compared to the rest of the house (it’s a modest semi of 80sq m!).
I’m inclined to keep garden access to the side.

• In an ideal world if I could I would extend the small box bedroom on the 1st floor. What is more cost effective? Extend also on the 1st floor or go into the loft? We only have one child, and not planning on more, but I work from home 1 day a week and I would like the option to have a double room as an office-cum-guest room.

We live in the SE of England where everything seems to be more expensive for a number of reasons.
Can you help me brainstorm on the design? So many questions!

Re design: architect or builder design service or any other options?

Thank youuu!!!!!

I agree with Wheredoes, a ramp probably better than a step. It doesn't look so bad in the pic but I guess it's impossible to tell in a photo. How much is the slope?

@Laurie82 Are you the Director & Co-Founder with a very similar name!??!

@HoppaHouse, I would get them to level the floor. From your previous posts I think it would annoy you if you didn't ask them to. It would niggle at me.

I've not set design at the moment but I know I'm not having wall units along the cooker side. Pan drawers and shelves, which apparently really confuse kitchen people as they seem to want to know what I'll put on it. New Dad Builder just keeps saying I'm going to put a cactus on it LOL! On the other side I'm having an L shape with a peninsula breakfast bar. The sink on the peninsular. Currently debating about a level bbar or a raised one. Hmmm. The storage on that side is (currently!) a 600 tall unit, a 1000 tall corner with Le Mans pull outs, a 500 drawer pack, a 950 L corner base with snazzy double doors for access and 2 wall units.

I am not convinced I will have enough storage but I don't want to fill the wall on the cooker side with wall cabinets. The stupid thing is I know it's not a small kitchen. I am just a hoarder!!

As an aside, from previous experience of putting in a new kitchen, check the depths of the cupboards you are planning to use for your dinner plates. In our previous kitchen we didn't and they didn't fit!! Our new all units are 330 deep but I think the standard is 300. For some reason plates are bigger than they used to be!

@Avocuddl, have you thought about putting your sink at the end of the island where there are 3 dots (?) in the photo? That way you could have a kind of semi-circle for seating.

@WorrisomeHeart, you can use a top box for above the sink. I think a normal one would bet in the way.

@MyNameIsJane, I wish I could have 3 60 tall units! That would be soo good! Just like in the mags. Are they pull outs?

2 will be housing ovens and they will have drawers at the base of them. I have 2x 60 full height units which I am reusing in the utility room from the old kitchen. I absolutely adore them, they store so much. They have drawers in the base and 2 wire baskets at the top. The manifolds for the underfloor heating were going to be placed at the back of them and I was heartbroken to lose the full facilities of the cupboards but now they have changed their minds and made a cupboard under the stairs to store it. So, yay!