Tiny bungalow…..

[MinnieGirl]

We currently live in a 3-bed terrace in a not very nice part of a not very nice town. We are in the south east, and the area is the one everyone wants to avoid..
Both getting older, have mobility issues so stairs becoming a problem. Looked at flats but would miss outside space and don’t want leasehold and service charges. A bungalow would be ideal, but…there are very few for sale and they are either beautiful chalet bungalows that are way too pricey, or complete wrecks that need gutting.

So one has come on the market that is in our price range. Nice area, parking nice garden and two good size bedrooms. Kitchen is tiny but I think we could make it work. The stumbling block is the living room…. It’s very nice, double doors leading out to the garden… but it’s our only living space. No dining room, and not even a table. Current owners eat their meals on an occasional table.
The house itself is lovely. Modern, up to date, neutral decor. We could move in and do nothing. We could meet the asking price and it’s a much nicer area than the one we currently live in. But is that living room too small? We would not be able to move again as we would be using a lot of savings.

Thank you! I would love a little conservatory on the back of the house, but realistically, we can’t afford it. We will be dipping into savings to part fund this move so it’s really not an option.

We sleep seperately

From the floor plan can you move the entrance and swap that area for the bathroom to be by bed 1 and have the rest of the house apart from bathroom and bedrooms as open plan? The entrance door would be into the open plan area but with a big mat could work

Thank you for that insight

Erm, we live in a cottage and have always had a gateleg table - although not one with pack away chairs. I don't at all get what you mean by bedsit. Hardly anyone I know has a big table that doesn't fold in some way

Thank you everyone for your insights and encouragement! Building work conservatories and knocking down walls aren’t things we are looking at doing. We like the layout, just need to make a smaller space work. I think the main thing is it would benefit us so much.

Would live to see what you’ve done, thank you

In our bungalow we have a seatee that splits our lounge across 3/4 for lounge and dining table with four chairs behind it with space to seat four people comfortably. The seatee against the wall would have taken up too much space.
Is something that possible for you?

Meant to add one end of seatee is next to wall, but so much space is available as a result.

A conservatory would be the obvious solution but you could also consider removing some/all of the wall between the lounge and kitchen - replace with base units with seating and you gain more kitchen storage and a dining area but the kitchen is still separate-ish. We rented an air bnb once that had this arrangement and I really liked it.

Has it got garden space for a conservatory? That could be your dining space if you can add one on?

Flat dweller here! We've lived in 2 flats with tiny kitchens and dining tables in the living room. Our last living room was 2.5m x 3m and current is 3x5m. We've had a 3 seater sofa, armchair and table of approx. 90x60cm + chairs in both. Also occasional tables and a storage chest.

It's never occurred to me they look like a bedsit, but we have nice wooden furniture etc.

As someone else has said you only need to keep 2 chairs out day to day and there are lots of attractive options for folding chairs that can be stored Eg under a sofa or even hanging from a wall.

Also helps if you can 'zone' the living room, someone suggested a good layout with table in the wall opposite French doors already.

We keep a plant pot and some candles on the table so it blends with the room, can easily be moved if we need more space.

For hosting we tend to only do sit down meals for max 6 people but have had 17 for more buffet or cake type things. And if you have a garden you'll be able to host out there in the summer - if a conservatory is out of budget might a pergola or gazebo work?

Check out futon company for good looking and practical small space furniture (they often have a sale on).

Sorry just saw you dont want to do a conservatory.
My nan has a bungalow like this, so they have a nice outside set and patio heater for summer. And inside they never had a dining table, they have foldaway tables for the living room that you can put up in front of the sofas. So they never bothered with a dining table at all. They have sofas and coffee table rather than dining table and srems to work as they are very happy there.

I have a small 2 bed bungalow, there's three of us, we're a (reasonably) young family. Table like this works really well for us. We don't use it for every meal but we use it often.

