Can you show me a room 6ft/1.8m wide? Advice, please!

[Africa2go]

Thinking of an extension down the side of the house (1930s semi) which would give us an internal width of 1.8m/6ft. Plan is for study, enlarged downstairs loo (currently under the stairs) and storage (no garage at the mo).

Have already extended to rear (double storey) so have large open plan kitchen diner lounge, small separate utility, separate lounge and 4 bedrooms - but have 3 children so no spare room. Should have gone out to the side at the same time but couldn't afford it. The side extension would simply be added on, we wouldn't want to "un-do" any of the work we've already done to re-arrange the layout of the existing house. But desperate for a study (even with easing of lockdown, one or both of us will be WFH for a while - H currently in front lounge (needs to be on the phone about 4hrs a day), I'm in our bedroom. Its all getting a bit much.

So, we'd only get 1.8m (by about 12m long). Does it really add anything? Is the faff having lived through one extension already and expense worth it for a really narrow study etc? H says WFH will be the norm soon so if we need to sell (although no plans for several years) it'll make the house more saleable albeit not necessarily worth more.

1.8m wide is not much more than a corridor. even our tiny box-room study is 2.2m wide (by only 3.1m long) and that feels pretty cramped. the length will make it better, but you will have to place any desk at the furthest end from the door and only have one desk in there as you won't be able to easily walk beyond a desk with chair. with book cases along one wall and art along the opposite wall it could feel like a good work space as the length of the walkway would feel like a psychological break from being at "home" to being at "work"

My utility is 1.8 - so two washing machines and a kitchen cupboard wide.

That really is quite narrow. It would be a nice amount of extra space if you were knocking through and making things open plan for example, but I think you'll have to be very clever with the design to make it appealing and workable. Theres lots of brilliant small space inspiration on pinterest.

We had a long but narrow sunroom that was 2.36m wide in our old house and that felt very small. As above, about corridor width.

@YinuCeatleAyru we could plan the layout as we wanted it, so for the office, we could have a room maybe 4m (or even more long), with the door in the middle of a long wall, and desks along each of the short walls if you see what I mean. We could avoid the corridor effect I think if we were careful with layout.

I think it’s fine. In new builds the study will be smaller than that!
We have a conservatory that’s 2m by 6m and it gives us a good amount of usable space

It doesn't sound cost-effective. Have you got space in the garden for a home office?

Oh divided opinion! Just to be clear, we could access each room from the existing house (by making windows into doors etc) so we wouldn't need to form a corridor out of the 1.8m, that would just be the rooms themselves. We do have room in the garden for a garden office, so that's something to consider too.

My spare bedroom is 1.5m wide and 2.5m long. Can get a desk and chair and a wardrobe in there

Thank you everyone, food for thought.

I think it would make a reasonable study. Only the most massive of desks and chairs would create a problem I think. Or a possible spare room, though you'd only reasonably fit a single bed in. I rented a room last year that was about 2 metres/6 feet wide and I'd guess 4 metres long. Accommodated a single bed, desk, chair, wardrobe, and some more storage. Alternatively it's a good size for a utility room, and the existing utility would be freed up if larger.

I think people saying its "corridor width" must be used to bloody massive houses! I'm shorter than 6 foot and I can't think of any house I've visited where I could lie cross-wise in the hallway!

(I also PMed you a photo of our current kitchen which is about that width).

My third bedroom is about 1.8 wide and we have turned it into an office. You may struggle to get in full sized office equipment though - we can’t really do any ergonomic chairs / standing desks which is one of the many reasons we are moving.

Will it block the side access? There was a thread recently about whether to extend to the side and block the side access and the consensus was not to do it. Personally, I would never consider a home without an external route to the back garden

@safariboot Thank you for photo, i replied, really useful.

No, it wouldn't block access to the back garden. If we go ahead, there would still be 75-100cm to the boundary.

Have a look on Instagram at 'JustALittleBuild'. She has a ground floor room in her house which she states is approx 2m wide (can't remember how long it is). I appreciate the criteria is not exactly the same as yours; however, She has three children and the room is used as a playroom and seems to provide ample toy storage and also includes a desk area . It's very well thought out.