Living room/Diner.....budding designers please help....

[sel2223]

Wondering whether this mid link house would work for our family of 4 (4 yo and pregnant with second) plus dog. It's not massive so we're having to get a bit creative.

One question we have is whether the lounge could work as a lounge/diner with a layout similar to my scribble below! The room is 12'8 x 11'4 so I know it's not a big space but is it a realistic, workable option? (thinking a smaller style corner sofa in front of window. TV on opposite wall behind door).

Included an inspo pic just to show what I mean with the sofa and dining table side by side - obviously it's a different way round in that pic.

We are looking to create a 'grown up' room to chill in at night and a place to entertain family/friends occasionally. We would then use the actual kitchen/diner as a family/breakfasting room and play space.

It looks super tight and checking your biggest dimensions and the floor plans of my house it’s as wide as my living room and I can’t imagine having a dining table in the space. If it’s something you really want I wouldn’t go forward. You don’t want a small sofa if your going to have 4 of you

Could you perhaps get a fold down table that sits against the left hand wall, and folding chairs that store in the under stairs cupboard or even hang on the left hand wall?

How many people do you think you’d be aiming to entertain for at dinner?

The folding table could then be styled as a side table most of the time. A lamp, a plant, some ornaments or whatever.

So is it a flexi room that would be a formal dining room for guests and then at other times an adult TV room? If so - and its only the two of you watching TV - I dont think that you need an L shaped sofa as this would take up too much room. If you want the chaise bit - I always thinks its best to have this as a separate pouffe which can be moved between users and then out of the way.

A dining table for 6 people would take up most of that room as you would need 3ft around the table for chairs pulled out when people are sitting on them and enough space to walk behind them.

As PP have said you could have a drop leaf table with stacking or foldable chairs (kept in cupboard) for most of the time and set up just for guests.

Then your sofa could be modular so that you can move each piece separately and store under stairs or in bedrooms when you needed this to be a dining room.

However I dont think it is possible to have both table/chairs and sofa set up all the time....It would not be a great space for you either. You could have the TV mounted on the LHS wall above drop leaf table and the sofa on the RHS wall (get two pouffes!)

Thank you very much for the advice, you've all confirmed what I knew deep down unfortunately.

This is a great house in the most perfect location but the sacrifice for a more desirable location near a great school means very small rooms!!

It's only 2 bedrooms which means our girls would have to share a room so trying to find room for a play space elsewhere in the house.

Forgetting the living room/diner idea and keeping the kitchen diner as the only dining room, would something like this work in the living room? A small play corner with a partition of some sort for separation.....

If you are moving for schools, could you rent, get DC1 in and then move to a place with more space?
Please check your LA admissions policy though. In my area, catchment usurps siblings so you would not be able to do what I have suggested.

We're relocating from abroad and using my father's address to get a school place aa he lives very close to the school and we will be living there initially.
Catchment usurps siblings in this area too so we are really trying to find a suitable house in the right location or we'll be forced to move again in a few years.

Is there anything you can do with that massive hallway space? I suspect it would be a compromise, as you have the stairs and doors everywhere, but that looks to be a decent space..

Be careful using your Dad's address. We were asked for proof of address (plus plane tickets) when we returned from abroad and wanted school places.

My dad's has been a care of address for several years and DD and I are officially registered there so i can provide proof of address if requested. We will also genuinely be living there when we first return to the UK and DD hopefully starts school but we do want to stay in catchment so as not to muddy the waters.

This is a full floor plan of the downstairs, you are right, the hallway is relatively big compared to the other rooms but I'm not sure how to reconfigure any of it.
The downstairs w.c. we plan to turn into a utility. The cupboard is under the stairs so sloping ceiling.

So I think I agree with the others that it won't be viable to be permanently usable for those two things but I think it would be viable to do a small sofa with a foot stool and then a drop leaf table + folding chairs.

If you are going to use it as a sitting room for all of you, then surely (unfortunately) you'll need enough sofa that it will be taking up the majority of the room? Unless you're the sort of family that doesn't sprawl on sofas like we do!

I have a room about the same size and it has a 2 seater and a 3 seater sofa, a big TV not on the wall (though would save and create a lot of playing space if it was) , a small coffee table and just about enough room to lie on the floor with my arms out.

There would be enough space for kids to be playing in front of the sofas if I put the TV on the wall but I'd struggle to partition it so that it was separated from the living space.

How long would you be planning to live there? Could this be a 5 year house?
I think now I have seen the kitchen it's doable, you would just have to make it is clutter free

That's exactly what it is, a 4-5 year house until I can get second baby into the school!

@Ineffable23 thank you for your reply, that's really helpful hearing how you live in a room the same sort of size.

I think this is all a 'me' problem as I'm panicking a bit about the amount of toys and baby stuff we're going to have.
Where we live at the moment, it feels like my living room is a constant mess with kids stuff so I dream of a separate space i can shove it all! Might have to wait till the next house for that though.

Is there an upstairs loo? Could you live without the WC downstairs? I'd consider taking that out (leaving the plumbing in situ? If you can?) and taking the wall down, leaving a really big hallway with space for a play area.

Yes there is but we plan to convert the downstairs one to a utility room.

Washing and toys are my two biggest issues in my current (very open plan) house 🤣
I can live with smaller rooms if there's more of them for different functions

Do you have a plan with dimensions as that part of the kitchen doesnt look big enough for a table and chairs?

