Which house would you choose, based on these floorplans?

[Whichhousetochoose]

Please help wise mumsnetters, as trying to decide which of these two houses is making my head hurt! Both new builds on the same development (next door to each other), both have pros and cons. I’ve attached the floor plans for each house.

Current living situation - me, DH and 4 year old DD, hopefully DC2 one day. Both work from home the majority of the time. My parents would come and stay several times a year (hopefully friends would too). Currently living in a tiny 3 bed end of terrace.

House 1 - large kitchen/dining/family area, with a separate lounge and small study. Bedrooms are good size, although beds 3 and 4 smaller (bed 2 is the biggest). No window in landing area.

House 2 - similar size kitchen & the diner area is smaller than house 1, but has a massive living room and a large family/playroom. All bedrooms are really good sizes, plus has large window on the landing so good amount of light.

So really, I cant decide between having a larger kitchen/diner and thus a smaller living room and study, and two smaller bedrooms (house 1). OR have a smaller kitchen/diner but have a huge living room and playroom/study and have all the bedrooms on the large side (house 2).

Both have garages and space to park two cars. House 2 is £15k more expensive.

Ive been looking at them for so long I can no longer see the woods for the trees! Help!!

It’s a bit hard to tell without room dimensions.

On the face of it, house 2 seems to offer more flexibility for a family’s changing needs as DC grow up - bigger bedrooms, no irregular shaped bedrooms and the family room works as a formal dining room, a home office, a 5th bedroom/guest room, a play room, or a TV room, whatever suits your needs. The study in house 1 looks too small to ever be anything other than a study. House 2 is also probably a better investment for that reason - it will work for more people.

That said, as a PP pointed out, a long thin sitting room can end up with a lot of wasted space and it is very handy to have an open plan kitchen/diner/family room when your DC are very young and can’t be left alone to play. Is there room for a small extending table in the kitchen under the skylights so you could use the dining area as a play space with a sofa for now? You could use the family room as a dual purpose formal dining room/home office so you have another dining space on occasions when you have guests.

I like the downstairs layout of house 1 better, with a comfy area in the kitchen. Guests always end up hanging around in the kitchen. Also good for kids homework etc.

The House 2 living room looks long and awkward to furnish, but perhaps it feels better once inside?

If house 2 looks lovely from the outside then it will be something you think about every time you enter the house and is definitely a strong factor to consider.

They both look fab and I would be very happy with either!

Ive attached the floor plans with the dimensions as a few have asked what they are! (Sorry may need to zoom in!)

The developer gives you the choice in both homes of having the downstairs open plan, or the kitchen & living room separate. I was going to for having them separate as thought open plan may annoy me but maybe I should reconsider that?

House 2.

The 'family room' can be the study while you have one DC / Dc are young, but once Dc are teens it is really useful for there to be a space where they can hang out socially with friends etc. That room is also bigger so possible for an overspill spare room if lots of family stay.

In House 1 there doesn't seem to be a lot of room against a wall to get a wardrobe in in the en suite room. You may or may not want this room as your bedroom - sometimes it works to have the guest room as the en suite.

House 2.
Kitchen & living rooms kept separate.

But I think I'd want a door direct from kitchen to living room at the far end of the room - I'm guessing that end of the long living room wouldn't get much use.

I prefer house one. I like the larger kitchen diner and having the sofa area where you can watch a film etc and have easy access to the kitchen. Option 2 you will have to pause your show every time you go to get a drink. The living room is a nice snug tv room and, because the kitchen is big enough to live in, someone can actually sleep in the living room on a fold out if you need space.

I have actually viewed a house with this exact floor plan on a development.

Without the study, the family room in 2 will surely be used as an office, as where will you keep all your paperwork etc

You can have the same thing showing on as many TVs in the house as you like!
honestly with the measurements I think 2 is even better

Defo house 2.

I think you're more likely to stay there longer if the kids have bigger bedrooms.

I'd also be tempted to turn the long living room into 2 studies for you and DH, assuming the family room is a big enough lounge.

Me too! 😁

House 2 - living room dual aspect and gives direct access to rear. Family room can be used as study if needed.

Open plan is a pain but it can work well when you have very young DC. Adding an internal stud wall in the future is cheap and easy, it’s a pretty simple DIY job.

I think open plan would make house 1 worse. You already have an open plan family area that allows the DC to play or watch TV in sight while you are in the kitchen. The issues with house 1 are the tiny study that can never be anything but a study and the smaller, irregular bedrooms.

The only real downside of house 2 is that you don’t have an area in the kitchen where the children can play in sight while you are cooking (or guests relax if you do a lot of entertaining). Open plan wouldn’t solve that if you use the dining area as a dining area and the sitting room as a sitting area because the DC would still be out of sight. I would play around with furniture layouts to see if open plan or separate rooms would best allow you to have a family area in the kitchen.

It would be easier to add a wall than knock one down if you get it wrong and hate it though 😂

I definitely think house 2 is better suited to your needs in the long term and attractive to a wider range of people. It is a better investment or forever home. Although, in the short term, the downstairs of house 1 would work slightly better for you.

The best solution would have been to square off the corner of house 2 so it could have the same kitchen/diner/family area layout as house 1 but with a larger family room instead of the study. I wonder why they didn’t do that?

This is what I’d probably end up doing if I had that house. House 2 massively wins on the upstairs space. But I think the living room as is will just feel so long & narrow - its only just over 3m wide which really isn’t very big.

This looks good to me too. Would work long term with growing teens too

I think open plan would make house 1 worse.

I think so too.

Upstairs of house 2 does seem better as well.

So glad I made this thread! Just told my husband Id like to go for house 2! Everyone’s input has been invaluable.

Maybe we will keep it open plan then and add a dividing wall later if we need to. My DD is 4 and is notoriously crap at playing by herself so at least I could easily see her if open plan! And plus we may have another at some point so open plan may work better:

@Familiaritybreedscontemptso i really like how you have sectioned it off! Thank you!

I think no.2 would be better long term.

House 2 another vote. I'd go open plan, it's easy to add a wall once you've lived in it and see how your furniture fits and how the family use it.

House 2 has better longevity, the bedrooms will be fine when your children are teenagers.

House 2. Although I would block up the access to the utility from the kitchen, block up the side door , swap the loo and the utility. That would give you more wall space in the kitchen for units.

House 1 big space to look out over the garden and entertaining.

If that’s the case then it sounds like you should go for house 2.

House 2. It will cost you 15k in moving costs alone to get house 2 when you want to trade up!

I WFH and would be happy to share the space with a family room or bedroom. You presumably won't have your child at home while trying to work very often so a shared space is fine.

There's no arguments in future over who has what.

The only potential downside is that the family mixed space is smaller but I think a door on a toy room and separate living room is better for everything other than perhaps the very early years.

Both look nice. 2 sounds like it might suit you more. I wouldn’t find a window on the landing a selling point

House 2

use one of the doubles for office
convert the garage later if needed or stick one of those fancy shed offices out the back.

You need the bigger house for your family if you are having another child and a single will be too small for the average teen

@Whichhousetochoose

Really glad you chose house 2 🎉🎉🎉

the family room will be so valued as a play room for kids and you can have serenity in living room!!