back door only way through is kitchen and dining room

[BarkingUpTheWrongRoseBush]

We've just has this extension built. We were plannning to block up the door that's marked as a black square on the plan. That'll mean that when you come in the back door or the back sliding doors to get through to the main bit of the house you'll have to walk through the new kitchen and the family room to get to the hall.

Would this put you off?

I can't make putting a downstairs loo in and keep a way through the utility straight to the hall.

That's how loads of houses are. Wouldn't be an issue for most I think that being the case. You have the front door for straight to hall access.

Why doesn't it work with a loo and the door where you've got the black box?

Personally, I wouldn't be keen on having to go all the way round through the family room to get to the kitchen. It would drive me mad having to walk that way round. It's not about coming in from the back, it's simply about day to day life for me, family room would be full of children's chaos and I wouldn't want to have to pick my way through it. Also when having guests round or just of an evening, I'd like to shut the family room chaos away!

It would make a trip to the downstairs toilet a bit of a trek from the back garden or the kitchen (I'm assuming the new extension is a kitchen/diner). Could you leave the door where it is, or keep it shut for a bit and see how it works out?

Yes - removing that door definitely hinders flow and you'd not be able to shut off the family room from the kitchen. What's prompting you to block up that doorway?

Why do you need to block that door off? It looks fine to me as is.

The black blob that was a door is now going to be a coat cupboard.

there was just too many doors opening and closing there.

I'm thinking we ditch the coat cupboard idea and turn that door into a pocket door so nipping to the loo from the garden isn't a trek through the nice bit of the house.

But we are really missing a coat cupboard in the design then.

It's perfectly standard. Most houses have their sole back door in or through the kitchen.

Re-jig the utility room layout to make space in the WC for a coat rack?

Keep that doorway, it would drive me nuts to have to walk the long way round to get anywhere.

Chuck a load of pegs on the back of the loo door: tada! It’s now a coat cupboard.

Sorry, I misunderstood which door (in fairness, I do need to go to specsavers)

Can you ditch the second set of double doors coming in from porch - put in one door and coat rack/cupboard on opposite wall.

What's that cupboard shaped rectangle in the loo with the turquoise line round it? I'd be having some pegs in the hall, under the stairs and in the utility room for coats, and we have a lot of coats, dirty ones for horses/dog walking and decent ones for wearing out in public, so I understand the need for coat storage!

It's not just coming in from the back doors that might be hindered, if you routinely bring all your shopping in through the front door you will have to carry it through the family room to the kitchen instead of straight through to the kitchen.

Could you get a sloping rail for the cupboard under the stairs?

Usually use the back door to come in and out of the house with shopping etc.

I'm more thinking if out the back garden and need a wee - will have a bit of a circuit to get to the loo.

Also if want to sneak in will have to sneak in through front door if people in the family room.

I think I'm overthinking.

The turquoise box is where the washing machine and dryer are going.

At the moment that is our kitchen - where the utility and new loo are marked now.

So you've taken a chunk out of the downstairs loo to fit the washer and dryer in? Is there a better way to rejig the utility room so that you don't lose that space? There seems to be a lot of wasted space in there for not much gain.

If you can shift that wall and make the downstairs loo rectangular, you will have room for coat storage in there. It's not ideal, but trekking through the family room all the time will become really annoying (and might put future buyers off).

What about leaving that door opening and instead having a freestanding piece of furniture like a nice wardrobe to the left of it? I know that sounds a bit random but a holiday house I stayed in did this and it worked really well. It was painted and also used for craft storage, games etc.
Examples here but it wouldn’t need to be as expensive!
hallandlarder.com/products/3-door-hall-utility-room-cloak-room-coat-shoe-storage-cupboard

What are you using the space between the kitchen and family room for? To me, those double doors to the family room turn this area into a corridor. Could you use the right hand wall as coat storage accessed from the hall? And then keep the door from kitchen to toilet and stairs?

If it were me, I would lose the double doors to the family room to give more useful space in both family room and kitchen. But my kids are older, and I'm quite happy for them to be in a closed off space while playing Xbox, watching TV and arguing with each other!!!

The space between the kitchen and family room isn't a space - it's kitchen. There's 2 big cupboards on the right as you come into the kitchen from the family room.

The turquoise line is the new stud wall to make the utility and loo. We could move the wm and tumble dryer to the wall where the sink is shown now and not have a sink. We'd like a sink though. Also if we have a door in the new stud wall - we've got a lot of doors again in a small space.

We have pocket doors and they work well. I agree that you will want to shut the family room off if you’re having visitors in your garden

If you relocated washing machine dryer you could have a utility with doors to kitchen and hall both. Have a smaller loo off utility (same place but door opening into utility) and keep the coat cupboard.

There's a lot of floor space in the utility room. There must be a way to use that more efficiently to have appliances without losing the sink. Then I'd square off the loo and use that end of it for coats.

(Also why can't you use the cupboard under the stairs for coats).

And at the risk of repeating myself. My issue wouldn't be nipping to the loo from the garden, it would just be having to walk all that way round to the kitchen from anywhere else in the house. And making the family room a corridor.

Coat/shoe cupboards either side of the big front door where you'd actually want to put on and take off your shoes. Add somewhere to sit to put shoes on. Keep the door.

Sorted.

All that space but 'nowhere' to put coats. Ridiculous

Your utility room is too big. It needs to be smaller. Stack the washer / dryer and out in the sink along one wall, but make the whole space narrower. It doesn’t need so much floor space. You can then have a coat area between it and the loo.

Yes I’d rejig the utility room so you stack the washing machine and dryer on the right hand side and then have a corridor through from the hall.