Changing the layout of a newish build.

[EchoLimaYankee]

DH and I live with our children who are 4 and 2 in a modern newish build 3 bed. Our space upstairs is fine for now, it’s downstairs that driving me mad.

I have a decent size living room/dining room space that leads outside and a square kitchen that fits a small table and two chairs. It’s a classic new build set up for this size house. The layout isn’t working. I spend so much time away from the kids in the kitchen and the living room has all the kids toys in it.

Part of me wants to just move but I can’t afford the jump in this area. DS has just started school. So I’m thinking to rejig without extending (small garden). I could either swap the two rooms and create a small kitchen/diner with play space. Or I could turn the kitchen into a long kitchen diner with small space for kids stuff which ends in the french doors and have a small thin living space/snug. I’m stuck!!

We have a similar (larger) version of your layout. We are planning to knock down the wall between dining room and kitchen, so we will have one large L shaped space. We are hoping to fit pocket doors between lounge and dining space so it can be closed off or open depending on how we want to use it.

Here is the floor plan. Pinched off of right move!

Make it open plan and you won't be shoved away while cooking

We used to live in a house like that, when I used to fantasise about changing it I thought about knocking the wall down between the kitchen and living room and extending that room up until the end of the stairs, and extending the living room into the garden a bit, to create a kitchen diner but still a separate living room. I don't like complete open plan.

A friend knocked down the wall between the kitchen and hallway so basically get rid of the hallway so there was room for a proper table. I personally like a hallway though.

I would keep the hall but make kitchen open to living room.
Stops noise travelling upstairs to disturb children
Peninsula where existing wall is. If you make it deep you can have storage on living side of peninsula

Can't tell from the image but is your garden 66 feet?

I think Sarah Beeney tackled something like that and swapped the two rooms, so grown up snug at front and kitchen diner at back

I don't think I'd knock down the wall completely but I would make a large window opening between the lounge and the kitchen so I could see through. Could even incorporate a table or breakfast bar across it to fit in a dining space

@loveisagirlnameddaisy I wish it was! I pinched it off a recently sold house on our development. I could add 2 meters on the back at most. The garden is quite small.

I can’t handle fully open plan. I want a space that can be child clutter free!

@user85963842 I like a hall too.

Neither room is fit for purpose, well the purpose I want it to fulfill.

If you did this would the two rooms be too small?
Remove the current hallway door.
The problem with removing walls is you can end up losing space to put furniture.

Sliding pocket door on the wall between kitchen and living room. Open when kids are up, closed at night?

If it's a pocket door, then you lose a tiny piece of footprint in the room rather than an swinging door.

I would create a large hatch type opening from the kitchen to the lounge/diner, with shutters.

7to25 is right, Sarah Beeny tackled this exact problem in an episode of Renovate Don't Relocate. I think it is Season 2 Episode 18, but I'm not totally sure of that. Sarah recommended creating a large kitchen diner at the back of the house, then a small TV snug at the front. The plans looked awesome, so if you can track down the episode you might get some inspiration - but the family didn't go ahead with the changes as recommended.

Personally, I'd either go totally open plan (with strategic features to screen/zone the space - George Clarke's Ugly House to Lovely House often features this sort of idea), or go for the smaller TV snug.

I'm thinking exactly the same as blast. Double Sliding doors between kitchen And living room so you can close off if you don't want to see washing up/cooking smells.

@muddledmidget

I don't think I'd knock down the wall completely but I would make a large window opening between the lounge and the kitchen so I could see through. Could even incorporate a table or breakfast bar across it to fit in a dining space

This is what Mrs Hinch has done.

No knocking walls down, but if you could place l-shaped kitchen into area back of stairs, island, then dining/play area in part by patio. Cosy adult lounge in front room. Complete upheaval though!

Could you afford to move the kitchen wall a couple of feet into the lounge area? (Or is it load bearing?) It would be much better to have a smaller lounge where the kitchen is currently, and a larger open plan kitchen/diner/family area at the back.

But I worry that the kitchen area is just too small at the moment to be a proper lounge - I can't clearly make out the measurements but I think you'd need at least to be able to fit 2 smaller sofa's or 1 3seater and a armchair (plus side tables, tv unit etc) to really have a useable space.

Could you move your loo under your stairs? Pinch a bit off your lounge to create a small inner hallway and encorporate the space directly behind your front door plus your existing loo into the kitchen?

@NotMeNoNo I thought that too. But it’s too small. The staircase dips down so the space is too small. It would be the tiniest space.

I like the pocket doors but I would lose the wall in which the table is against. Essentially they would cut the table in half.

Luckily there are no load bearing walls, one perk of the plasterboard new build walls.

This is the current state. I hate it. I have just left it for years because I can’t decide what to do with it! The wall to the left of the tall lamp backs on to the kitchen.

To be honest you might need to brave out the toy clutter/toddler years.
Have some storage units under your stairs with big baskets/boxes so the toys can be swept away at bedtime and bulky stuff can be pushed behind a sofa and is out of your eyesight.

Honest before you know it they'll be stuck in their bedrooms with an Xbox.
Doors or a "hatch" through to the kitchen are great and give you some flexibility to open or close the rooms. We have some solid oak 3-fold doors that close off our lounge from the kitchen but fold back against the wall too.

I don’t think I can brave it out! It’s so miserable. I have nowhere to feed people if they come over. Perhaps I just need to move.

Ah, seen the photo. You've got the classic new build house problem. Not Enough Shelves. You need to make smart use of the space behind your sofas, maybe one storage space and one sort of play/colouring table, use the full height of the room to get things off the floor. You can put up some sturdy wall mounted shelves or use freestanding furniture obviously.