Page 2 | (floorplan included) any thoughts on extension?

vanHalen · 2025-01-11T11:52:42+00:00

hi all! we’re currently debating whether it’s be worth extending our long galley kitchen to the side? has anyone found a great solution for this kind of elongated space ideally without resorting to a side extension? Currently, ideas are: - move loo & shower under the stairs - knock through the two receptions, - then move kitchen to front room (to fit a kitchen island) - make galley kitchen into a living room would love to hear any ideas or feedback you may have

Original poster

vanHalen · 23/01/2025 11:24

QuickDraining · 12/01/2025 14:52

We have a side return, and a long kitchen, that goes to a bathroom and rear door at the back and haven't a door from the reception room. Our middle room is one big room as the stairs lift between front and reception room.

We have windows that are too low, so it prevents a long work top on the outside wall. We have a door to one side at both ends, and that prevents us from having a galley kitchen. And I would love a galley kitchen done right. Your rear conservatory is a bit odd, but it probably fell under permitted development whereas a side return requires planning permission, and possibly some party wall agreement.

Personally I like the idea of utilising the side return as part of the kitchen, but I worry about light in the middle. I have considered something radical as moving the kitchen into the middle of the house, but a lounge or other room in the existing kitchen wouldn't be that great. I guess bathroom/utility at a push. Sound, ventilation and plumbing is another consideration if you were to move the kitchen.

At least with a galley kitchen you get a good kitchen. If you were to incorporate the side return into a kitchen is there enough room for a kitchen/diner? I look at my space and question that.

The other issue with moving rooms is one of sound. Your neighbours could then be subjected to the loud vagaries of a kitchen. If kitchens are back to back it's not so much a problem.

Edited

I'm not sure I fully get what you mean but would love to know:

At least with a galley kitchen you get a good kitchen. If you were to incorporate the side return into a kitchen is there enough room for a kitchen/diner? I look at my space and question that.

Your point about kitchen noises in the heart of the terrace makes a hell of a lot of sense. This idea is discarded 😂

OP posts:

Original poster

vanHalen · 23/01/2025 11:25

@Cerialkiller that is beautiful! Absolutely love it

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AllTheChaos · 23/01/2025 11:32

Two things to consider:
(1) If you did the side return extension, how much light would the middle of the house get? I’ve been in friends houses where it worked beautifully, and others where the middle of the house (where the second reception room is) became so dark through lack of natural light that it always looked dreary and dim and needed lights on even during the day.

(2) If you decide to switch the living room and kitchen instead of having the return done, check out good examples of skinny living rooms. They can, as a pp said, look like corridors, but don’t have to if you use your furniture well. I have seen them done very well. You can’t just stick sofas against walls though like in a square room! If you use open storage as room dividers, with sofas also this, it can work really well. So the sofas and shelves are at 90 degrees from the walls, if that makes sense?

FiveBlackbirds · 23/01/2025 11:46

@QuickDraining could you get the bottom of those windows bricked up to make the window aperture shorter and change the windows so you can run the worktop down one side?

@vanHalen The independent kitchen designer bit is just to see what ideas they come up with but not to use them to provide the kitchen itself. Shop around, see what suggestions they have.

I agree you could do the side return with a "light well" gap behind the dining room so those doors would open into a small courtyard. It would allow light into that dining room and there would be no alteration to the dining room doors.

Have a tinker on the DIY kitchens planner and see what you can fit in the space. The zoning would work with the toilet at the top of the kitchen on the right hand side because you need a soil pipe and potentially a utility at that top end too. Then a wall then the kitchen. I wouldn't use a macerator toilet, my sister had one and said never again.

Original poster

vanHalen · 23/01/2025 11:57

Gekko21 · 12/01/2025 15:04

I'd question whether a kitchen with your dimensions could be considered a galley kitchen. We are moving from a house with a galley kitchen and it's much narrower than yours. We are moving to a house with a kitchen the same width as yours, but it's not as long and feels much more square than galley. We are planning to move the kitchen to a room with very similar dimensions as yours. The kitchen won't span the whole length but will have a dining table and ample space between units for multiple people to pass around each other.

So I wonder about your current configuration and whether it just needs laying out differently. Any photos you could share?

I've made a diagram as I feel pics too outing 🤦‍♀️

the windows at the right can fit countertops under them but if we don't do the extension we are thinking of making the window floor to ceiling to have more light

(floorplan included) any thoughts on extension?

