Modernising a 70s house layout

[Mt563]

How would you modernise this ground floor?

I'd like to create some open plan living (kitchen/dining/sofa) with big doors onto garden, do you think that's possible with the kitchen/dining? Maybe a small extension across the back or just opening up the Wall between kitchen and dining room.

Also, I'd like to turn the garaga/utility into a study/bedroom plus wet room and utility, keeping its separate entrance but removing the corridor.

What do you think?

Where is the garden? Where the extension?
the wall between the kitchen and dining is structural and going to be the most expensive option.

Knock though the kitchen and utility room. Make the current dining room the utility.

Sorry, yeah, garden is along that right hand wall, so the long wall of the dining room.

I did wonder that about the dining room wall. Mmm

That would cut the kitchen off from the rest of the house unfortunately. You'd only be able to access through the garage door or through the utility.

What do you think about changing the current lounge to the kitchen (electric oven, it's not too far from a bathroom so hopefully water would be ok?!)?

Not sure what I'd then do with the other rooms! Plus three utility would end up away from the kitchen. Which feels odd.

I wouldn't ever get rid of a garage. I suppose it depends if you drive and how long you intend to stay there, but so much car theft takes place from driveways, I wouldn't buy a house without a garage and getting rid of it, especially if it's a big house were it would be expected, it will affect resale. A garage makes life so much easier when it snows or the weather is bad. Keeping a car in a garage really extends it's life I was surprised by how much - because it keeps it much drier so it corrodes far less.

In terms of the rest of it, it slightly depends which rooms have the best garden view. Like PP, I'd probaly knock the kitchen and utility into one (including the dead space corridor behind the garage unless the garage is too short for many modern cars in which case I'd lengthen the garage) and put the utility in the dinning room.

I currently don't even have a drive so even that's going to be a luxury! This would be forever home so I'm not fussed about resale value though the car thing is interesting. I'll give that some thought.

I think making the dining room into a utility would create awful flow. The kitchen could only be reached through the garage entrance or by going through the utility.

Thinking maybe this can't give us what we want.

What do the Utility and Kitchen windows look onto?
What does the hall, small bedroom, living room window look onto?

@Tortephant

The house is detached. As you look at the floor plan, the road runs along the left hand side, but there's a good drive/ front lawn that the small bedroom, lounge and hall look into.

The right hand side is the back garden, so the lounge, kitchen, dining room all have windows into that

The top faces onto the next house so those windows are frosted.

There is no other house in the bottom edge, it looks into the side garden, it's the first house on a cul de sac

The layout is awkward already, you have to go through the dining room to access the kitchen. I'd be tempted to turn the WC into a passage through to the utility and kitchen (you could put another downstairs loo at the rear of the garage space), and remove the little hallway bottom right of the kitchen. What's that there for?! There's lots of hallway space underutilised, isn't there? Is the kitchen and utility room an extension onto the original house?

It is a bit of an odd layout. All the dead space in the corridor next to and behind the garage. That funny little hallway at the back of the kitchen. The only way into the kitchen is via the dining room??

Combining the dining room and living room and you could have a big kitchen/diner with a snug/TV area where the dining room is now. Then make what is the kitchen a more formal lounge.

Do you need the downstairs (tiny) bedroom and wc? Could those become the utility?

Also, I would say, use the garage space, unless there is no on-street parking.

There's a drive big enough for a few cars and I'm happy with that.

Thanks for the ideas! I hadn't really thought about the oddness of kitchen through dining room but you're right.

I'll give more thought to the idea of combining lounge dining as the main space. The kitchen is also so far from the front door at the mo.

The garage/utility is very rough atm and would need a proper conversion, which I'm happy to do.

That funny little hall off the kitchen can definitely go.

Thanks for the insights and ideas

Chatgpt suggestion, what do you think?
We have 75k, could leave the garage area to later. There's definitely going to be rsj involved somewhere here.

Sorry, here

Yeah, I’d definitely open up the kitchen and dining room at least. That alone would make the house feel much more modern and give you the open plan kitchen/lounge look. A small rear extension with big sliders onto the garden would work really well too if the budget stretches to it. And the garage or utility conversion makes sense as well. Getting rid of that long corridor would be a much better use of space, especially for a guest room or something like that.
In fact, you can upload the layout in space visualizers like Interiorbox or similar apps and see what flows best. Once you're "within" your plan you may have more ideas that haven't come just yet.

kitchen and utility knocked into 1
small utility in corridor back of garage or even take a bit of the garage
dining room into bedroom bedroom made into toilet/shower room existing toilet made into entrance to kitchen
Wouldn’t be particularly expensive to do

simil to above but toilet behind garage bedroom into utility dining room into bedroom and existing toilet makes entrance to kitchen

That small bedroom's just going to be a corridor though isn't it? Will you use it as a bedroom or an office/storage/dumping ground??

Office, we both work from home. Possible with a single bed as we have some visitors who can't get upstairs.