Is it weird to go through living room to the kitchen...

[intelligentPutty]

Please help settle a 'discussion'!
. We are planning to extend at the back. We thought to add an extra bedroom downstairs but the only way we can see to do so is to block the hall access to the kitchen. It means you'd get to the back of the house via the living room. Or via the back door. I think thatd be fine. Hubby disagrees. Please let me know your thoughts or any other ideas. Pic on the left is now and pic ok the right is my current idea.

My kitchen is off the living room its fine .

we get to our living room through the kitchen!

As others have said it’s common in Victorian terraces BUT if people are looking at those types of houses then they will all have similar layouts. The crucial difference is that it is not really that common in 3/4 bed non-Victorian family houses. So it could potentially put off buyers who are looking at those types of houses as it won’t be an issue in many of them.

We have specifically designed our layout so that the lounge can be shut off separately.

And yes the lounge basically becomes a thoroughfare which is awkward for furniture and is not relaxing.

It's not unusual but having lived in such a house I wouldn't look at buying one like that again.

In my case it was a very small house (FTB) with stairs off a tiny space at the doorway and no hall.

I hated it bc, as others have said, the front room had to be furnished as a passageway. The carpet got a lot of traffic and you had to be able to walk through. Also bc there was no hall, anything messy was brought into the living room. I see that would be different for you OP and you would have a hallway. I still wouldn't want to do it.

I’m surprised at the number of people saying this is ok. It would put me off, though to be fair I haven’t experienced it myself.

House-wise I’ve lived in 1930s 30 bed semi, 1920s 4 bed detached, 1960s small 3 bed semi and 1900 2 bed terrace. Every one had a lounge and kitchen off the hallway.

I think you need to speak to an architect to get good advice if layout options.

I've lived in a lot of houses (17) and I've never had to use the living room to get to the kitchen.

Not weird

This would be true of my parents' house (1970s Barrett house) except they never use the front door - the back door opens to a hall with stairs, and the kitchen, and the kitchen leads to the living room. So we have to go through the kitchen to get to the living room rather than the other way around.

I like it. It's good being able to pull the door to if you want quiet between the rooms but also they are close enough together to be sociable and you can pop between them.

I'd never want to live in a house where there was a hallway separating the person cooking and the person watching T.V as it isolates the person in the kitchen, but having them as separate rooms works better than having the whole thing as open plan because it does allow privacy and quiet if it's wanted.

I think adjoining kitchen and living rooms is the best design for a house - it's what I would always choose if I could opt for any layout.

Our kitchen is off our living room. Front door opens to tiny hall, stairs and door to living room. Living room opens to kitchen. Outside is accessed from kitchen.

Thanks one and all for the suggestions. I think I tend to agree that amit suits a Victorian type house when the floor layout will permit nothing else. We will have to try and find a solution which keeps the halll I think no don't know if you can see from the pic but we currently have a door at each end of the living room and if does (on reflection ) leave us with a lot of space which is unusable as we need to walk through it. I think we'll probaably end up blocking one of these doors with a wall or some other way. I mocked up some plans based on these ideas you have too. Maybe we should invest in an architect to give us ideas we wouldn't even imagine !

I work in development, there are thousands of homes where you do go through the lounge and thousands where you don't. There is no right or wrong it's just down to personal preference.

5 houses in my life and only one where you didn't, so personally would say no it isn't!

I think there's a difference as other pps have said between a house with that kind of layout (because its a Victorian terrace, or no other option) and a larger house, where you're extending and can have the "best" layout.

We have it - through the front door and stairs going up and living room to the side - kitchen and bathroom are accessible through there. We have a small house and not in a position to change it. When I win the lottery I dont want a mansion just a house with a hallway! 😂

I'm surprised at how common it appears to be. Of all my friends and family, in Victorian terraces, more modern houses and old and new flats I can only think of one where you have to go through the living-room.

You are definitely being wise to find another solution. It's always a shame to see an extended house with a poor layout.

We go through the hallway into the lounge to get to kitchen. Reason being there’s a laundry room/ loo where the entrance used to be. The lounge is both the lounge and dining room knocked through.
Yes. You use a bit of the lounge as a ‘walk through’ area. However think carefully where you put your door into the lounge We moved ours last year to make a snug/gaming area in the corner (where the door used to be). Door is more in the centre now.

Can you not put the utility where the planned study is, as this would not need to be as wide, so that you can maintain a hallway, and put the bed/study at the end? The hallway could continue under the stairs. It would not be a straight hallway but I would prefer that than having to lug shopping bags through the lounge to get to the kitchen

@intelligentPutty

Its sounds a quiky idea plan on paper.

If that is the only way it will work /create etc then do this op.

Oh by the way I like quikyness.

Quiky means original/or something with character.

The thing is if it’s already putting your husband off on paper, the reality is likely to annoy him even more. Of the two people I know with this layout, they’d both change it if they could for all the reasons mentioned upthread. If you’re going to go to the time and expense of extending then hopefully you can find a solution that doesn’t require either of you to make a massive compromise (which in my view this is, I wouldn’t buy a house with this layout if I had the choice).

Lose the second WC and put the entrance to the kitchen there?
Could you put the bedroom at the front of the house creating it out of the sitting room?

I agree with not wanting the sitting room to become a corridor and not a quiet place where you can shut the door and relax