Anyone have any suggestions for my ground floor layout?

[Sweetmelody72]

Have lots of time on my hands to play about with plans before we finalise for submission to planning.

The walls with diagonal shading are new walls. We are putting a 10.5’ square double storey extension at the front of the house to give us a fourth bedroom. However, this gives extra hallway space which we are struggling to make useful. The downstairs loo is existing but would be happy to relocate. Wondering if we are better off moving the stairs too since it’s in the middle of the house and ceiling height is higher than average. Architect has put a small cloaks cupboard in the new space but we would love to have a bigger boot room with a side entrance if possible (especially since the utility room is in the centre of the house).

Latest version of the plan attached

Very grateful to anyone who thinks that might be able to help! Thanks in advance

Not sure about moving the stairs but I'd definitely switch your utility into the space marked as a study, so it's next to the kitchen and not in the middle of the house as a walk-through room.

Moving stairs and toilets can be expensive and difficult so avoid if possible.
I'd also suggest moving the utility room so that it's part of the kitchen area of the house.

I would definitely switch the study and utility rooms.

Thanks all for the replies so far. Forgot to mention We’ve already moved the door to the music room from the utility to the edge of the kitchen. The utility room does not have windows which is why we put it in that space rather than the study. Not ideal, but preferable to a study with no windows. This room will actually serve as a playroom for my 5 year old and become a study when she is older.

We considered swapping the music room (part of the existing garage) and the utility room, but it will have a drum kit and although soundproofed, there will be some vibration and we don’t want to have it under our bedroom.

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Is there a reason you have a kitchen/diner then a separate kitchen?

* Is there a reason you have a kitchen/diner then a separate kitchen?*

I wondered this too.

I can’t quite get my head around it - what’s labelled as ‘garage’ looks tiny, is that still an actual garage you can fit a car in?

What’s the difference between ‘Kitchen/Dining’ and ‘Kitchen’ - what are you actually going to have in each/use each as?

Do you have a plan of what it currently looks like?

I’d definitely have the en-suite off the largest bedroom.

Can you add dimensions to the plan?

Apologies for the confusion! Architect been a bit lazy and not relabelled all the new rooms. Existing kitchen will be a family/TV room. Study will be a playroom. Existing garage will be split into two - rear will be soundproofed for drumming practise, front will be storage. Have done a kitchen plan that enables a door from the kitchen diner to the music room so second door in utility can be removed.

I’m struggling with the fact that the extension gives us a lot of extra space in the hall but not sure what it can be used for

I’ve attached the existing layout in my last post. Thanks for replies so far

There is so much wasted space in the proposed ground floor it makes me cry! This is because you have so many little rooms with a lot lost to circulation space I.e. corridors and space needed to get through a room to get to another room.

Try the footprint of the ground floor and redraw the walls and see what you come up with. A blank slate as it were. Don't think about feasibility or cost until you've drawn at least 3 different ideas!

Lol hope you’re requesting the architect to relabel the plans correctly!

I don't like the door the main bathroom opening on to the very top of the stairs. Unsafe .I would swap ensuite and bathroom over and access bathroom from corridor level with the closet

Utility room position is fine if you access it directly from kitchen (put a door on north wall)instead of hall.
That also helps reduce problem of 3 doors all opening onto small area at bottom of the stairs.

I would have the kitchen/diner opened up with the family room bit. Offers more versatility long run and you have the front reception room to act as a closed off room.

One small change I would make is to move the door to the room labelled "kitchen" otherwise you lose all the green space to corridor.

One thing to consider is the placement of doors along the length of the walls.
Your architect just seems to have randomly plonked them anyhow. And hasn't given much thought to hinge side.
A door centrally placed is great to make a statement but it can be wasteful of space.
A door into a kitchen or utility should only be central if you want an entrance but who wants that in a utility? Either have it right in the the corner, or far enough away so that you can have a run of units behind it.
The most space efficient way to place a door is in the corner, opening back against the adjoining wall. Top right bedroom does the opposite , you open the door and just see a blank wall.

Can anyone tell that I'm obsessed with doors?
One of the simplest way to improve space and flow is to reverse the hinge side of a door

Utility where study is of the kitchen. Far more sense, not in the centre of the house and not as far to run pipe work.

Study goes where the music room is on the plan. It then has a window and if needs I would think about moving the wall between where the old utility room was to give a little more space. Size wise it might be ok as is.

Then music room is where the utility was. No windows so can be soundproofed properly.

A door into a kitchen or utility should only be central if you want an entrance

Not necessarily. Sometimes having it in the middle allows units on both sides and having it to one side wastes space. It all depends on the room.

Door placement is important though - George Clarke often makes a small change to the location of a door and changes the room entirely.

Could you move the main entrance to the side and create a bootroom like this...? (Not necessarily this size!)

I agree re opening the 'kitchen' up with the 'kitchen/dining' - make that space a real family area. I understand your reasons for putting the utility next to the music room but just think about whether you plan to sell as most would look for the utility off the kitchen. Also I know you didn't ask for advice about upstairs but I'm not sure you require 2 ensuite bedrooms at the expense of the main bathroom. Again I feel like for resale most would expect 1 ensuite and spacious family bathroom.

Thanks to everyone for the very helpful suggestions

The kitchen-diner is 6m square. We did consider opening up the family room to this space but we had a kitchen-dining-living space in our last house and I said never again - I couldnt keep on top of all the clutter. I like the idea of a large kitchen diner and a separate snug/family room for congregating and TV.

The idea was to have double or sliding doors centrally positioned in the wall of the family room so we could have that open plan feeling if we wanted it, but Soupdragon's suggesting of moving the door to give us an extra, usable wall and to avoid the corridor effect is brilliant. Cant decide which would benefit us more.

Door placement comments are spot on. I did consider this when I decided to move the door to the music room to the kitchen. With a run of units along the left hand side wall, the door fits neatly alongside. I need to prompt the architect to reconsider those on the first floor. Switching the ensuite and the main bathroom (which is in its original position) is an option to address the levels issue, but I think where it currently is means it serves the two front bedrooms well since neither has an ensuite?

Neither the music room nor the utility in their current positions have windows. We may be able to put a rooflight in the music room if we can find a soundproofed one. So it is only possible to interchange the music room and the utility, but not the study as we want a window in there. The utility is still close to the kitchen, albeit there isnt direct access. Alternatively, it would be possible to put the door to the utility in the back wall of the kitchen. It would just about work with the layout of the units I had in mind, but it would mean a lot of doors in that wall. Not sure if that will be an issue or not? Im not too concerned about the utility being in the centre of the house and windowless. If I can get a decent bootroom, it's even less of an issue!

@SoupDragon moving the entrance to the side of the house and putting the boot room at the front is the kind of thinking I was after. That layout has a really great flow.... but Im just not keen on a side entrance! Any other options for that hallway??

This is sooo hard!