Knocking through hallway

[Jrg128]

We are thinking of knocking through our hallway to create a large open plan kitchen diner - so on the attached floor plan we would knock through the utility room and study and the right hand hallway wall. I know we would need to get supporting beams and have thought about potential issues with noise and smells from the kitchen. Just wondered if anybody else has done similar or anybody got any thoughts on whether this is a good idea. Thanks!

Just to add that we would move the door to the toilet into what is called the dining room on the floor plan although we don’t use it as that

An reason why you don't want to knock through into the dining room instead?

My brother has done something similar with his house. It’s a bugger to heat. Heat just flies directly upstairs, plus the front door now leads directly into his living room. It looks lovely and spacious but I always wrap up warmly and take my slippers when I visit!

I agree with the above. I think knocking through to the dining room would work better becuase you can keep a hallway and stop smells going upstairs, you can keep noisy appliances in a utility and you can have a big kitchen overlooking the garden.

@Watto1 thanks!

@BruceAndNosh it’s hard to see from the floor plan but because the kitchen is set further back than the dining room it would look a bit odd to knock through and wouldn’t actually be that open

No useful thoughts on the plan, but have you got room to extend at the back and knock through between the dining room and kitchen?

Not sure what you have to the right hand side but if you have close neighbours the middle may feel dark if you don't have a decent window on that side. However, opening the back and having a real wow room across the back would be great. You would also get to keep a separate utility and study which for me are big pluses.

Also the garden is to the side of the house so we would want to put patio doors or bi-fold doors in the right hand side

@GOODCAT and @Indigopearl thanks for your comments, unfortunately at the back we have a retaining wall about 2m or so from the kitchen wall and a steep slope which means extending back isn’t an option without a significant cost.

You may need some fire protection/fire door - I’m not an expert, but there are regulations about having your kitchen open onto a staircase.

If you plan to sell on it may put people off if kitchen is open to stairs for the fire risk and cooking smells will spread through the home, it may be hard to heat in the winter. With working from home becoming the new normal for many people a separate office may increase the value or desirability of your home if selling on too so it may be worth keeping that in mind. That said, if you plan to stay there longer term do what fits for your family in terms of using the space and if you are very social and like to be in a shared open space it would be great for that and you could box the stairs in if the fire risk is a concern.

Thanks everyone - lots to think about and I hadn’t really considered the fire risk / regulations point before.

I think from a fire regs pov you need a protected stairwell from a kitchen. You can get round it with a sprinkler/automist but you need to factor in the cost of servicing etc, as well as the expense of initial installation.

I'm normally an advocate for doing what you want in your home not what a future possible buyer would want but I have to say my first thought was it might make your house unsaleable - having a separate utility is a big plus for me and lots of other and knocking out the study removes a room that could be used as a playroom/snug so I think you'd reduce your house price! As others have said- check building regs in any event; my rudimentary understanding is there should be a fire door.

It would be a much less desirable layout for me, i wouldn’t like the front door opening straight into a room - I like an entrance way - I wouldn’t like losing the separate study and utility rooms they are massive bonuses. I’d strongly favour even just a small extension on the dining room taking it up to the retaining wall, and opening up between the kitchen and dining room to give you that bigger broken-plan space between kitchen, dining and sitting room. You could even consider moving the sitting room wall to give more space at the back if you wanted to adjust the balance between the spaces, maybe even make that wall sliding or pocket doors so there is the flexibility for it to be all one space or close off the front room as a snug.

But how much you prioritise desirability to others vs how you want the house to be depends on how long you are planning on living there and how important it is to you to maximise the eventual sale price. In my house I don’t really care about that as I’m not planning on selling unless I absolutely have to when I’m very very old

Our kitchen is open plan to the hallway and stairs, it looks lovely but is not practicle. The noises from the kitchen are heard in every bedroom, my husband gets up early for work and has to be be so careful not to wake everyone else up - just by boiling the kettle. It also means our pets have free reign of the house - upstairs and down. Cooking smells aren't so much an issue, noise is. We have a separate utility so the washing machine and dryer aren't an issue but we can even hear the dishwasher!

Like this although I think you actually have more space than that for the extension. You could have a sloping glass roof there to allow a lot of light in, put in patio/french/bifold/swing’n’slide doors on the side wall into the garden. Have dining where the kitchen is now and kitchen where is now dining & extension. The utility room is then slightly annoyingly positioned off the dining area rather than kitchen area but that’s not the end of the world, it isn’t so massive a space that that is too inconvenient.

I wouldn't like it if it means the front door would open directly into the new space.

Depending on the upstairs layout it could need a lot of steel beams to support it all, and these in themselves can be expensive.

I agree with others that the current layout is more desirable, separate utility and study were on my list when house hunting even before major WFH times, love being able to shut the door on the utility when washing machine running, and a massive open plan space would make me worry about noise and cooking smells upstairs. Also you don't gain any space this way, agree that if a small extension onto the dining room and possibly opening up the front and rear receptions more were possible that might make more sense. I know a lot of people are into the open kitchen at the moment but I'm old fashioned on this, and like being able to shut the door on any noise, mess and cooking smells. Have you talked to a builder yet? It sounds expensive for limited gains.

I wouldn't open up to the hall but would something like this work?

Are you planning to get rid of the loo? Because I'm pretty sure building regs require you to have two doors between loo & kitchen.

@SoupDragon I like that idea, seems like it might be a good alternative.

We have considered extending the dining room back before but we would have to move the bathroom waste as it’s where the dining room and kitchen join and my understanding is that is quite difficult to do.

Really appreciate everybody’s comments, thank you

Could you swap the kitchen into the dining room and open it up to what is now the sitting room, block off the fireplace (who wants a fireplace in a small house in this day and age) then turn the kitchen into a lounge with bifold doors to a deck and the garden?

You could move the door to the utility room so it opens from the hallway.

I agree with other posters that a separate study and utility are a huge bonus.

@Mintjulia we would block the existing door off and instead put the door in from the other side (called the dining room on the floor plan but wouldn’t be used as that)

We are planning on getting a garden office and conevrting half of our double garage to a utility / laundry room but I appreciate that some people will prefer having these within the house

@Mintjulia

Are you planning to get rid of the loo? Because I'm pretty sure building regs require you to have two doors between loo & kitchen.

That used to be the case. Now, as long as you have separate hand wash facilities with hot and cold water within the toilet, it can open into a kitchen.

What you can't do is have a staircase open plan from a kitchen.

How about just knocking through the utility, and keeping the study?

From a structural point of view, your plan removes a significant number of walls, and would require beams and also probably columns which then need new foundations. Starts to get very expensive at that point.