House renovation/layout change

[ZombiePara]

Hypothetical at the moment, but looking into options for a family property. Been in the family for over 30 years, hasn't had much done to it. Estate agents have said it wouldn't be worth doing a lot to it before selling because chances are people are going to come in and rip it all out/change the layout and rooms and it has got me thinking...
i will never be able to afford anywhere like it, and due to the way of the wills it will be coming my way at some point.

I am in no rush for it, but i want to be prepared - change around, rent out, sell, or make enough changes to live there myself without constant reminders of my relatives.

• when entering a property do you prefer to enter straight into a room, a small porch, a hallway?

• thoughts on a wetroom/utility room

• would you rather have a downstairs toilet and wash room (2 separate rooms) and an upstairs bathroom - toilet/shower/sink etc, with 4 double bedrooms (2 slightly larger ones)... or would you rather make one of the larger rooms smaller and add in an ensuite to the above?

I prefer to enter into a small hallway/ big porch. Ideally big enough for a coat rack and bench seat so you can contain any mud! Also acts as an airlock between inside and outside so you can stop heat escaping.

A utility room is very high up my wish list!

I'd go for bathroom and en-suite upstairs as long as it would be a decent sized en-suite and not majorly detract from any bedrooms. I would then not need a wet room downstairs, just a loo BUT if there was space, a shower in the downstairs loo to make an additional bathroom is always handy in case of lots of guests, if you ever had someone to stay e.g. on a sofa bed of who couldn't manage stairs.

Brilliant thank you for replying Maggie - i will have to have a rejig of the downstairs to create a bigger porch/entranceway..

Chances are the downstairs room (currently has a shower, sink and washer/tumble dryer in it (not cramped) will need to be converted into a wet room before it comes to me due to relatives being elderly; although i guess that would be easy enough to turn into a more conventional downstairs bathroom..?

when entering a property do you prefer to enter straight into a room, a small porch, a hallway?

Ideally a hallway, but only if it has adequate storage for coats and shoes. A porch if necessary to provide such storage.

- thoughts on a wetroom/utility room

Years ago, hardly any houses had downstairs toilets - now nearly all houses do. I predict that the same is going to happen with utility rooms.

- would you rather have a downstairs toilet and wash room (2 separate rooms) and an upstairs bathroom - toilet/shower/sink etc, with 4 double bedrooms (2 slightly larger ones)... or would you rather make one of the larger rooms smaller and add in an ensuite to the above?

Smaller bedroom with ensuite

To clarify Powerslide what would you want in the ensuite? And how roomy would you want it to be?

The layout currently has a "shower/utility room" next to a... I'm not sure how to describe it.. we've always called it a fridge room, but is a good mix of fridge and coat wardrobe and storage shelves (no fridge in the kitchen..).
Keeping a utility space is a given, it's just whether to keep the wetroom there, keep it as an optional downstairs bathroom, or totally convert it into a sole utility room, ans use the other space perhaps for something else?

Ensuites need to have a toilet, sink and shower, but not bothered about how roomy they are. I'd also want a bath in the main bathroom though.

The downstairs space - if you do plan to rent or sell (rather than live there yourself), I'd keep it as is. Having both a utility room and wet room will appeal to some people, and others will see the potential for knocking them into a single larger room if that's what they'd prefer. But if you combine them, fewer people will have the imagination to have them separated back out. So I think the current set-up will offer the broadest appeal.

Fab thanks Powerslide - there will definitely be a bath kept in the upstairs bathroom, perhaps a bigger one than is already there though 😂

Definitely would prefer a hallway over directly into a room. A porch could be useful but not necessary if the hall was big enough for shoes/bags/coats etc.

With 4 double bedrooms I'd like a bathroom and a shower room upstairs, plus a downstairs loo. I wouldn't want a wetroom or an ensuite (who wants to listen to their other half having a poo, then have the aroma waft into the bedroom?! Never understood the appeal of them, myself). I'd prefer bigger bedrooms over bathroom space so if the second bathroom would take a huge chunk from a bedroom, I'd accept a downstairs bathroom as an alternative, otherwise it'd be preferable to have both upstairs.

Definitely yes to a utility room. Being able to shut the door on the noise of the dryer/humongous ironing pile would be delightful!

I prefer straight into a room but for sale I would go with a hallway if that could be achieved easily and rooms still a good size / not blocking light etc. Sounds like a fair size house so should be OK.