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JimHalpertsWife · 23/01/2025 11:59

Accessing a conservatory through a toilet is batshit

Original poster

vanHalen · 23/01/2025 12:01

Geneticsbunny · 13/01/2025 10:09

Do you have water drainage at the front of the house? If not then moving the kitchen to the front probably isn't an option.

no water at from of house. Our pipes run along the right hand wall of the kitchen, I've added them in, including the manhole (where the extension would go)

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Original poster

vanHalen · 23/01/2025 12:05

AllTheChaos · 23/01/2025 11:32

Two things to consider:
(1) If you did the side return extension, how much light would the middle of the house get? I’ve been in friends houses where it worked beautifully, and others where the middle of the house (where the second reception room is) became so dark through lack of natural light that it always looked dreary and dim and needed lights on even during the day.

(2) If you decide to switch the living room and kitchen instead of having the return done, check out good examples of skinny living rooms. They can, as a pp said, look like corridors, but don’t have to if you use your furniture well. I have seen them done very well. You can’t just stick sofas against walls though like in a square room! If you use open storage as room dividers, with sofas also this, it can work really well. So the sofas and shelves are at 90 degrees from the walls, if that makes sense?

yes good points. I don't like that tunnel look either.

On the other hand, the middle room is absolutely stunning right now and will suffer from a side extension. Maybe an internal courtyard could help with this?

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AllTheChaos · 23/01/2025 12:18

Internal courtyards can be lovely! It could be open, or a glass box filled with exotic plants and light! (Can you tell that’s my dream?!)

Original poster

vanHalen · 23/01/2025 12:20

FiveBlackbirds · 23/01/2025 11:46

@QuickDraining could you get the bottom of those windows bricked up to make the window aperture shorter and change the windows so you can run the worktop down one side?

@vanHalen The independent kitchen designer bit is just to see what ideas they come up with but not to use them to provide the kitchen itself. Shop around, see what suggestions they have.

I agree you could do the side return with a "light well" gap behind the dining room so those doors would open into a small courtyard. It would allow light into that dining room and there would be no alteration to the dining room doors.

Have a tinker on the DIY kitchens planner and see what you can fit in the space. The zoning would work with the toilet at the top of the kitchen on the right hand side because you need a soil pipe and potentially a utility at that top end too. Then a wall then the kitchen. I wouldn't use a macerator toilet, my sister had one and said never again.

Thanks, going to have a look at the B&Q planner later.
We're keen to have big windows looking into the garden so I'm moving the wee loo and shower away from the top of the kitchen. Could we put that utility in the centre of the house?

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Geneticsbunny · 23/01/2025 12:21

That restricts you quite a bit then. Assuming you are terraced and don't have a basement, you won't be able to put a toilet or sink or shower or washing machine or anything which needs drainage under the stairs unless you also have a pump and if toilet a macerator. Macerator toilets are a total nightmare. Pumps are noisy but not too bad.

You need the kitchen and toilet to be near where the existing waste pipes are. So a downstairs loo would be best either in part of the existing dining room or just at the start of the side extension. It would block light to the dining room though. Realistically the kitchen needs to stay at the back of the house where it is unless you want to take up all the ground floor floors, reinforce/ underpin the foundations and connect into the existing drains under the ground inside the house.

It would be possible to move it into the current dining room though? Or whatever the room next to the kitchen is.

Original poster

vanHalen · 23/01/2025 12:21

AllTheChaos · 23/01/2025 12:18

Internal courtyards can be lovely! It could be open, or a glass box filled with exotic plants and light! (Can you tell that’s my dream?!)

Same! But the cost.....

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Original poster

vanHalen · 23/01/2025 12:25

Okay, this is the totally feasible option you all came up with. THANK YOU. It doesn't have the internal courtyard I'm afraid which is due to budget constraints!

But can we fit a breakfast bar into it? Something L shaped? And a firepit at the end where the glass bit is?

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ChangingHistory · 23/01/2025 12:25

At our old house we moved our kitchen to the front of the house. Only house around here to have done it and people were knocking on the door asking to see the layout.

I loved it and much preferred having the living room at the back overlooking the garden.

Be aware that drainage can be an issue if all the drains are at the back of the house. Ours had to dig up the pavement!

