help me reconfigure my house- PLEEESE!

[cocopops]

we live in a terrace with no rear access hence big problems and big costs with building extension as everything needs to come through the house.

So, i am thinking of other options either to reconfigure or I wondered if a glass conservatory thing from e.g. Apropos would cost less?

at the back of house is separate dining room which is next to a kitchen. Dimensions are Dining Room: 3.65 and 2.7 and kitchen 3.7 x 3.5). We replaced kitchen a couple of years ago.Off the kitchen is an offshoot which isn't insulated, has a low ceiling and as a result is freezingin winter.We only use in summer- it also houses tumble dryer and boiler.

Options:

1. Convervatory added on to the offshoot- do you need as deep foundations for that?

1. knock down wall between kitchen and dining room and create a kitchen diner or a kitchen family room. I don't know if this room which also houses the kitchen would be big enough though- it would be about 7 x 5. i'd also put sliding doors onto the back patio area.

The offshoot could be turned into a utility room and part study.

1. move kitchen to offshoot (this is what neighbours have) - it would be narrow and no space for eating. We could then knock down wall between kitchen and dining room for a big space. I could perhaps thenfit in a utility room which i'm desperate for.

1. get a modern glass conservatory- however the area i'm talking about gets no sunshine and is generally not that nice.

I am going off my head trying to work something out as I dislike the back of my house immensely at the moment!

advice please!

I HATE conservatories so I'm going to veto that idea: I think they are suburban, middle-aged, rarely have a proper function and end up being used as dumping grounds. I don't know anyone who has one that does that much with them.

I would go for knocking dining room and kitchen together and beefing up the lean-to extension to give you a really good utility room with drying space for laundry and, if it is big enough, study area, otherwise I would put in a downstairs loo if you don't already have one and make it what my US SIL calls a mud-room - somewhere that children can remove muddy clothes, wash hands etc when coming in from garden without tramping mess through house. By moving as much as possible into offshoot - can this be extended?) you would need less in the new kitchen/family room (7m x 5m sounds pretty generous to me) and it would work pretty well. Block off the old door to the kitchen so that people would have to enter through the old dining room.

If you're going to be knocking down walls or building extensions, there is going to be a certain amount of upheaval whether builders come through house or not - you just have to grit teeth and make sure that they clean up after themselves. Hellish but worth it.

lala- I have to disagree with that, we had our consevatory put up at the end of last year and we use it every day.

We have normal sofas in there, the kids have toys and we quite often sit in there as a family, so there!!

But if the house has no rear access - don't the muddy children actually enter by the front door?

I have a friend who has a large conservatory that she uses as a family room, it has an archway (with no doors) through to the dining kitchen. It has two proper leather settees, not this uncomfy wicker stuff, the TV, the children's toys etc in there. Then she uses the living room which is actually smaller than the conservatory as an adult sitting room cum study. Her conservatory is north facing.

I hate traditional conservatories- what I had in mind was an urban glass structure along these lines:

www.clearspan.co.uk/uno-250.htm

But- i don't know if there would be the same problems/cost in building these are there would be an extension?

Do you think the 7x5 would fit a kitchen, sofa AND dining table or do you think that would be too cluttered- this is my dilemma!

Glad to hear that you get plenty of use from yours but I just HATE conservatories, OK? It's no exaggeration to say that every time I see one, I fight the urge to attack it with a hammer.

The mud room was for the children when they come in from the garden which, in my experience, is where they tend to get dirtiest.

PS- no rear access means there's no back lane to access the house. There is a back door into the offshoot to get access to and from garden.

We have kitchen, sofa & table in a room smaller than that. It is a little tight, fine if the table is folded but a pushing it slightly when it is out.

Our room is about the same length but narrower - I think the extra width that you would have would make it perfect. It has made a huge difference knocking the two rooms together, made it a really lovely room that we use a lot. I think that if you plan your kitchen and room well it will be fantastic.

Sorry, x-post. Clearspan definitely better than uPVC Victorian palm house look but, unless you have a very clear function for it in mind - and you haven't really said what you would put in it - then I would reconfigure existing space or build a coventional extension.

I do think 7x5 sounds quite big but I guess it depends on the size of the rest of the rooms in your house/size of family/size of furniture you want to use. There are loads of room planning sites on the web that you can use to build up a theoretical layout and see if that size works. My opinion is that you don't need an awful lot of kitchen space, but it needs to work efficiently so it would be best to borrow some of the kitchen area for the living space and build in loads of really good storage. If you can get bulky and ugly items away from the kitchen into a utility, then that is even better.

thanks everyone- keep them coming!

another question-could anyone recommend a room planning site?

I think that kind of conservatory would be fantastic, really let in the light.

This one is quite easy to use. www.magnet.co.uk/kitchen_planner.asp

Agree with lalalonglegs re having a function for conservatory. I think it is the ones without a function in mind and a load of cane furniture thrown in that are a waste of time. I know someone who uses theirs as a dining room for instance. I wouldn't have one myself but that is because I don't wish to give up any of my precious garden.

I would do 2.Refit kitchen along a single wall to free space and put appliances in the utility.If possioble re insulate add on bit and put a glass roof on to make it nicer to be in Could it house a loo?Don't get a conservatory in a tight terrace They are hassle with party wall agreements and just not as nice.Then I would put folding doors in and make the floor continue from family room in similar colour at least 4 ft into the patio so that in summer when teh doors are open you have an extra 4ft of space.This is my fave type of refurb Are you near brighton?

Also I would brick up the door to the garden from the outhouse bit to give more wall space for sheves etc

Agree with LaLa and Boza re conservatory. We had one at our previous house... huge thing. Bloody freezing most of the year. Only useful function was to put the xmas tree in (needles didn't fall due to fridge-like atmosphere).

Also, you need to have a fab garden as you will be spending a lot of time looking at it if you chose the conservatory option.