I would be tempted to add a cheap extension/conservatory that was the play room as children always go in and out of the garden and trail everything back to the kitchen also so that they are in eyelien. If that was out of budget I would consider a little log cabin to play and store toys with a covered bit like many schools have for outside play connected to the house - depending where you are in UK you would get almost year round use.

I wouldnt lose my downstairs loo with small children - also might devalue property or be a deal breaker for resale. Could you build a utility cupboard next to the loo at the bottom of the stairs - parrallel to existing cupboard opp front door?

I don't have a plan with dimensions but you are right that the dining part at the back of the kitchen is only small.
It could have worked with small sofa and play area or dining table, not both and not room for anything else.

No extra funds for extension unfortunately but will look into your suggestion for a little log cabin. That may be something we can consider in a year or 2.

I do understand your thoughts on keeping the downstairs wc over a utility but that's definitely the right option for our family although we may consider a 'loo-tility', there isn't the right space there for a separate cupboard at the entrance unfortunately.

Luckily it's a very popular area because of the school so I'm not worried about resale.

I'm not sure any kids needs a separate play space. Play is part of everything so you can have some toys in the bedroom and others in a big cupboard in the living room and craft things in a cupboard in the dining room etc. it can work.

Would you need to move again due to secondary school?

No, it's an academy 4-19 years

Thanks, you are probably right. We just need to be tidier and more organised than we are currently and think about better storage

The plumbing for the downstairs loo can just be capped off anyway if you converted to a utility - so could be reinstated by any future buyer.

And you could potentially dismantle and take any log cabin with you or sell it if you needed cash - so not a bad investment.

Looking at the last floor plan - the dining part looks v small and its possible to guestimate it is half the size of the lounge which makes it very tight for a table and chairs and also to get past to the garden would be a frequent route with young children.

In this case I would put a sofa on the LHS wall and mounted TV on RHS wall of dining part of kitchen. It would have nice views of the garden and I would decorate with rugs, lamps, plants, textiles etc to feel cosy.

I would also move the units currently on the RHS inside the kitchen door to the otherside to create an L peninsula which would give you much better surface space to work on and opportunity for a couple of stools to feed DCs at breakfast bar. You could also plumb your washing machine and dryer (integrated / covered) in under the peninsula with access from the dining side - so you have a folding station with the peninsula worktop above (and you get to keep your downstairs loo which I cant imagine being with out with young children).

You would need to knock out that little bit of wall on the RHS for your walkway.

I would also consider making making an access to the existing lounge from the kitchen and I would use the existing lounge as a playroom with good storage. I would have a long dining table seating 6/8 which would keep one half clear for family meals and the other end for the endless crafts/homework etc - so you dont have to interrupt, pack away or move all that stuff 3 times a day to eat.

So I think with little kids it’s workable.

What I might do is get a coffee table for the lounge which turns into a dining table, and also a decent wipeable rug for underneath it. You could store a couple of real chairs and a high chair in that nice big cupboard. If you’re all dining together or have guests you could extend it. A bit like this.

https://www.amazon.co.uk/KIMENICH-Multifunctional-Storage-Converted-Adjustable/dp/B0CR3PLKF8/ref=asc_df_B0CR3PLKF8/?tag=googshopuk-21&linkCode=df0&hvadid=697212505566&hvpos=&hvnetw=g&hvrand=14594329623493110103&hvpone=&hvptwo=&hvqmt=&hvdev=m&hvdvcmdl=&hvlocint=&hvlocphy=1007084&hvtargid=pla-2292033709113&psc=1&mcid=476e9310208f351585615e4688818e00&gad_source=1

Then in the current dining room along the right hand side I would have a nice small table with comfy chairs which the kids could use for crafts etc but which you could also eat at if you wanted to. Then along the other side big toy storage. So that room is really the playroom too. You could even consider knocking a hatch of some sort into the lounge so you can see what’s going on between the two rooms.

A bit like this.

furniture123.co.uk/p/oak-drop-leaf-dining-table-set-with-2-green-fabric-chairs-seats-2-rudy-bunrdy00290135?awaid=74728&utm_campaign=531573_ShopForward+CSS&utm_medium=affiliate&sv_campaign_id=531573&gad_source=1&gbraid=0AAAAAC6-WbbiVNDUSekI-GvdDjkr9whuM&gclid=CjwKCAjwyfe4BhAWEiwAkIL8sJTJXJN7pWK56IHSPlres43-42jKuz6Yml77CBbp6o8YIAfXMqliHBoCplIQAvD_BwE

Then I’d get a good gazebo/ pergola and have it at the end of the kitchen with some garden furniture so you’ve got space to play/ eat outside whenever the weather is half decent.

https://www.tesco.com/groceries/en-GB/products/325091139?sc_cmp=ppcGHS+-+Grocery+-+NewMPX_PMAX_All_OT_Marketplace+Garden+%26+DIY_Marketplace+Budget_1011013**325091139*&gad_source=1&gbraid=0AAAAADiyNat_qoRRMJFR2YP-KYLiRRwlK&gclid=CjwKCAjwyfe4BhAWEiwAkIL8sEfTiCPr0IWnyKfvokhCDt0NaFN0oqCWjizk6RMRkBtqORPARYTfMhoCzZUQAvD_BwE&gclsrc=aw.ds

Rotate toys regularly and be ruthless- some storage in the garden would also be a good idea.