Downstairs layout

[Bumblebee1812]

Hi everyone,

We are in the process of buying a new house and we will need to do some remodelling. Keen to get some input for which option works best for a young family (currently myself, husband, baby boy - 7 months and dog although we hope to have a second child at some point).

Option 1

• Lounge - 6.6m by 3.8m
• Playroom - 5.55m by 3.1m
• Kitchen diner - 5.5m by 5.5m

Option 2

• Kitchen dining family that would be an L shape. The kitchen dining space would be 9.5m by 3.1, with the dining space being next to a sofa area that would be 3.6m by 3.8m
• Lounge 5.5m by 5.5m

Considerations

• Option 1 would have the typical island kitchen. We love the kitchen dining space design of this option, however it does not actually have space for a sofa / play space. We have a 7 month old baby and so we feel that although it would be a nice kitchen diner it may not be very practical and may not actually be used that much aside from meals and being good for dinner parties. A big thing for me is that I do not want to be stuck in the kitchen cooking whilst the rest of the family are in the lounge.
• Option 1 has a playroom that we can shut the door on
• Option 2 provides a family space where everyone can be and then a large family lounge for the evenings. I can imagine the lounge working really well when kids are a bit older.

My gut says option 2 despite the fact we lose in effect what could be a second lounge/den for teenagers when they our little one is older.

Thoughts? TIA

I’d go with Option 2 for a young family. It’ll be a good few years before your son and the future siblings actually want to be away from parents/it’ll be safe for them not to be supervised for a bit longer.

Thank you @JoJoSM2.

We have a larger kitchen/diner with space for a playpen for our 18-month-old and a smaller, cosy living room. The kitchen is sunny and we spend lots of time in there, the living room is cool all the time, with squishy sofas and a fluffy rug and I'm going to love being in there more in the autumn/winter! We've just had it finished.

If you are remodelling and can have anything you want (within reason), I would strongly recommend you consider a dedicated utility room.
We were dead against the idea originally. “A utility cupboard will be fine” I said. “A utility room is a waste of space” I said. It’s actually the most important room in the house. Kids and pets are dirty and their things are even dirtier. All those smells, unsightly things and tools/coats/shoes/hovers/mops/bits&bobs etc etc etc can live in their and levels the rest of your home tidy and clutter free.

Changing our minds to having a utility room is the best decision we ever made.

Thanks @katherineofgaunt

@wrighty57 this has been something we have been toing and froing on. The issue we have in this regard is that the garden is not huge and is on a slope and so the only real way to fit this in would be to take the current patio area out. I will speak to the builder about it a bit more. Thanks for your advice.

Option 2 all the way. A big family space is far far more valuable imo than a separate playroom. You need somewhere you can be doing the dinner while also keeping an eye on the little one and helping the big one with homework. We’re moving and planning on extending to pretty much exactly your option 2 - my mum has a similar set up at her house and it works sooooo well when we go and visit. Even down to little things like when half the family wants to watch the telly and half want to be quiet and calm and read a book - the 2 living spaces are so useful.
I also agree re the utility but only on the proviso that it can be directly accessed from outdoors - otherwise it’s a bit pointless having to traipse through the house to get to it. It sounds like it would be if it’d be on the patio though so I’d agree that it’s worth it, being able to shut the washing machine noise away and that sort of thing will improve your life more than you realise! You could always add a patio elsewhere in the garden.

Exciting stuff OP! Good luck with the build!

I'd go for option 1 personally. I loved having a separate playroom I could close the door on when dc were smaller.
I used to cook and leave dc in the lounge. But there was only a door from one to the other which had a stair gate on. If there had been a hallway meaning I couldn't see/hear them I might have thought differently!

@FourForYouGlenCoco thanks for this. It makes me feel more confident in this plan. Best of luck with your move too!

@theFormerPorpentinaScamander thanks for your input. If we went with this option the playroom would be quite far away from the kitchen unfortunately, but thanks so much for your input. It's good to see the pluses and minuses for both sides.