Layout help!

[maisiedaisy64]

We are at our wits end trying to figure out the best layout for the living end of our house. We have been living here for three years, and the rooms don’t make the best use of the space that’s there.

We’re trying to fit a kitchen/living/dining area, a utility, an office and a walk in pantry into an area that’s 7.5m x 8.4m. If anyone has any input at all I would really appreciate it!!

We have builders lined up to start in 4 weeks, but we are struggling with the layout! We had an architect draw up some plans, but they were based on extending as well. Due to Covid we are no longer extending and need to make the best use of what we have. I’ve attached the current layout...we’re very much open to knocking walls/ adding patio doors/windows, but the front of the house (where I’ve written ‘nice views’) can’t be altered, and we can’t remove the very thick wall in its entirety for structural reasons but can knock a big chunk if necessary!

Does anyone have any advice for us?!

Do you have The Sims (the basic game is quite cheap), my kids as well as hubby and I played about with various ideas when we had our extension and a couple of walls knocked down/ moved

Could you have your dining area where your boot room is, with an arch way or double doors you can leave open or closed? It feels like you're sacrificing the actual living space for the office and boot room / utility. Also you can get tiny pantries that work well with floor to ceiling shelving so can fit a lot in.

I'd flip those plans over so the living space has two windows and better views. I'd also have a kitchen diner and the living room separate, but that's my personal choice. You could have doors and open the living room up to the kitchen diner when entertaining. Have a bigger kitchen which can include a pantry unit or just more units and one utility/boot room instead of two separate ones. How many people will use the office? If just one, I'd probably shave a metre off the length to give more space elsewhere.

I'm working on the assumption that the bit on the right side of the drawing is the extension that's no longer happening. Would your funds be able to stretch to an office cabin in the garden? The layout for the kitchen/dining/living area makes good sense. I'd leave it at that

Scrap that, have just reread op and seen this is your current layout. I'd make the living room stretch the entire right side of the drawing and have a dry kitchen with pantry where the utility room is currently and a wet kitchen with boot room where the current kitchen is. The current living and dining room can then be split into a snug and office space

Thank you all for your thoughts!

@NachoNachoMan I’ve been playing about with a free room planner app, but using the Sims sounds way more fun! Putting the dining room in the current boot room might work though it may not be wide enough. And you’re exactly right...we have this huge office that’s bigger than needed then just over the other side of the wall we’re caught for space!

@wowfudge yes, ideally I’d prefer a Separate living room to the kitchen diner. Two of us use the office, I work from home and DH is a farmer so lots of paperwork following him! The two utilities drive me cracked, the tumble drier is in one and the washing machine is in the other

@TeddyBeans yes also considering a something in the garden for the office (went down a rabbit hole looking at shepherds huts today, way out of our budget tho!!) sticking the office in the front isn’t something we’ve considered, definitely something to think about!

Thank you all for your suggestions!

My ex's family had a massive shed in their front garden right by the front boundary so nothing's impossible!

I think I would trade some of the office and utility for better sitting space - I think I'd do something like this, putting big patio doors of some kind in the wall above the dining table

@StatisticallyChallenged I think you may have cracked it! For some unknown reason we never thought of demolishing the existing pantry/utility!! Thank you so much!!!!!

Glad it helped! You've got a decent space I think so if you can free up some of the bottom half for dining it will give you a lot more space for sitting.

We're very close to moving to a big new build (after looking at lots of projects I decided I just didn't have the energy or time just now!), and I think the seating area would be pretty much the same size as the separate lounge in that. It's 18 ft x 12 ft roughly.