When do you settle on a house layout?

[OneCyanHiker]

We moved into this house 2 years ago and there’s lots of things that still need doing downstairs. The kitchen is the biggest one. but we can’t decide on whether to extend or just replace. We thought about replacing before we moved in but decided to see how we like it first which was great because the first plan wouldn’t have worked for us at all. But it’s getting a bit silly now.

I would consider what I want from the house first. I would then see if I can achieve what I want with the current house by reconfiguring as that would be the cheapest. If not possible, then consider extending.

I have just posted this elsewhere but worth mentioning here too. When we moved into this bungalow, we wanted to add an en-suite, utility and downstairs toilet. We also wanted to have a kitchen diner lounge space with a separate living room. We have been able to get all of these with just reconfiguring the current house. We initially wanted to extend but actually, we probably don't need that much extra space and probably can't afford it either.