Where to start with a bungalow renovation

[IWBAGE]

Hello,

We are in the process of buying a bungalow. If it all goes to plan and the sale completes, we'd like to completely renovate the internal floor plan.

Problems:
• At the moment there's a dining room that is pretty much just a hallway to the conservatory, making both the living room and kitchen much smaller.
• The conservatory is quite small, and to be honest it needs to be replaced soon anyway. The kitchen, conservatory, and living room look out onto the garden, and it would be quite nice to make the most of the view.
• We have no use for a garage, really. We'd rather make it a big bedroom or bathroom. As there's only two of us, we only need 2 bedrooms (one for guests) and a study/office.

There's only electric to the house at the moment - but there is gas to the street we can connect to.

The wall that defines the hallway to the left of the dining room/kitchen is a stud wall, as is the one between the dining room and the kitchen.

Does anyone have any clever ideas on what we can do? We don't need more floorspace, but it would be nice to make the most of the existing space.

And also, where do we start to get quotes? Architects? I don't even know who to contact, as we've never done this kind of thing before!

I would personally keep the garage as even if you don't put a car in there, its great storage. Resale wise, you'd lose potential buyers like me who wouldn't consider a property without a garage. And with the rising popularity of electric cars, having the space to garage and charge the car might be desirable. However, if you're planning to stay for a long time, this may not be an issue for you.

You could always turn the garage into a study/tv room etc. Knock the wall down between the kitchen and dining room, also knock the conservatory down then extend back or install glass/folding doors all the way along to open it all out? But keep the lounge separate, I love open spaces but hate totally open plan living. All that is down to budget and STPP of course

Get pp and build a house on the plot?! Maximise your plot.

Agree about keeping a garage. They are sought after. Not least for keeping garden furniture over winter! Spacious living spaces are always better than corridor rooms linked together. I would ask an architect for a vision. Make sure you link the garden to the living areas of the house and make the most of its aspect on the plot.

You start by asking questions so you're doing the right thing :) Put a post on facebook when you're ready and ask for personal recommendations for builders. Ignore anyone promoting their own business, you want people recommending tradesmen that have done a good job for them. Architects tend to have a small group they recommend that they work with a lot, as will draughtsmen.

Print a few copies of the floorplan and just scribble on them; if you're handy with a tablet / pc then do it on there.

Connecting to gas is simple and for instant and easy starter for ten - remove the stud wall between kitchen/diner and put in some sliding doors. Something like a 3 panel to really open the room into the garden.

It would keep the garage, keep the bedrooms as is, using one for study, and you still have the cosy sitting room.

Keep some running notes too - any time you have a brain wave or a nice idea then jot it down and start to think about how to incorporate it to the design

How many separate “living” rooms do you need if there are only two of you?
I did renovate a bungalow and I made the sitting room, dining room and kitchen into one, but there is only one of me so I don’t ever need to get away from anyone (which may be an issue if you like to listen to/watch different things, or spread out with hobbies). So much depends on how you live, which you’ve not really given any information about.

I’m not a fan of conservatories and again it’s yet another duplicate sitting area spoiling the view of the garden (if there is one).

I would also keep the garage - extremely useful for storage. Do you not have anything that would need to be stored inside?

I had my own ideas and had the plans drawn up separately and then got a builder to oversee the project.