Bigger kitchen or keep downstairs loo?

[poetryandwine]

Hello, MumsNetters -

We have an Edwardian with a cheap and cheerful kitchen. Happily it is time to replace it. It is about 12 feet square. An heirloom table of great sentimental value takes up slightly too much space in the centre, but is a keeper.

At the back end, with its own door from the hallway, there is a downstairs loo/cloakroom that is about 5ft x 8ft.

We could lose the loo and make a door from the kitchen, customising this area as walk in storage. It is a lot of storage. Losing the back worktop and cabinets gives us 2 more linear feet of floor space and would make the room feel much better. At the expense of a downstairs loo.

We have a big closet on the ground floor, and 2 bathrooms on the 1st floor. We could also put a loo in the basement; the door is right by the kitchen and it is already plumbed (we took one out).

DH is very nervous about doing an addition, as the material shortages and time overruns in our area are awful.

Thoughts, please? TIA

If you can get another loo in elsewhere go for it

I believe you are not supposed to remove a downstairs loo due to building regulations. This is because they are so useful to have in old age.

I would prefer to keep the downstairs loo but as you already have more I would consider taking it out. I'm not aware of regulations that state you have to keep it?

Yes. I agree with @starpatch you at not allowed to remove a ground floor loo in the UK so you will have issues when you come to sell as the old floor plans will presumably be available?

Keep the toilet

Future proof your home if it’s your forever home and keep the toilet.

You will be thankful when/if stairs become a mountain to climb.

It comes to us all this thing called old age.

Eh? I’ve had downstairs loos removed in two previous renovations.

OP, a downstairs loo is so useful, both for children and older people. I wouldn’t buy a house that didn’t have one. A friend’s father has now reached the stage where he doesn’t like visiting his DS because they only have a loo downstairs (basement) or upstairs - not on the ground floor and because of mobility issues he finds it hard to get there quickly enough. You say there’s a “big closet” on the ground floor - could you move the loo there instead? You really do only need a very small space for one: you can get corner loos and even loos,with a sink on top of the cistern. But don’t get rid of your downstairs loo!

I just did the opposite and spent a fortune shrinking the kitchen to add a downstairs shower room.

Massive kitchens are so over rated while downstairs bathrooms are incredibly practical.

I’d minimise the stuff in the kitchen (including the heirloom table- sorry) and keep the loo. Could the table go elsewhere? Could you create storage anywhere else for kitchen stuff you’re not using all the time?

@Gerardormikey its part m of building regs and has been in place since 1998. It's to do with making a property less accessible to people. I think lots of people aren't aware of it.

Well, it didn’t stop us selling them, that’s for sure.

They were small Victorian terraces with the only bathroom in the house downstairs off the back of the kitchen.

The bathrooms were moved up to the tiny third bedroom and another bedroom and shower room created in the loft.

The downstairs bathroom incorporated to make the small kitchen/diner larger.

I'd keep the downstairs loo. I'd hate having to run upstairs every time I wanted a wee.

I would keep the loo. Why is the table so important?

We were leaning towards @Gerardormikey ’s view so it us good to see that both the MumsNet hive mind and building regs go the other way.

You’ve spurred us to what we hope is a workable compromise: the loo is 8’ x 5’, rather large. We could lose the worktop and cabinets from the back wall of the kitchen as described in the OP, then extend only 4’ of the 8’ into the loo. That would give us a 4’ x 5’ cavity, less after walls go up, for storage, possibly with a sliding door. It leaves 4’ x 5’ for a loo and sink.

That’s not large but it seems okay, doesn’t it?

(The big ground floor closet is far from plumbing lines and contains the mail slot. I think we would need to change our address if we moved the slot to the front door)

DH and I went round in circles for months before coming to you. Great thanks from both of us.