I prefer big kitchen's to smaller kitchen plus utility room but its really personal preference and I can see the logic of having say a laundry room and a kitchen. What I don't like is fridge / freezer in utility room so having to walk from one to the other. But not sure either layout will have big impact either way on saleability so would go with what is easiest.

I would want an upstairs bathroom including a bath and would rule houses out without a bath or space to put one in. I'm not a huge fan of ensuites but its personal preference - I particularly don't like it if ensuite is tiny or room is tiny. If you can have a reasonable size ensuite and room then its more viable.

Also consider the market - would the ensuite be on the parents bedroom in a house or one of the kids if occupied by a family. I saw one where one child would have an ensuite and not the other child, that could be awkward.

Also depends who you are likely to sell to elderly or family - elderly its useful to have it liveable downstairs only so downstairs bathroom etc. I would look at similar houses on the market with Rightmove and see what is selling and what's not and for ideas.

Yes to...

Hallway.
Utility room.
Downstairs toilet.
Ensuite, make the biggest a touch smaller.

Our estate agent advised us to either renovate everything or nothing for sale, they said people will either want to redo whole lot and have blank canvas or completely done up and inbetween struggles more to sell.

Rental people generally do up but not to a very high spec incase things get damaged.

If you will live there I would do it how you want it.

I think you need to decide what you are doing it for first.

Our en suite is about 1.4m x 3m and I love the fact it's roomy enough not to feel pokey, but isn't huge because the house isn't huge. It's got a 1.4m x 1m shower tray. It's lovely and big. I don't think I could ever now go back to a traditional 80x80 shower.

Ref, your downstairs, it sounds like you have a lot of room to play with. I'd aim for clearly defined rooms e.g. loo/bathroom, utility with storage and have the fridge in the kitchen.

Thanks Hallyup there will always be an upstairs bathroom and downstairs toilet that's for sure!

With you on the ensuite, although it is super handy for the middle of the night wees!

There is the option for a large enough hallway over a porch to give room for coat and shoes!

@Hallyup5

Definitely would prefer a hallway over directly into a room. A porch could be useful but not necessary if the hall was big enough for shoes/bags/coats etc.

With 4 double bedrooms I'd like a bathroom and a shower room upstairs, plus a downstairs loo. I wouldn't want a wetroom or an ensuite (who wants to listen to their other half having a poo, then have the aroma waft into the bedroom?! Never understood the appeal of them, myself). I'd prefer bigger bedrooms over bathroom space so if the second bathroom would take a huge chunk from a bedroom, I'd accept a downstairs bathroom as an alternative, otherwise it'd be preferable to have both upstairs.

Definitely yes to a utility room. Being able to shut the door on the noise of the dryer/humongous ironing pile would be delightful!

^^ this

Big hallway definitely. We had small hallway before and all the shoes and jackets made it look untidy. Now we have big hallway and cupboard for jackets and shoes under the stairs.

Just realised I haven't checked back in or replied to most people on here - thank you for all replies, plenty to think of and play around with as well!

Another question to throw out there..

Thoughts on built in wardrobes vs free standing ones?

Hallways, utility room UPSTAIRS (where your laundry is), downstairs loo, two bathrooms min for up stairs with one being en suite. The en suite could get away with a shower instead of a bath but there must be a bath in main bathroom. I don't care if there's a separate shower or shower over bath. I hate separate toilets to bathrooms though.

with 4 beds the living space needs to match bedrooms so would expect two recption rooms or a very large kitchen diner with a table for 6-8 people and enough chairs in living rtoom for a similar number
The fridge must be in kitchen i could cope with freezer in utility but don't want to be popping to utility for milk for every coffee
if you want to move in long term ( ie more than 5-20 years) rearrange to suit you, you don't want toi live with something that doesn't suit the life you lead for a possible resale in 15 years time
it is like wardrobes full of cothes for the life someone thinks they lead rather than their actual life which is why they have loads of clothes but nothing to wear because it's not realistic

Interestingly I had never considered a utility room upstairs rather than downstairs @Midlifephoenix ... although what you're saying does make perfect sense, rather than lugging it up and down the stairs all the time!

Luckily there are currently 2 reception rooms, one of which could be altered/walls changed to make it a large kitchen diner...

I honestly don't know why they currently have the fridge/freezer out of the kitchen, but that is on the list to be moved to the kitchen!!

Also considering altering the stair case - keeping the same position but making it the other way round if that makes sense? So instead of going floor-up left to right, make it floor-up right to left? Would potentially give extra room upstairs rather than losing a load to landing space/walkway...