How narrow is too narrow for a snug??

[GF79]

So we've a (1st world) dilemma. 2 kids and 2 adults in a 4 bed house (3 big beds a boxroom which is also a permanent office for WFH husband) but it feels like we're outgrowing the space.

We LOVE the location, proximity to schools, local friends and neighbours etc and for other reasons would really rather not move if we can help it. The only option we have is a side extension, which could give us a cloakroom/WC, utility, snug and lower ground floor office, which would free up the much needed 4th bedroom and get a lot of stuff out of other rooms. BUT the maximum internal width would be 1.7m. I think this would be fine for the utility and for the cloakroom/WC but would it feel too pokey for a snug? It would have a sloping ceiling and skylight too...Im thinking of a comfy chair/sofa bed (a double would fit it mainly used as a sofa), some plants, possibly a flat screen TV and guitars mounted on the wall. Is this a ridiculous idea?!

If anyone has managed to make a decent room of a similar width I'd love to hear from you/see pics! Or if anyone has seen/done similar and would advise against it, I'd also love to hear from you! We don't want to spend a fortune to feel like we've an extra cupboard (as handy as that would be 😂).

Get tape or rope and mark out the space to better visualise the size.

Have you checked what size the toilet needs to be ?
Where I am in Scotland If you add or move a downstairs toilet it must be a minimum size as it needs to be accessible. Neighbour in my street added a side extension, she wanted a shower room but due to regulations she could only have a toilet. It’s plenty big enough to fit a shower but it wasn’t allowed.

1.7m wide by 7.8m long? Have I read that right? That's going to be a very difficult space to use

I think you'll have to split it in 2. Have an L shape sofa at one end with a TV on the long wall opposite the long side of the L. Then at the other end turn it into a reading room/music room. I don't think you'll be able to make 8m of space feel like one area if it's less than 2m wide. It's going to feel more like a corridor!

No we couldn't really. It's a kitchen diner and the doing room end (the larger bit) couldn't accommodate a sofa too unfortunately

If a sofa bed takes up the entire width of the room, when its folded out, whoever uses it will need to crawl from the foot of the bed to get inside it. Just something to consider if this is to be used by elderly family members, or anyone with any mobility issues.

Looking at your drawing it looks like the cloakroom part is going to be about 70cm wide (170cm minus 90cm for the WC minus 10cm for a stud wall). Am I reading that right? I think that's going to seem incredibly narrow once you've got coats and shoes on the floor. Imagine all of you going in and out at the same time to get your things when you leave the house - I think it will be a bottleneck.

We've bought a house that has been extended several times and we're now reconfiguring the whole downstairs. Because although there's plenty of floor space, there are multiple small rooms that aren't very usable. Our architect says that this is a common issue with just adding on extra space/rooms with an extension and that you need to look at the house as a whole and whether you need to rejig other parts of it to make sure the extension properly integrates with it.

I would suggest speaking to an architect who will look at the house holistically.

Can you get a bit of extra
Space by using the under the stairs area to widen part of the room, perhaps enough to get the telly in,
Storage etc? Then you have the rest of the room for a
Sofa / chair coffee table etc?

This is an excellent point! I think I'm trying to squeeze too much in to justify the cost...maybe just a very small sofa, small coffee table, shelves above the sofa as someone suggested and a TV would be enough...
.

I'd declutter and get everyone to only have 1 jacket by the door, and 1 pair of shoes. The rest are kept in their bedrooms.
I'd also build a separate garden office, or transform your cellar rooms, as they sound like they're full height?
Adding a random pokey side extension doesn't sound like a great option.

This is a good point. So far my WC thoughts are Pinterest influenced and ice not checked the rules! Our house isn't accessible anyway (steps up to front door, door definitely not wide enough for a wheelchair as this has been an issue with friends not being able to come to ours) so making an accessible toilet inside and accessible house would sem a bit ridiculous but I will certainly check, thanks.

Haha I've been trying the one coat and one shoes rule for years 😂. My husband is the worst for this so there's no chance the kids will do it, it really has been a losing battle and the storage under the stairs and in the hall was the compromise.
I'm wondering if the garden office and a smaller side extension with just utility and cloakroom WC might be a better bet...Wil have to price it up.

