Changing location of kitchen

[grannycake]

We're future proofing our small kitchen and I'm trying to accommodate the possibility in the future of a bedroom downstairs.

At the moment we have a very large living room across the front of the house and a smaller kitchen at the back with a side return (at present filled in with a leaky conservatory). There is also a small utility off the kitchen with a toilet.

I'm thinking of moving the kitchen into the living room and converting the present kitchen into a snug (which could then become a bedroom if necessary in the future - a shower could be added into the utility room). We would remove the conservatory and landscape the space outside.

What would be the downside - plumbing is relatively easy as pipes could run down side return to existing waste

Future proofing our small cottage not kitchen - doh

Where will your living room be then? What size is it? Why do you want to have a bedroom downstairs in future? Sorry, just struggling to understand why you wouldn't just extend the kitchen into the side return.

We were going to extend into the side return but we then wouldn't have the option of a bedroom downstairs. Our living room is very big - the kitchen would be on one side and there would still be a living area on the other side (it was original two rooms and a hallway but this was altered before we moved in,

We want to have a downstairs bedroom option as we have been caring for my MIL and without the ability for her to do this she would have needed to go into residential care a lot earlier than she did. We are not planning to use it as a bedroom but as a snug for TV watching in the evenings. The living room /kitchen would be similar to an open plan space with a row of units and an island

Are you future proofing for your own personal needs ? If so do as you like.

If you are future proofing to sell on the maximise sale price - then research your local market (downsizers? families? young professionals) and work out what they want.

For our own needs and to save my children going through what my DH and I have gone through with his Mum. I think the older you get the more resistant to change you become. I am in my 60's and will be retiring in a couple of years but things can change so rapidly when you age so I would like to be as prepared as we can.

We have already had a number of large jobs done - new boiler, new roof, rewire, etc and the kitchen is the last job on the list - I just thought that this plan would give us options in the future - we have a very small very steep staircase so wouldn't be able to fit a stair lift and if we had a shower downstairs then we would remain more independent

I don’t think it will be that easy or cheap to move / install all the plumbing and drainage and specialist electrics needed for a kitchen to the other-side of the house - quite disruptive as well. But if it works for you go for it.

Couldn't you extend into the side return and then convert the big living room into a separate smaller living room and bedroom if and when necessary, which would be fairly easy to change back to a single room. Personally, I think a big kitchen/diner plus snug will be worth less than having a decent kitchen /diner AND a decent size living room. You'd actually be adding floor space that way.

"Really* We could do that and it was our original plan but the front door opens directly into that room so it could be difficult privacy wise but it is doable. Thanks for everyones thoughts - I'm torn.

I don't really need a bigger kitchen although I would like one. It is definitely tired and needs new units and I would also like a built in oven that doesn't require me to bend (again more future proofing).
I am a keen cook but there are only 2 of us and my DH doesn't cook so it's usually just me in there so the current space is OK

Moving is out as the location is perfect both now and in the future and my DH will only look at period properties so we would end up doing all the improvements we've made to this house all over again

Would it be possible to change your staircase so it would be more suitable for a stair lift? Might mean moving it's location, but I think that would be a cheaper option. Other than that, I think your plan sounds okay. The only thing I would say is that I have known a couple of people who ended up only using the downstairs of their house, and were incapable of getting up the stairs ever again because they were in wheelchairs. They used to worry about what was going on up there, so had to get people to check very regularly in case their was a leak going unnoticed or similar.