Please critique my plans. . .

[KatiMaus]

Hi everyone
We're going through the process of extending our house - converting the attached double garage into living space and building on top.

I'm broadly happy with the upstairs layout, but the downstairs is proving more difficult. I don't like it and can't put my finger on why!

The 'lounge' part to the left hand side is already there. The rest is a great big knock through into the garage. I don't know if it feels too big, weirdly shaped or just lacking something.

Please tell me what you think - am I overthinking this, or does it look a bit of a mess. Thanks guys.

P.S. I should also say that this has taken a whole year to get to this point and we're both at the point where we're just totally drained and not really looking objectively at things .

I would put patio doors where the window is from the living room and as you’re putting bifolds on I’d block up the door and window in the extension.

I’d then build an under stairs pantry utilising all of that space from the stairs to where the old door was.

I’d make the office slightly bigger by moving the wall with the door further into the hall and instead of having a cupboard off the study I’d make that one long walk in closet accessed from the hall.

You’d have to walk from your living room, through to the far side of the kitchen, then through the utility, to reach the loo. It needs to be off your hall I think. Not sure where you’d put the office though, maybe utility and loo get swapped with the office?

It’s too open plan but sectioned. It needs to flow. Think about how you are going to use it and what space you will use when.
how will you move around?

who in you family will use which spaces and when?

I agree about hall storage and the office being too small. Also about the downstairs toilet being too far from the main living room. If the first floor is extended on the same footprint, the kitchen will be very dark if no roof lights. I like the position of the utility, access straight to garden (and from front of house? As mum of footballers I'd have loved access from the front of house straight into utility!) The "snug" won't be snug in summer with doors open and people moving through the house. I'd go for bigger hall with plenty of built-in storage, try to move downstairs loo to be off the hall and increase the size of the office. I'd extend the wall between office and hall towards the kitchen, move the double doors down and rotate 90 degrees, put the snug where the left side of the kitchen is and move the kitchen towards the back.

Just to add, by bigger hall I mean longer towards the back but skinnier if you can move the wall of the office to the left, nearer the front door.

I think the back door situation will be annoying as you either have to squeeze past the table or walk through the lounge area to get to the garden. I would keep the current back door and lose the doors by the table.

I think you've turned the kitchen into a corridor in that plan. To get to the toilet from anywhere other than the kitchen you have to walk through the kitchen.... the toilet would be better where the office is, accessed from the hall. The 'snug area' isn't snug - it's sofas in a large open plan area. A snug is a separate cosy space. Perhaps split the lounge on the left into 2, have the office and a snug in there. Move the toilet into the current office, keep the utility room where it is and have a kitchen diner with your sofas as on your plan.

Also the bit on the left under the stairs is just a dead bit if space. Do you have plans for that?

"I think you've turned the kitchen into a corridor in that plan" @SleepingisanArt has summed up exactly what I was thinking.

That floor space between the island and the workbench/cupboards behind it is going to become a very high-traffic, thoroughfare area. I can totally see why it's right in the middle of the house, and you're probably looking for the kitchen to be the hub of the house, but the traffic areas aren't quite right.

And I agree with others who say that people will find it annoying to cut between islands, tables, and sofas, to make their way to where they want to go to.

Moving the downstairs loo (ideally to be off the hall) feels like the big thing here that would make this so much more workable.

(I also agree with @FrangipaniBlue about a bit pantry / storage space in that dead space under the stairs. I'd remove that window - the bifolds face the same way, so presumably it's not needed for an extra angle of light?).

You need to consider the whole volume of the space to see if it will feel too large
In order to design a comfortable larger space the height of the room is very important
Too low and the ceiling starts to ‘fall in on you’
Larger spaces need higher ceilings to be comfortable
So
what’s the proposed finished ceiling height
and what’s the room dimensions