what do you think of these extension plans?

[IsItAllOverYetPlease]

We'll be getting proper plans drawn up in the new year but was just curious if anyone had any thoughts or suggestions.

We want an open plan kitchen diner/lounge area but we want to keep the existing living room and dining room (playroom) as separate rooms. This means the back room (playroom) will be n internal only room without external windows. Could we add internal crital style windows along the length of the room that will adjoin the new kitchen with a skylight running along the adjacent length in the kitchen so it would get some light? it will be a playroom while kids are young then maybe a music room/childrens study when they're older.

The hallway currently is quite large and the left of the entrance door would make a good cloakroom area/bench/coat hooks etc but I had been thinking to introduce a doorway into the study which is currently only accessible through the small utility room which. The idea being that we could then block off the door in the utility room and run a length of cabinets/washing machines, knock through the existing toilet to square it off, then have external door leading to garden and sliding door for new shower room. Does this sound a good idea (putting a new doorway in the hall) or is it more useful keeping the space for a cloakroom area?

Current floor plan and my proposed floorplan attached

I'd be tempted to keep the kitchen in the same sort of location as it is now, thinking about water supply, drains etc, then you can have full width doors/windows across the back. Then you can put the entrance to the playroom facing the double doors, if you had glazed double doors the room would benefit from borrowed natural light.

I agree with Brusca. The most "natural" way of getting light into the middle room will be glazed doors into the extension. This would work much better if you kept the kitchen on the side of the house where it currently is.

If the extension is single storey, you can have a Velux or lantern roof near there to get even more light in.

By "natural" I meant compared to internal windows, which always seem a bit weird to me, like the design doesn't quite work.

This is my offering! The blue blocks are kitchen units and an island. Bar stool seating at one end or down the side. Yellow block is the dining table. You could make this into a lovely seating area, built in seating or freestyle with table and chairs.

If you want a free flow, then add glass sliding / pocket doors between the reception room and/ or dining room and/or kitchen. You could do both and then you'd be able to have a fully flowing open house so the kids can run in circuits.... I speak from experience!! Ha ha. It works well. Our house is fairly similar and I love being able to have open or closed rooms.

Don’t create an internal room with no window , you will spend the rest of your years trying to compensate for it- it’s a common error in extensions. Is there any reason why you cannot step out the extension - is there a reason why it must go straight across the back ? Google Houzz or Pinterest for ideas , there are better alternatives. I’ve scribbled something on a photo , double doors facing kitchen door for flow, built in dining , and either keeping all of opening or putting a narrower window in new playroom .

Thanks all. I see the sense in keeping the plumbing on the side of the existing kitchen but I wanted the larger area to be a seating area with corner sofa and tv, then a dining table towards the bifold doors.

@AutumnLeaves22 how long is your kitchen if its a similar layout? Almost 7m seems possibly too long to me. I guess I could shorten it and put a dining table at the end, then a sofa in the separate area behind the dining room

Alternatively knock the kitchen and dining room into one , put double doors from sitting room into dining area and out into garden. Steal one metre width from kitchen and put bathroom there, coats and laundry room in shaded yellow area.Build a new playroom off kitchen.

This isn't mine, but mine is very similar in size and layout. Mine is 8m wide and 6m deep.

Best things about my kitchen are the corner pantry - ALL my food items are in there and it's wonderful. Pull out bins. Drawers instead of cupboards and nothing on the island. The hob and sink are both on the run of units against the wall, which leaves the massive island free to eat at, and gather the usual piles of junk that I try and clear every now and then. It's really very social when friends and family visit.

My front room has a bay window like yours. We knocked through so that the old dining room is the kids playroom (no natural light) and that leads directly to our seating area which has a 2m roof light.

Bi fold windows across the whole back of the house 6m. It doesn't feel dark at all.

If you're having a TV in the main reception room, plus the kids will presumably have a TV & sofa in the play room, you don't need a 3rd TV and sofa area in the kitchen

the playroom won't have a TV or sofa in. kids are very young. the front room is a snug for the evenings but I wanted a seating area in the kitchen for the day time as a family space when cooking etc

Or you could add a dining area to an island, which would then give you the sofa / TV area on the opposite side.

Thanks thats an interesting idea. A lot to think about.

Any thoughts on the hallway issue?

Although it’s not ideal having a room with no natural light, I think having 3 living spaces down stairs is a great luxury to have if you can. What you want now for your young kids will evolve very quickly over time. We added a side and back extension to a standard 3bed 50s house to create the big kitchen/dining/lounge + lounge + what we call the hole. Now my 12 year old loves the hole to play Xbox, my 10 year old takes the lounge to play switch and we have the sofas/tv in the big room. (Then go to the lounge once kids are in bed). Definitely think about your design for the future. What you value with pre schoolers, is not what you need/want with older kids. Being able to shut away the noise of gaming is a god send, especially when we don’t want them to have tech in their bedrooms.

Looking at your plans… I think you want to maybe incorporate the current dining room into the big kitchen room, and then try to put your other reception room on the left somewhere so that it can have light from a side window (even if it’s frosted). It’s not always that easy to move a kitchen across to the other side of the house.

Could you leave the toilet where it is, and then pinch a bit of the study space to create a larger utility room? Or knock the existing toilet and utility together, and then pinch a bit of the study for a new toilet which could be accessed via the utility room or study room.

You could then use the under stairs space for cloakroom and shoe storage. Or create a combined boot room & utility room space.

Sounds obvious but As kids get older their clothes and shoes get bigger, and there seems to be more of them! School Shoes, trainers, wellies, football boots, school plimsoles etc.

I agree with PP - the kids needs will Change very quickly and whilst they don't currently need a TV it would be sensible to put in TV points to future proof your house so you don't need to do more electrical
Work in the future.