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Original poster

Thoughts on our proposed new downstairs layout?

116 replies

sunsetandcocktails · 11/10/2021 16:54

Hi
We've just had the initial drawing from our architects...the brief was to create an open plan kitchen/diner/family room with plenty of storage (two small children).
Utility room and downstairs loo.

I'm a bit concerned about the downstairs loo door opening straight onto the kitchen.

This plan also requires us to cut the garage in half, leaving the front half of the garage for storage - bikes, pram, camping gear etc

What are we missing? Anything we should
Mention to our architect when we speak this week?
We're very new to this process!
Thanks!

Thoughts on our proposed new downstairs layout?
OP posts:
Thread gallery
14
HandScreen · 11/10/2021 22:11

Get one of those toilets with the sink above the cistern to save space.

I would get rid of the sliding door btw lounge and dining room - you lose so much space for furniture on both sides of the wall by having this there, making every room less useful.

CovidCorvid · 11/10/2021 22:12

And personally I wouldn’t have a sliding door between the lounge and dining area. Have a normal wall, you gain more useable space in both rooms and can properly shut the lounge off from the rest of the house for a quieter area.

Rollercoaster1920 · 11/10/2021 22:18

Save yourself a fortune by fitting a sink and washing machine at the back of your garage. No need to convert it more than that!

The downstairs loo is the hard bit.

BonnieGoWayward · 11/10/2021 22:25

Without putting too fine a point on it, neither a toilet with no window or a toilet accessed from the kitchen is ideal...but add the both together 🤢 so would defintely ask them for alternatives.

I wouldn't change the loo to be accessed via the utility - I always have a messy utility that I don't really want guests seeing

Also think this is a really good point. As much as I'd love to have a beautiful Mrs Hinch style utility, the reality is usually a pile of visible washing, muddy football boots in front of the machine, some recycling I've chucked in there quickly...it's definitely not somewhere I'd want to risk guests seeing at no notice!

TobyHouseMan · 11/10/2021 22:32

Make the loo and utility into 1 with a single door. Make it a sliding door and you get more room on the wall facing the kitchen for storage. Loo also gets a sink which is a must-have. I think building regs require a sink in a toilet that opens into a kitchen but I may be wrong.

Miliao · 11/10/2021 22:51

You need to get a new architect, this isn’t up to building regs at all. Are you sure they’re qualified as this is a mess?

customerisqueen · 11/10/2021 22:52

I don't think you will like a toilet off main part of kitchen.

Imagine splitting the garage part into ⅓ and ⅔ across. First ⅓ access from the hall door and put in loo and sink.

Then have a utility full size of utility and current toilet . On back of utility put door to access the storage area.

Will see if can draw

DebbieHarrysCheekbones · 11/10/2021 23:00

Are you using the dining area as a play area too?

customerisqueen · 11/10/2021 23:03

Bad drawing but hopefully you get idea.

Also agree re moving to job and sink. Dishwasher should be right next to sink then can rinse stuff it needed or pile up next to sink if needed. Agree you don't want it to be what you walk into either.

Seats want to be facing kitchen not the other way.

Do without a door from family room to lounge. Then you could put a sofa there if you like, and do away with the small door to garden just have bi fold or slider . You can get bifold with one access door.

Don't despair that you need lots of changes ... often takes a few goes to get it right

Thoughts on our proposed new downstairs layout?
DebbieHarrysCheekbones · 12/10/2021 07:10

Personally I would not want to only be able to access
My utility via going outside and opening the garage door
I often like to out a washing cycle on last thing at night or collect tumble drying, sort the recycling etc
A utility without internal access from the house and in particular the kitchen is nowhere near as useful and therefore usable in my opinion

Also removing half the width of a garage and needing to keep a passage clear to get to the utility door in that plan means you couldn’t really keep anything bulky in it such as bikes or an extra chest freezer, lawn mower etc

Original poster
sunsetandcocktails · 12/10/2021 12:42

Do you know, I was a bit disappointed when we first opened up the drawing. We'd been so excited about seeing it, and then it was a bit of a let down. Just seems a bit slap dash, at best! Not helped by the fact it came through at 10.30pm on a Sunday night after we'd chased twice, implying it was a rush job.

I've gone back with all our queries and concerns, including asking the level of qualification held by the person who sent them (the job title on email is 'Assistant Architect')

OP posts:
Original poster
sunsetandcocktails · 12/10/2021 12:43

@DebbieHarrysCheekbones
Yes, we plan to use the space to chill and watch the kids play (hence request for a sofa) as well as somewhere to eat together and cook.
The aim is to keep the lounge as a cosy, adults drinking glass of wine zone!

OP posts:
ApolloandDaphne · 12/10/2021 12:53

[quote sunsetandcocktails]@DebbieHarrysCheekbones
Yes, we plan to use the space to chill and watch the kids play (hence request for a sofa) as well as somewhere to eat together and cook.
The aim is to keep the lounge as a cosy, adults drinking glass of wine zone! [/quote]
If that the case then you don't want that door from the lounge through to the kitchen dining area.

