Garage conversion - kitchen or study

[Comefromaway]

We are about to convert the garage in a house we’ve just bought. Dh is an instrumental teacher & needs somewhere to teach from.

We almost nearly didn’t buy the house as the kitchen is small and badly laid out. Our idea was to partition the back of the garage to create a utility room then have the front part as a teaching studio. Ina couple of years time possibly extend the kitchen (but we’d possibly have to lose the conservatory to do that.

However it’s been suggested that we turn the garage into a kitchen/diner and the kitchen into the teaching studio. The dining room could then become somewhere we can have books/display units, maybe put the grand piano in there. We wouldn’t then lose the conservatory, pupils could enter from the side door without coming in the house but I’d lose the proposed utility.

Plan attached.

How about removing the wall between the kitchen and lounge, making a huge kitchen/lounge/diner and utilising the whole of the left hand wall, or have an island or whatever plus dining table and sofa and then having the dining room as a snug/library and the garage as a music room with perhaps a bit sectioned at the back for washing machine etc

Looking at the plan again, you wouldn’t be able to get into it

I wouldn't do that anyway as I don;t like open plan lounge/kitchen areas. I also couldn't remove the chimney breast and which is on the wall between the kitchen and the lounge. Thinking back to the survey I think that it;s supporting something.

If you are still thinking of doing the kitchen diner in the garage space, get in there with a tape measure and some painters tape and mark it out on the floor. I think the space feels big now but once you start marking it out you will see it isn't that big of a space. Don't forget to pay attention to worktop area to see where you can prep food and lay out plates to serve up food, plus where you will rest things taken out of the oven.

Also remember that if you put the dining part at the front you are in full view of whatever your house overlooks. We viewed a house once where the dining room was at the front and the table was next to the window. It felt odd to sit so close to the window overlooking the street. I couldn't imagine doing it first thing in a morning in my pyjamas!