Ideas for house layout.

[aiskabash]

Hello wise Mumsnetters!

We are looking at this house to purchase and would welcome ideas for a better layout. A large extension could also be an option.

Ideally for the downstairs, a kitchen/diner, utility and an office. Upstairs, the bathroom is small but we could lose the bath for a large shower. Bedrooms aren’t massive so thinking about a large master bedroom above the garages.

Many, many thanks. All ideas greatly appreciated.

Will you use both garages? Because if not, I'd turn the closer one into the utility room and "muddy entrance". Turn the current study into the downstairs bathroom, make the hall shorter to make the kitchen bigger, merging it with some of the current utility. Furthest back right part of the house to be a study, off the kitchen. Bring the stairs forward (you'd have to enter the living room differently) and put a second right turn in them so they arrive at a different point ok the landing upstairs. Make most of the current front right bedroom into a second upstairs bathroom and put a replacement bedroom over the garages.

Kitchen looks small, Knock down the wall between the kitchen and utility and make the kitchen bigger. I’d knock the wall down between the two garages and make one big garage, and create a new room for the utility within the garage space. The shower downstairs is odd and located in an odd area, considering you have to walk to the front of the house in a towel to use the stairs to get to your room to get ready etc.

Thank you for your suggestions. I think we would try to keep one garage. Decisions to made if a rear extension would provide a better layout.

Do you want more rooms or bigger rooms (or both?!). How much space is there in the garden ie can you use the garages and put one elsewhere? Which side has nicer views?

Converting one of the garages would be massively cheaper than a rear extension. Garage conversions are not expensive (compared to extensions)

@GU24Mum

Do you want more rooms or bigger rooms (or both?!). How much space is there in the garden ie can you use the garages and put one elsewhere? Which side has nicer views?

Hi GU24Mum,

I think it is a bit both! The kitchen will still feel too narrow even with the wall knocked through to the utility. The rear of the house has the far reaching views with a good sized garden.

Perhaps I have answered my question about the extension!

Extensions to gain larger kitchens become an exponentially higher cost project!
Spend some time with pencil and paper making different versions of what you might want; scribble the suggestions from here plus do your own. Infilling that bit to the right of the utility gives the option of a kitchen area almost 10m x 3 so google galley kitchens and see if you like the layouts. Its actually pretty wide for a galley kitchen but same principle.
Also define a list of what you want and what you need from the works and make sure the design ticks them off.

For my family, I'd do a simple but decent rear extension and have a bigger kitchen plus dining area on the back left side. The left hand garage would be for storage and tools (might add a temporary wall half way to split it) and the right hand garage my OH would commander for motorbike shite.

If funds allowed, you could extend over the garage and bed 3 would lose a bit if space to give access but become a lovely study with a table under the window with garden views.

@Loofah01

Extensions to gain larger kitchens become an exponentially higher cost project! Spend some time with pencil and paper making different versions of what you might want; scribble the suggestions from here plus do your own. Infilling that bit to the right of the utility gives the option of a kitchen area almost 10m x 3 so google galley kitchens and see if you like the layouts. Its actually pretty wide for a galley kitchen but same principle. Also define a list of what you want and what you need from the works and make sure the design ticks them off.

Thanks Loofah01. I think I would not be so keen on a galley kitchen. Silly I know but would like to have a more open plan wider kitchen.

I think I should capitalise on the views and go for a large extension across the rear of the house.

@motherofawhirlwind

For my family, I'd do a simple but decent rear extension and have a bigger kitchen plus dining area on the back left side. The left hand garage would be for storage and tools (might add a temporary wall half way to split it) and the right hand garage my OH would commander for motorbike shite.

If funds allowed, you could extend over the garage and bed 3 would lose a bit if space to give access but become a lovely study with a table under the window with garden views.

Thanks motherofawhirlwind.

I think my husband would like storage for his (nonexistent) bike as well! Another house in the neighbourhood has extended over the garages so will look at their plans online.

My DSis has a new build which is similar but your kitchen is her dining room (it’s a nice room to see as you in the front door).

Then your utility is her kitchen and the back part of your garage is her utility.

Maybe her rooms are larger, they are all nice square rooms.

Just be aware that kitchen extensions are expensive. Circa £2500 per square m

Looks like bedroom 1 needs a door?

I would do kitchen and utility become the kitchen and maybe extend our backwards as well for a bigger kitchen. Garage attached to house to become utility/mud room. Upstairs - bedroom 2 become lovely big landing and maybe book nook, leading to big bedroom over both garages.

Its a large footprint, I would look to rearrange rather than extend.
Make the current living room a kitchen/family room, have the current kitchen as a TV room/snug?
COnvert one of the garages too?
Look up iarchitect, she could help with this.

Could you do it without extending but a fair bit of knocking round inside - with the caveat that I don't know where your internal structural walls are!

So - knock through kitchen, utility room, shower room and back bit of garage (in line with current shower room).
Bolt a new cloakroom (prob not shower as well) closer to the hall to the front;
Lose the study and have two door - one into utility room which itself has a door into the kitchen;
Second door is into study at the front of the existing garage.

.... and what I'd meant to add is that way you get a squarer kitchen with lots of light over the garden.

It's 50/50 as to whether your garage plans would work. Not all garages are built with sufficient foundations to support a 2nd storey. You need to get an expert to check before you go any further with the idea.

I'd partition off the living room and then knock between that and the kitchen. You could have an L shaped kitchen depending how big the living room is.

An identical house on the close did a very stylish architect designed large single storey extension and recently sold for 175k more so I think that might be the road to go down. A lot of scope especially with the large garden.

Another house on the close knocked down their old garages and replaced with new ones with a dormer above for a bedroom and en-suite. Their downstairs is still very similar. Not so keen on their downstairs.

I will have a look at iarchitect. All the bedrooms have doors. 😁. One bedroom has the airing cupboard with the boiler so I think lots of work to be done!

The area is expensive and people stay for a lifetime so most homes haven’t been touched for a long time.

I would simply knock through the wall between kitchen and living room to give yourself the kitchen diner then build a wall cutting living room shorter.

Keep the utility separate. good to have the washing machine and dirty stuff out of the kitchen.