Extension/building work decisions

[existentialextensions]

Morning!

I had some good advice on here recently when I was waiting on quotes for an extension/building work

I've now had a really good quote for around £45k for a 5x3 extension plus forming new utility where my current kitchen is and converting my integral garage (used as a utility) to a study come play room

DH is rubbish about making these kind of decisions and just leaves it up to me but I just can't decide

1- integral garage - do I really want a study and play room. I WFH a lot now. Several days a week and im currently having to work at the kitchen table or the sofa
If I don't make it a study/playroom then do I move the kitchen in there? If the kitchen goes there then I don't get a separate study space or room to shut the door on the kids stuff

2 - thoughts on combining the WC and utility in one room - is that a bit weird? - if I push the whole kitchen into the new extension and have a large open kitchen/diner/family I could have a bigger room if I combine the utility with the WC? Lots of nice Pinterest photos of WM and TD stacked in a cupboard?

1 - I would definitely want a seperate study when WFH a lot. It’s good to be able to ‘shut the door’ on it when you’re finished for the day rather than having a desk in your main living space/bedroom.

2 - a combined WC and utility would really not bother me, especially if it meant more living space elsewhere. I’ve seen some where they actually build a wall between the toilet area and the utility area so the toilet is kind of hidden behind a recess, but still in the same room if that makes sense?

My sister has a combined utility and downstairs loo. It works well. It’s also got the back door in it but they don’t use that much. they also have a shower in there that they find very useful.

we were going to do it as it made much better use of space and we could have had a drying rack. But we use the back door a lot into the utility and it would have been awkward.

I’d want a separate study.dh has the study in our house and it’s great he can shut the door on it. I wfh less so use the kitchen and it puts me off a bit having to put stuff away or getting disturbed while working,

Thanks both

Yes I've seen some great layouts on Pinterest I could use for the utility/wc

One thing the builder said is that it's more sellable down the line to have a large open plan dining/family/kitchen space rather than putting the kitchen in the garage space (single garage)

Have you got a rough layout drawing OP of where the garage is in relation to the existing kitchen? Remember to build the house you’ll need going forward, not just what you need right now.

As kids get older having separate living spaces, with doors that close, can be very useful.

Not the best drawing! Current layout
But you get the gist

Option 1 - full width extension 3m deep to back. Kitchen pushed into extension to form large open kitchen/dining/family space typical of what you see in most houses now.
Where kitchen is now - half of it would be used to form a combined wc/utility
Garage/utility- fake garage door removed, new windows and converted to study/play room

Option 2 - full width extension 3m deep to back.
Kitchen relocated to garage/utility (it has heat and light and power and drainage so services not an issue)
Whole of current kitchen used to form large utility, wc etc - separate rooms
Extension would end up being a 6x3 day room/kids room