SollaSollew · 12/10/2021 14:57

I think it's quite hard to tell without the dimensions but I am wondering how much they've looked at alternatives to the large pier/pillar at the back. I think it makes the room quite awkward, limits what you can do with your kitchen and the view through the house. Is this the existing footprint or does this include an extension? I can't for the life of me work out what wall they're keeping that pier from!

It might not be important to you as it was my TV addicts but I also can't see anywhere you can put a TV in that room at the moment. If it's your family space and you want to keep your front room as an evening room I would definitely think where it would go. My MIL had an architect designed extension and has nowhere to put her TV so maybe architects don't watch TV!

ClaudiaWankleman · 12/10/2021 15:04

including asking the level of qualification held by the person who sent them (the job title on email is 'Assistant Architect')

I think to be fair they are likely to be highly qualified. 3 years of uni and either in their first or second year of post grad work experience. It's a slog of a profession!

LakeShoreD · 12/10/2021 15:14

This Assistant Architect doesn’t seem like they’re any good. Not only what every else has said about the grim loo, the random mini door in the kitchen in addition to the bifolds is weird, I don’t rate the lounge layout either as the 2 doors mean no choice of where to place the sofa and it had to be off centre to the fireplace. The scale also looks off. If it were me I’d start over completely with someone else, you’ve obviously got a lot of space to work with once you extend but there’s really nothing in this plan that I think is any good.

GlowInThePark · 12/10/2021 15:22

This is similar to our house but we have the toilet here (see diagram) and walk through the lounge to get to the dining room / kitchen. If you did this it would mean you could have a larger utility room with a proper tumble drier etc.

Thoughts on our proposed new downstairs layout?
crumpet · 12/10/2021 15:22

You could make the loo/utility into one larger room, and tick the utility sink/machine behind cupboard doors, leaving just the downstairs loo and basin out. We did this in one house and it worked really well.

Ours want as big as this but similar. We had sink/washing machine and boiler behind one set of doors and coats cupboard behind the other. i.pinimg.com/550x/c5/33/04/c53304ff146cfd63e03940e9c53d672a.jpg

GlowInThePark · 12/10/2021 15:25

[quote crumpet]You could make the loo/utility into one larger room, and tick the utility sink/machine behind cupboard doors, leaving just the downstairs loo and basin out. We did this in one house and it worked really well.

Ours want as big as this but similar. We had sink/washing machine and boiler behind one set of doors and coats cupboard behind the other. i.pinimg.com/550x/c5/33/04/c53304ff146cfd63e03940e9c53d672a.jpg[/quote]
Great idea!

MydogWillow · 12/10/2021 15:31

Do you have your existing layout to compare?

I would lose the sliding door to increase wall space for storage in your dining area and wall in your lounge. Your storage left of the fire place is inaccessible but guess it's ok for rarely used things? Agree with the pp's regarding the loo/utility and swap the sink/hob. The door into the kitchen is odd. Are you detached on the left on the plans?

Sorry but I wouldn't be paying for these. The person doing them doesn't seem very knowledgeable about running a household? I would guess someone still living at home!

LuluLefevre · 12/10/2021 15:42

I agree with others - this is a really quite shockingly poor plan. I understand that the assistant architect is probably qualified on paper but do they actually understand how families live? Loo with no sink (!), loo with no sink or window directly off the kitchen (!!), poor kitchen layout (sink should go under the view - how will you vent the hob if it's in front of the window?

It looks like he did this hungover in front of the TV on a Sunday night. I'd complain to the head of the practice and ask a senior architect if he thinks that's good enough.

LuluLefevre · 12/10/2021 15:45

Totally agree the two doors to the lounge is massively impractical and...pointless?

MydogWillow · 12/10/2021 15:49

I would question the architect's practice who clearly haven't overseen the assistant's plans before issuing them to a customer....

MiddlesexGirl · 12/10/2021 15:51

There seem to be so many architects who just don't get even the basics.

CovidCorvid · 12/10/2021 18:20

@ClaudiaWankleman

including asking the level of qualification held by the person who sent them (the job title on email is 'Assistant Architect')

I think to be fair they are likely to be highly qualified. 3 years of uni and either in their first or second year of post grad work experience. It's a slog of a profession!

I’d disagree. Dd was working as an “assistant architect” while a 1st year undergrad student and was doing drawings.

It’s 7 years of training before you can use the job title of architect so they’re obviously not qualified or their email would say so and have the letters after their name. So either they’re a student somewhere in the 7 years of training or possibly not doing their training at all. A friend of mine her ds works full time as an architect’s assistant and has never set foot in a university……just on the job experience. Obviously he’ll never become an architect unless he does his degree.