Downstairs floor plan suggestions

[LilacZinnia]

We’re considering moving house and have found a house in a great area that ticks lots of boxes for us. The issue is that the downstairs layout doesn’t quite work, so I’d really appreciate any ideas before we rule it out completely.

We’d ideally like to fit the following within the existing footprint:
a home office
space for guests (e.g. room for a double sofa bed)
a utility area
ideally a separate lounge and kitchen diner (although this may be asking too much!)

My initial thought is that converting the garage probably makes the most sense, but I’m open to other suggestions and would love to hear if anyone can spot options we’ve missed. We're trying to make it work without an extension if possible.

Thank you!

The conservatory is probably a waste of space unless it’s very high spec. So you might be better off demolishing it and getting a proper office/guest room. Otherwise it’s a standard 3 bed house with no obvious options. Personally I’d extend it because you cannot magic up and extra room or two with that footprint. It’s what it is. Or convert the loft for a bedroom and have a garden office? I’d look very carefully at the quality of the conservatory though because most are crap.

you could convert it into an office/guest room - do they need to be separate?
Or put a wall up part way through your living room and make the the office/guest room. But this might make to room leading the conservatory too dark.

Or do both and have a separate guest room and office

can you go up into the loft or is it a new build?

Not knowing anything about what size office you need and if this is terraced, semi or detached, here's my suggestion.

• Chop the kitchen in two. Front space becomes a small new home office. Back part new utility in the middle of the house, add a window if you can (ie if not attached that side) otherwise just really good vents. Square off the wall into the existing lounge so it's going straight across instead of dog legged.
• Split the lounge into two. Personally I'd do this just to the right of the existing doorway but it depends on how big you want each room to be. Right half remains a lounge, left half is your new kitchen. Again adding windows if you can on that left side but if you can't then....
• Address that conservatory. Plastic roof? Can you convert it to a proper room? If you can't add kitchen windows on the left of the house I'd be putting in an rsj, knocking into the conservatory from the new kitchen, which is then likely to require a new conservatory roof as you'll need to meet building regs for a habitable space incorporating a conservatory. This space I'd use as a multi functional space with a sofa bed, storage and either a big curtain or sliding wall so it can be separated and used as a guest room when needed.

Also, the upstairs could happily be rejigged a bit too. What is that little space next to the stairs? Is it a void?

Who wants a tiny lounge and tiny kitchen when you have a conservatory with no obvious use? Unless it’s a fab expensive one with insulation and heating for year round use, it’s not a useful room and is the obvious space to alter.

here, you convert the old kitchen into a study S (with a nice window at the front) and a utility (U)

The garage can become a guest room and if you are clever you might even be able to give it an ensuite somehow.

convert the conservatory to a dining room (D) and you have space for kitchen (K) and a separate living room (L). I'd probably have pocket doors between these if you want a good separation.

there are probably different configurations of dining / living / kitchen that could work depending on the state of the conservatory. But something should work.

Thank you for all of your help! And sorry for disappearing. We made an offer on the house (and an increased offer) but it was rejected. So this won't be the house for us and the search continues.

Oh dear. They must be confident of a sale!