BarnacleBeasley · 23/01/2025 12:29

We have a Victorian semi and could have done a side extension but didn't, as we didn't want to lose the window on the reception room (which was our dining room). Neighbours had this and their dining room was horrible. We also didn't want to spend the money. Ours is slightly different because there was a side door and a little porch before the kitchen, but we've put a utility area and shower room at the end nearest the rest of the house. Then the long kitchen is divided with a peninsula and has a dining area at the back looking out onto the garden. If you did that in yours it would lead into the conservatory.

Original poster

vanHalen · 23/01/2025 12:29

Geneticsbunny · 23/01/2025 12:21

That restricts you quite a bit then. Assuming you are terraced and don't have a basement, you won't be able to put a toilet or sink or shower or washing machine or anything which needs drainage under the stairs unless you also have a pump and if toilet a macerator. Macerator toilets are a total nightmare. Pumps are noisy but not too bad.

You need the kitchen and toilet to be near where the existing waste pipes are. So a downstairs loo would be best either in part of the existing dining room or just at the start of the side extension. It would block light to the dining room though. Realistically the kitchen needs to stay at the back of the house where it is unless you want to take up all the ground floor floors, reinforce/ underpin the foundations and connect into the existing drains under the ground inside the house.

It would be possible to move it into the current dining room though? Or whatever the room next to the kitchen is.

Yes terraced, but we have a basement (small). but your right toilet under the stairs is a crap idea and there's no possibility for a window there.

The room next to the kitchen is currently an office. We have thought of moving the kitchen here but then we're left with a tunnel like space (where the kitchen was). Zoned living room there?

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Original poster

vanHalen · 23/01/2025 12:31

ChangingHistory · 23/01/2025 12:25

At our old house we moved our kitchen to the front of the house. Only house around here to have done it and people were knocking on the door asking to see the layout.

I loved it and much preferred having the living room at the back overlooking the garden.

Be aware that drainage can be an issue if all the drains are at the back of the house. Ours had to dig up the pavement!

Ahh I still love this idea! Don't doubt that neighbours are wondering how they can do it too.

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Original poster

vanHalen · 23/01/2025 12:32

BarnacleBeasley · 23/01/2025 12:29

We have a Victorian semi and could have done a side extension but didn't, as we didn't want to lose the window on the reception room (which was our dining room). Neighbours had this and their dining room was horrible. We also didn't want to spend the money. Ours is slightly different because there was a side door and a little porch before the kitchen, but we've put a utility area and shower room at the end nearest the rest of the house. Then the long kitchen is divided with a peninsula and has a dining area at the back looking out onto the garden. If you did that in yours it would lead into the conservatory.

This seems I good idea for us too. How is the peninsula?

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Bluebootsgreenboots · 23/01/2025 12:34

Love this thread - your floor plan is identical to mine OP. No money at the moment, but when time comes I'm also going to try and avoid a full side return to save the tunnel felling and light in the middle room.
That courtyard is exactly what I had in mind, and maybe a picture window on the side to bring in light (stpp).
But with budget constraints you've made a good call to keep the end of the kitchen open to the garden.

BarnacleBeasley · 23/01/2025 12:36

I've attempted a diagram. Mine is a bit different as I have a side door just beyond the dining room, also it's a fair bit smaller. We really like the peninsula - I wanted an island but our room just isn't big enough for that, so this was a compromise but it works well. We've built in some seating the other side of the peninsula from the kitchen side to maximise the space.

FiveBlackbirds · 23/01/2025 16:02

@vanHalen Loving the more detailed floor plan. It helps.

Can you tell me what the measurement is on the left when you walk into the kitchen? Also on the right for that utility too just to see about cabinet runs

Are those pipes labelled existing? I am assuming the manhole is a shared one that you could possibly dig a trench to and pipe into it. This is the only issue you may have as although I know the internal drops for waste I do not know the external drops within the ground ie the depths they have to be buried at.

Gekko21 · 23/01/2025 16:32

vanHalen · 23/01/2025 12:25

Okay, this is the totally feasible option you all came up with. THANK YOU. It doesn't have the internal courtyard I'm afraid which is due to budget constraints!

But can we fit a breakfast bar into it? Something L shaped? And a firepit at the end where the glass bit is?

This looks like a contender if you don't want to spend lots of money on the side return. I'd put the dining table down the far end so it looks out onto the garden. You could replace the conservatory with a modern glass extension if you want to increase the overall size of the kitchen / diner.