Please critique this layout

[LemonSwan]

Hi all,

In a bit of a muddle,

Reconfiguring the right hand side of the house to make open plan family living area and put in WC/Utility Room.

Bit of an odd layout and struggling to make it work.

Please let me know if you like the plan we have come up with or can think of any suggestions.

I think you need to decide what to use space for before for you can pin this down. Do you need a formal dining room? We have 3 receps and have two sitting rooms (slightly different styles but basically sofas and tv), one study/music room. We have a generous kitchen diner. In our old house we did have the big kitchen family room setup and it worked well while the kids were young, but even now at 5&7 I can’t see us really using that space now. I’d much rather separate rooms. Perhaps that’s viewed through a covid lens and it’s to do with not having guests regularly, but I prefer our current layout. You have plenty of space so you do want to try and factor in those must have spaces, but also things like decent utility area (not squeezed into the garage) and a good storage/boot area. You have the space so it makes sense.

Also - have you shared this floor plan before (the original?) I’m having major deja vu

I do think putting the kitchen into the darkest corner can be sensible, it’s the place you’re most likely to want to use your electric lighting. But be way of it being a corridor space. That’s super annoying.

Pokhora and worrybutterfly - you both have variations of layout that I feel makes the most sense! But I cant bring myself to alter that existing back 'dining' room as its all original.

The right hand side of the house has been messed about with a fair bit so theres not many original features to save there.

You have plenty of space so you do want to try and factor in those must have spaces, but also things like decent utility area (not squeezed into the garage) and a good storage/boot area. You have the space so it makes sense.

And for me this is the kicker! I feel with this much reception space we need to have all these rooms - WC, Utility, Boot room etc.

But I cant figure out how to put them in without messing the flow.

What happens to the sitting room and dining room now? Will they be dead space that’s rarely used?
One of these reception rooms I want as a cosy sitting room for evening/winters and the other as a double office.

have you shared this floor plan before (the original?) I’m having major deja vu

Probably about 3 months ago - we have been going round in circles and cant get it right

how about this version? The blue outline is the kitchen / dining / play area as in the plan in your first post.

The dining room will be a study / library which will be lovely for anyone working from home & retains the original features (S on plan)

The old Kitchen gets split & becomes a big utility / boot room (U on plan). Keep the corridor half wide so that it does not feel cramped, and remove the wall as much as possible between the hall & this corridor. You could add another door from the hall to the boot room if you think it is needed.

Downstairs loo could go here or in the garage depending on which is easier for the pipes.

you will need to include a big table to eat in your kitchen / living room, but if you only have big meals a couple of times a year, you can have an extending table and that will work.

So I think you have a big kitchen diner in the back of the studio (red/brown on diagram). Ours is 8m x 4m which is very generous. I think you shave a bit off the front room (blue) and possibly with an angled wall as shown to give a nice study/home office. You turn the current dining room into a lovely snug and you work out how to accommodate utility/loo/storage into the current space. If you can tidy up the area in green to sort out the kink and the doors and bring more light into that corner of the kitchen that would be excellent.

@parietal

how about this version? The blue outline is the kitchen / dining / play area as in the plan in your first post.

The dining room will be a study / library which will be lovely for anyone working from home & retains the original features (S on plan)

The old Kitchen gets split & becomes a big utility / boot room (U on plan). Keep the corridor half wide so that it does not feel cramped, and remove the wall as much as possible between the hall & this corridor. You could add another door from the hall to the boot room if you think it is needed.

Downstairs loo could go here or in the garage depending on which is easier for the pipes.

you will need to include a big table to eat in your kitchen / living room, but if you only have big meals a couple of times a year, you can have an extending table and that will work.

I like your plan. Particularly the boot room at the front.