Downstairs floorplan help!

[PrivateCry]

Anyone have any advice on my (very unprofessional!) attempt at a floorplan?

We had architect plans drawn up for a double storey extension but change of circumstances mean we are now trying to minimise cost and concentrate on the ground floor only.

Right side is existing floorplan - long lounge, old conservatory, dark dining room and under utilised utility.

Left is my attempt to create better flow and light and a potential office / flexible 4th bedroom space. I have a second version where the snug wall remains in tact and so this can be sectioned off.

Would welcome any thoughts about how it might work in practice because I’m worried it’s a bit of a pig’s ear!

My main thought is, how will having your kitchen and main living space as one room work in the long run?

I prefer a kitchen that you can 'close the door on' and not have cooking smells lingering around the whole house. I have open-plan kitchen/living room on the 'no' list when I look at houses. A living area in the kitchen is fine, but only if there's a separate living room - your cinema room/spare bedroom would need to be a proper living room for this to work for me.

You don't give dimensions - is the office/playroom going to be big enough to be functional?

If I had been working from the plan on the left I would have made the long lounge/kitchen more 50/50 to create a bigger living room. I would have considered whether the office/playroom space could be made bigger to be the potential spare bedroom, maybe by moving the downstairs toilet under the stairs if that was an option and incorporating that space. Your downstairs toilet seems larger than you need.

I can’t tell if there’s windows in it but I think I’d swap the office and utility around then washing and dirty shoes etc go straight in and out of the garden and no one is running through the office from the garden to use the downstairs loo.

The playroom seems very out of the way, I'd want it to be more a part of the rest of the house. Also, isn't a snug usually a small, quiet, cosy area, rather than a corner of a larger room? I'm not trying to criticise - I wouldn't know where to start. I suppose the main question is what do you want and need from the extension. Do you need a spare room? Bigger kitchen etc? Make sure in your planning that you keep your main aim in mind and don't get lost in the fiddly bits.

I’d be worried about the lack of kitchen space, have you thought in detail of the appliance/kitchen layout? By the time you’ve accounted for fridge/freezer and double oven unit, will you have enough cupboard and worktop space, bearing in mind counter space will be filled with toaster, kettle etc?

I like it and think it will be a vast improvement, but I do like a big open plan kitchen as the heart of a house.
My only thing would be walking through the toilet to get to the office/playroom? Will there be any windows on the left hand side? I might be inclined to swap so toilet is in the original place, or swap toilet/utility round.
I would probably call the the front room the 'lounge' too - but that's just semantics really.

The toilet and office is a corridor rather than rooms. I’d make the office a utility so you can go straight out with washing and assess to the loo from the garden. Perhaps turn the garage into an office with large hidden storage where you put the utility and have a good shed in the garden

Thanks so much for the comments everyone. I’ll address them one by one 🙂

@Coinkidinki- thanks for these comments. Also agree open palm living is definitely off putting for some people. I do still have the option to section the ‘snug’ or seating area off so this might be a better solution for us. I’ll need to have a think.

The office is about 10ft by 8ft. It isn’t a bad size as it currently stands. A possible (tight) spare bedroom space with a clever layout. Realistically it won’t be used as a playroom these days. The toilet has a shower - we wanted this in case elderly relatives need to stay downstairs. I also don’t think the flow of having a spare bedroom directly off the kitchen really works? Feels like it needs at least a hallways to separate.

The room on the right hand side will be multi purpose - I will include a sofa bed but is likely a second living room. I think it makes sense to part it where the current line is as otherwise the snug area won’t fit a sofa. Hope that makes sense.

Can you get a toilet under the stairs? Then you could possibly have a utility in the space you've earmarked for a wc and avoid converting the garage. Having said that, it's tricky without dimensions!

Not thought of putting the office there - thank you @MiddleAgedDread - that has given me food for thought. Annoyingly our side return is actually on the right hand side of the house but it would be too costly to move the kitchen / utility over that side. I did contemplate it though.

@MotherofPufflings- that is originally what our architect suggested (and to then knock through to make the kitchen really big but we can’t afford that option now). It would mean that we couldn’t get a shower in though unfortunately. Which may not be that much of a problem - another suggestion worth considering, thank you.

Thanks @NervousSheepy- main driver if to include an office, utility, downstairs toilet / bathroom and versatile space that could be a spare bedroom for occasional guests.

In our current plan, the dining room is really dark and the kitchen is quite small. I think maybe the label playroom is a bit misleading - it would just be a multi use space. My kids are teenagers 😂 And snug! It was sectioned off in the previous iteration and I didn’t update the label.

I think it’s workable @Fairygoblin- there are 7 standard base units along that run on the left and then space for a larder unit as you go in and an island. I’ve done a rough kitchen design.

I guess that’s maybe not a palatial kitchen but it’s the largest kitchen I’ve ever had anyway!

Thank you @Cannedlaughter- this maximises what we currently have to keep costs down.

I did think I could just put a desk in the current utility potentially. This wouldn’t give us a downstairs shower though.

Could you have units running along the outside back wall (like an r shape)? I assume the blue is glass doors - smaller ones plus a window will be cheaper.

If you can avoid converting the garage too that will really help bring down the costs.

I like the large kitchen living but I would position the cooker along the wall with sink, leaving the island full of useful drawers. I would have access to garden from dining room (large sliding doors). Consider a servery window near kitchen.
I like the sitting room closed off - consider double barn doors so space can become useful to dining.

Can the toilet shower room fit under the stairs accessable from garage?
I would place the laundry where the toilet is in second drawing, maybe even just outside and useable near a BbQ.

Use the remainder of utility and garage as a play office but I would see how that space was to live in.

Aim for an under cover verandah or a Wisteria covered pergola to walk out underneath along the whole back wall so you can access laundry from dining room if office were being used. Laundry trough could house ice and drinks.

Yes this is an option. I don’t overly want to convert the garage TBH so thank you - I’ll definitely consider this.

looking at it on a bigger screen now! I agree about only have one set of glass doors. I'd make the kitchen units L-shaped then have a window and the sink underneath it. I find it really weird having a sink that faces the wall! That would give you a long run of worktop and wall units along the back wall too.

Don't have the bathroom door open directly into the kitchen, keep a bit of extra hallway if necessary. As others have suggested, put the utility either opposite the bathroom on the right of the plan.

OR, what lots of people do is have the utility off the kitchen, then the downstairs loo only accessible through that. It works OK, though tbh I wouldn't want every random visitor to see our dirty or drying pants.

We are updating the porch to move the door across so was looking forward to seeing all the way through to the garden. Also, this would mean losing the island most likely as well. I am not sure I want to compromise on both those 2 to have a better view from the sink?

It wouldn't just be about the view from the sink though, it would also gain you valuable extra cabinets. How big is the island in the diagram/what are the dimensions of the kitchen going to be?

You'll still be able to see all the way through with a window, my front door is opposite my kitchen door and then I have a window instead of doors. I don't see my patio from the front door but I do see the rest of my garden. You could drop the window to counter height and run your worksurface up to it, gains you a bit of extra worktop and a bit of extra view.

This is true and have one of those concertina windows 🙂