Best Value ~ Conservatory or Convert Garage ?

xxxdarlingxxx

I am looking for some advice please :cool: ....I have a small galley style kitchen with the door from the hall way at one end and the rear door to garden at the far end.

There is a formal dining room which is adjacent to the kitchen on the right side wall, this is accessed via my sitting room which is a pain for carrying plates through but it is beautiful and is decorated very differently from the kitchen. My house also has an intetegral garage which is adjacent to the kitchen on the left side wall. The gargage is accessed via a rear door from the back garden. My washer & dryer are kept in garage due to lack of space in kitchen.

What I would like to gain is some more space in the kitchen to put a table and chairs more informal meals and I could use the table for more surface space for baking.

Cost wise how would these options stack up....

a) Put on a small conservatory onto the back of the kitchen, leaving dining room and gargage as they are ?
b) Put a P shaped conservatory onto the back of the kitchen and then running across rear of dining room linking both.
c) Knock through into the garage and split the garage 50/50 storage and extended kitchen area ?
d) Knock into dining room and have large kitchen/diner rather than 2nd seperate public room.

Value of property wise what would add most value / add appeal ?

Any input, experiences welcome. It is a 9 year old 3 bed detached property with large rear garden. Gargage is tight for a family size car to enter/exit and not used for that purpose. Other issue is exsisting kitchen units were from B&Q and are perfect but discontinued.

Thanks

ormus

i would add the conservatory if i was selling up in near future. buyers like having a garage.
if i was staying there forever, then i would consider converting the garage.

phill99

I've always been a great believer that conservatories are good in theory and look good in the brochures, but functionally, never live up to expectations. They are often too hot in the summer and too cold in the winter. To overcome this you need to 'up the ante' considerably and ensure that the heating system is extended into the conservatory and install glass or screening that reduces heat in the summer. This therefore becomes quite expensive.

Knocking into a garage seems an option, but means you will reduce it from a garage to a store room. In the long term, this may not be in your best intetest as, believe it or not, some people like a garage to be a garage and use it to store their cars, not their rubbish.

I think that a popular way to go now is to have a large open kitchen/diner which can be a formal and informal space. In many houses this becomes the focal centre of the home. Many new homes appear to be built this way. Open plan living certainly seems popular. This is also likely to be fairly cost effectivem certainly a lot less than a conservatory.

In terms of the kitchen units, unfortunately, you may have to buy new doors for the whole kitchen which again is not as costly as its seems.

And in terms of resale etc, I wouldn't worry - do what is good for you, not other people. Remember the adage: ' Homes are for nesting, not investing'

grimsalve

phill99 wrote: »

I've always been a great believer that conservatories are good in theory and look good in the brochures, but functionally, never live up to expectations. They are often too hot in the summer and too cold in the winter. To overcome this you need to 'up the ante' considerably and ensure that the heating system is extended into the conservatory and install glass or screening that reduces heat in the summer. This therefore becomes quite expensive.

+1

A standard conservatory is nice for occasional use but not really an all-year solution (and you'd still need to keep the doors). Might as well go for a proper extension or look at other options instead.

I don't think conservatories add much additional value to a house anymore but they might increase the "saleability"

Mummy_Jo

We have all three!

A small Kitchen
A P shaped conservatory across the entire width of the property installed by the previous owners
&
converted the garage in a study/spare bedroom/utility space.

Whilst the conservatory is 22ft long I wouldn't put another one. We have good glass so it doesn't overheat in the summer even though it is South Facing but it is FREEZING in the winter AND we have heating in there as well as an oil filled radiator.

A lot of local properties have converted their garages into living spaces round here. If your kitchen and dining room are adjacent I would consider knocking through making a kitchen diner. We did this too enabiling us to move the back door into the dining room thus extending the kitchen. It has made a massive difference.

If you have any more questions I am happy to try and answer as I do seem to have all of the options that you are considering!

xxxdarlingxxx

Thanks all for the great advice, I think knocking through to the dining room and gaining the wall space from loosing the backdoor is going to be my best option. Just replacing cabinet doors to match the new section iof kitchen is a great idea.

Thanks for your input

xxxdxxx