Layout ideas

[HomelyK]

We are having blueprints drawn up for our single storey extension but struggling to see how to use the space best.

It will result in a l shaped space, utility and seperate small-medium room (9 by 15ft)

We have an 18 month old and plan to have at least one more child.

Options are:

1. Open space is kitchen/diner with sofa tv area and then the l shaped part less in sight would be play zone. Seperate room is adult snug room
2. Open space is kitchen diner living room with seperate room being playroom. The kitchen would be bigger this way and we could have a much bigger table but I guess how often do we need an 8 seater table?

The open plan area leads into garden. Basically we have a playroom now which is great but I hate spending all our time in there as its where the toys are but come evening I love being able to shut the door on all the crap. So not sure if open l shape would solve that as its still tucked away a littlr but open enough I can cook etc whilst child play... Or will I really miss the seperate playroom. When kids are much older e.g 10+ then I reckon the seperate room may be games room etc.

Thanks everyone!!

I would go for option 1 with such young kids. We have separate kitchen, living room and dining room, it's really annoying not being able to see the kids when I'm in the kitchen (which feels like 90% of the time!) and they are always shouting to me for something. A quick tidy up of the play area before they go to bed then spend your evening in the snug.
You can always swap it over when they're older and make the separate room a play room/game room/somewhere for them to sit with their friends.

Can you make a floor plan? I can't picture it!

Here is the layout. So the kitchen could be full kitchen with dining table under skylight and lounge area to side which would be smaller with lounge as playroom. Or as ive drawn smaller kitchen with table and chairs, lounge area under skylight and then playarea to side with lounge snug seperate. We do have a utility room which will house washer, dryer, another sink, extra freezer and about three cupboards :)

Sliding doors built within storage so you can cut the L shape area in half in the evening and shut away the toys but during the evening but can have them with you during the day. The front room is too out of sight for you to make tea, do the washing etc while knowing what they are up to so you will end up carrying toys through all the time.

Yes I agree the front room is too separate to be a playroom for baby and toddler age. Unless you open it up to the big room with double doors, but then that limits what you can do with the big room as there’s not much wall space left.

I think it needs to be play area in the big room for now.

Having said that your proposed layout with the dining table opposite the island, and then a sitting area under skylight, and then a play area, looks quite crowded to me and not enough kitchen.

If I were you I would have a full kitchen, dining table under the skylight and then a combined play/sitting area in the offset bit. You have the lounge as a grown up sitting area without toys, and as your kids get older you can gradually reduce the plastic/send it upstairs.

Minipie I agree with the kitchen looking squished. I guess my main concern is at present we rarely use the dining table and probably will even less so when we have an island. Would it work maybe having the dining table in the smaller l shaped part and having the larger area under the skylight as play/lounge area? Or would that be weird?

That would work nicely I think. Though does mean you’ll be looking at the toddler mess more.

Hope you are tidy, as everyone will walk past your kitchen to get to the garden. Shame the utility is far away from upstairs too. Lots more walking with washing.

☝🏼 Yeah miles of walking ,all the way downstairs 🙄

Huh? Walking past the kitchen to get to the garden is totally normal isn’t it? And so is a downstairs utility.

I know upstairs laundry rooms are favoured in some countries but they don’t work well for hanging washing outside or if you want to keep pet and garden stuff in your utility.

With small children definitely option 1.
Front room for grown ups in the evening, convenient for popping upstairs if children need attention.
I suspect you will use table more as children are old enough to climb on to a conventional dining chair but too small to be safe on a bar stool. Make seating at island as comfy as possible for adults rather than trying to make a separate sitting area
Big dining table under skylight. Playroom round corner with somewhere to sit.
Think about how to screen off the play room, even if it's just a pull across curtain or screen.

Then when children are older they can have the front room for games, noise and mess, then the playroom becomes an adult area.

Yes, we have used the dining table all the time since oldest DC was big enough to use a booster. For family meals but also for drawing/colouring, messy art, (get an oilcloth!!) homework, lego... It really is used a lot, I wouldn’t squeeze it into a corner if I were you.

Think I am going to pay more to move kitchen to back corner so its nice and bright and lead off utility. Have lounge play area in centre and the white is office space and dining table has more space this way and can be seen from living space when two kids doing different things?

Which bit is the utility? I can't really understand your Floorplan, sorry!

The utility room is labelled, in my new plan its next to kitchen so very left hand side?