Thanks for his. Unfortunately that's not an option as meters are in there so we need to keep that wall where it is I think. Though the outside meter will need to be moved so maybe they do need to after all 🤔. I'll have to look into this, thanks for mentioning this space!

So i'd read (not anywhere official so I need to check this) that 70cm was the minimum width for a room with a WC so was thinking 70 for this, 10cm stud wall and 80 for the cloakroom which is essentially just the place to hang the coats and put the shoes that is recessed from the hallway. I sé your point about the bottleneck though, we have this issue in the hall which is about 1.7m width in total!

Great idea about the architect looking at the house as a whole. We've someone coming over next week and I'll mention this specifically. I was going they could advise on the feel of the potential new spaces but great point about the flow of the whole house.

Thanks!

Just to mention that, if wall space is an issue, a remote-controlled drop-down screen and a decent quality projector can be a great way of watching TV.

Yes about those dimensions in total but we'd be separating them into distinct spaces with walls between. I agree one long space would feel like a corridor! I guess I'm trying to work out if 3 spaces would be too many small spaces though..maybe I'm best abandoning the thought of a snug and having a slightly larger cloakroom/WC and utility...

Great idea, thanks!

You mentioned the skylight but will it also have a window? I can't see this. I think I'd rejig to have utility and cloakroom together off the kitchen. Have little room ,office at the front. It will be a useful space, whether it can be a snug is another thing. Toy room, hobby room. I have a similar small room off the hall but it's wider so we can get a bed in it. But I sometimes wonder about opening it up to the hallway to have a large reception/hall space with good storage and stairs going up in the middle and a nice chair.

If you really need to shoehorn a toilet in, we did this in a previous property. As someone else said, you'd need to check the local regs though.

We have a snug that's semi open to our kitchen, which is a slightly different situation to yours as one wall is glass doors and one wall is the opening. It's 2.45m x 3.45m and it's a cozy, but very small, room. I can post a few photos if it would be helpful?

I think looking at your floor plan I would just put a cloakroom/bootroom, bathroom and utility. Those will be incredibly valuable rooms to have and there is no need to try to squeeze in a snug as well just to get your "money's worth". The space you've drawn for coats will be almost impossible to walk through honestly when you look at the measurements.

Just speaking as someone who has endlessly measured, drawn and redrawn plans for my own house! I definitely vote 3 decent rooms over 4 claustrophic ones.

Thank you! I'm starting to agree this would be the best option 😊. I think when it seems to tricky to make it work it's often because it's not going to work!

If you put the cloak room next to the fridge freezer either accessible from kitchen or hallway

that leaves where the click room is now - to put a cuddle chair/armchair and book cases in corner - to make a nook and widens the entrance hall. This in turn would give space

It might. If it's not too large you can mount a corner bracket so it's on the long wall but position the TV so it's mostly on the back. A pocket door goes into the wall so it wouldn't matter.

I would worry that without a window it will feel smaller.

This type of room with a picture window onto a garden works but if you can't look into the distance it will feel more cramped.

It can probably be made to work. If you really need guest bedroom space regularly then it might be worth it.

Same if you've got someone practicing music. Only you know how you live in terms of the value.

But decluttering is always worth it.

Would there be any way to rejig access to make the utility the middle room? This is the darkest and most constrained part in the centre but for a utility that's fine.

Have a snug or office at the back overlooking the garden. It might still be narrow but with a big window it would be a very different feel and a much nicer space.

Ooh this is a good idea...we're quite high up so have amazing views from the back so a picture window would be a bonus. The one concern I had is my husband would love a wider fridge freezer and space to store things like an air fryer etc that we currently can't accommodate and having to go through a snug to get to the utility for the fridge could be a pain...plenty to think about though, thanks!

Thanks. Of course the picket door goes into the wall, thanks for reminding me of that!

Good point about the lack of window, thought the skylight would let in natural light I appreciate it wouldn't have the same feel.

So much to think about here, thanks for your help!