Ideas on what to do with the space - Pic attached

[Notyetthere]

I am referring to the study space. I used to have a desk in this space and used it successfully when working from home. However, ever since we had DD, I have not been able to work from this space and currently have a small desk in the corner of the box room upstairs away from everyone. It became impossible to get any work done due to it being semi open plan and DD seemed to sense my presence.

We have our dining table in the conservatory. DD has a whole play area with toy storage at the end of the conservatory off the lounge so we are able to keep an eye on her while we are in the lounge.

So now we have the study as a redundant space that is not really serving a purpose. The only idea I have at the moment is knocking down the wall (load bearing) between kitchen and study and have a bigger kitchen and also have a downstairs toilet installed at the same time under the stairs as part of the current kitchen is under the stairs.

Any other ideas of how you would use that space?

I'd keep it and use it as a playroom. Im assuming your dd is young, but she won't always be and having a dedicated play room to hide toys, and to be a kids snug as she grown older will be invaluable

We have a study though ours is tucked more out of the way, my husband has it as his 'man cave'

swap the lounge and study area
She can be seen all the way through and you can sneak in the study area peacefully

Move the dining table into it, to be closer to the kitchen, and extend the play space in the conservatory. Also put a little play kitchen at the kitchen end of the study if she is still preschool age

Definitely move the kitchen into the study and keep some of the units in the original kitchen area. Big kitchens are great. Lots of little rooms not so great. Definitely make room for a cloakroom off the hall. Not in the kitchen.

The programme on bbc 2 tonight about using space in a house really was useful. Getting rid of unnecessary walls is vital and it lets in light. It makes the house feel spacious and you could easily zone part of the conservatory for a study. How big does it need to be? We just have a built in computer station and shelving - all behind closing doors. It’s neat, just uses one wall and opens up when we need it.

I do think your plan is a sound one though.

I like to be able to see into my garden from the kitchen so I would knock through from kitchen to study to make those two rooms one. I would then either extend the kitchen units into the space or have the end bit as a lounge area or move the dining table there.

Would cost a few thousand though, so depends on budget. Adding a down stairs toilet is nice if it's possible with the plumbing, but if it was my house I would prioritise the kitchen (but I know MN readers have strong views on this!)

I think having the option of a kitchen diner would be worth the investment in the long term, as the current layout wouldn't suit everyone having to carry meals through the house to get to dining table.

Oh yes more responses. I thought I opened a post and immediately killed it!

Thank you all for your responses. For office space, I definitely don't need much room. I just need a desk and space for my three screens but most importantly, I need to be locked away from the distractions of dd which is rather difficult in our slightly too open downstairs so it's the corner in the box room for now.

I like the idea of a kitchen extended into that space and I can see into the kitchen. The new kitchen if wall is removed would be 5m x 3m. I think that is a sizeable kitchen that I would love and actually enjoy putting thing away since I would have cupboards. I like cooking too.

The part of the conservatory immediately off the living room is the play area and I think it is sufficient for dd. But then her toys and teddy bears migrate to the other parts of the house.

If we do have a downstairs toilet installed then it will open out into the hallway. We would take some of space from the kitchen where the fridge is currently(under the stairs), move the kitchen/hall doorway a bit into the current kitchen to allow for the extra space in the hallway for toilet door. Stairs are currently halfway over hallway and the other half over the kitchen. We change that to have them fully over hallway.

Why does the phone make paragraphs disappear! Aaahhhh

Wishiwas19again it would definitely cost a bit so it might take us a few years before we can recover financially from all the gardening and landscaping we have just done.