@MinnieGirl you mention a garden, is the room to extend? Even a conservatory could add a little dining area if you really needed one?

This is a very similar set up to ours. The elderly couple who had it before us had the furniture set up in the living room so it was almost cut in half and the back half was a dining area, but that didn't work for us as a family.

We put a corner sofa on the back wall so you can chill and look out the big doors to the garden. A folding table (very similar to the Dunelm one a PP put) is against the wall at a right angle to our fire place and it has plants / seasonal ornaments / cards etc on it, gets set up when we want to use it to eat.

Storage the other side of the fireplace, also where the TV lives. Then an ottoman against one of the big windows (it's a strange window/door set up and only the middle opens) which is where all DDs "living room toys" go on an evening.

It's very doable. We did the same as you're considering, bought smaller than ideal to be in the area we want. Don't regret it for a second, just have to be smart about it.

You could still be smart with the second bedroom. Get a really nice day bed and keep the space versatile with a small desk or table if you do other activities so you can have separate living spaces at times if required.

It sounds lovely and if it is with mobility in mind, small is good. My dad has a tiny flat but it came into its own after surgery as nothing was more than a few steps away.

I’m the opposite! Everyone I know has a dining table and chairs and I don’t know anyone with a folding table. This forum is so good to get insights into things we are not familiar with.

put a rectangular table against wall backing onto bed 2 underneath table place a bench so when more than the two of you for dinner you can pull table out and they can sit on bench with backs to wall,

have two comfy dining chairs so if having friends for coffee they can be turned round to face rom as extra seating ( you could have two extras, in the bay of bedroom to bring into living room if required something like this

thefurnituremarket.co.uk/cooper-vintage-tan-brown-leather-dining-chair?gad_source=1&gad_campaignid=6451975376&gbraid=0AAAAAD7XYn3zygOLjDMhbnAffSNpSIKNk&gclid=CjwKCAjwpMTCBhA-EiwA_-MsmXUmJgI6eeM8Ex4nd9lXmjay8mj1-hHT-alFdG7Gt2SyKxEeG15B2hoCKlwQAvD_BwE

in the alcove fit a dresser or sideboard with bookshelves above, you can store all your extra crockery and cutlery in sideboard just keeping enough in the kitchen for 2, and above you can display phots store books or whatever
have a Tv above fireplace you can get ones that look like a mirror or art when not in use
sofa against kitchen wall, ottoman style coffee table in centre which could be seating armchair in the corner by the french doors

That’s nice! So many good ideas on here.

That is really helpful, thank you so much! As I’ve just replied to someone else, I don’t know anyone who has a folding table and all I could think of was one room living. It seems it’s more popular than I realised! Hope no offence has been taken. I will check out that company, thank you

That is exactly why I posted in here! I really like that and we had previously looked at a bench…. Thank you so much.

I wouldnt have a coffee table in the middle of a room, I think they take up space and are really inconvenient. Everytime you want a sip of your tea or wine, you have to keep leaning forward or shuffling forward depending on your sofa type

Side tables are all you need, then you leave the space in the middle free for getting in and out of the garden doors and pulling the table out if you want to have the full dining table out

I was going to say we previously had a rectangular dining table with benches in a small kitchen and it took up vastly less space then chairs because you don’t need room to pull them out behind, but you could have bench for extra seating and a couple of proper chairs on the non-wall side for every day, alternatively you could have a little round bistro table and 2 chairs either against the wall slightly facing out to the french doors (the way they would be at a pavement cafe) or even in the alcove corner if big enough with some nice art above. There should be plenty of space for a 2 seat sofa or small L plus an armchair facing in from a corner - maybe a rug just under the sofa/armchair to designate that as a separate space? Definitely have a look on Pinterest at ideas for apartment living. Obviously yours is a house but you’ll find creative layouts for small spaces.

Edited/removed since you are looking to do this.

Didn’t see this drawing before I posted but this is exactly what I envisaged!