Thoughts on a 12x12 lounge

Panda78

I've been looking at houses for a while now, generally 2 bed terraced victorian houses where the through lounge is approx 25x14.

This flat has caught my eye, but i'm concerned by the small living room space. Only me and my partner will be living there, but we would like family to visit and stay regularly. Any thoughts on it please?

http://www.rightmove.co.uk/property-for-sale/property-38370164.html

Gra76

My initial thoughts were "Thank God I don't live in London" when I saw the price! (I can get a good 4 or 5 bedroom detached property here for that!)

Once I'd looked away from the price, it looks a very nice flat. Good sized garden, and although the 12" x 12" lounge sounds small it would depend how many people you were having round at any time, I'd say any more than 4 or 5 people seated in there might be a bit crammed.

Mr_Moo_2

Square rooms, even smallish square rooms punch above their weight in terms of usability - need to think about how many seats /sofa's you might want - are all the walls usable? - radiators, plug sockets in the way etc?. If most of the time it's just you, then it can work. Cosy and cheaper to heat in winter as well.

Panda78

Thanks Gra76, that's why i didn't mention the price - it's just ridiculous and will never be "worth it", but i'm stuck in this area due to work and family at the moment. I suppose that is what is putting me off the lounge size - it is very small for the price, although the kitchen is bigger than average for most flats.

hazyjo

Well, I've seen far worse! I don't think it's a horrendous size for a lounge... I suppose it depends how much dining space you want/need. That's what would put me off. They have a breakfast bar in the kitchen atm. Would you want to get rid of that and put a table in? That kitchen's not huge so wouldn't fit a very large table anyway.

With a thru-lounge, you would obviously have a lot of space for a dining table, and maybe a computer or something in that space. Think long term. In this market, you won't want to be moving again in a couple of years cos you've outgrown it...

Jx

Panda78

Mr_Moo wrote: »

Square rooms, even smallish square rooms punch above their weight in terms of usability - need to think about how many seats /sofa's you might want - are all the walls usable? - radiators, plug sockets in the way etc?. If most of the time it's just you, then it can work. Cosy and cheaper to heat in winter as well.

That's true, i think square rooms are better to furnish than the long, narrow rooms i have seen, this is just that bit smaller than i was hoping for.

Mr_Thrifty

Looks like a bargain to me

Kalama

Is the only dining space the breakfast bar in the kitchen? If so, then personally I would find this less attractive than a terrace with a proper dining space. I suppose it depends how much you want to be able to have people sat round a dinner table!

Other than that it looks very nice - with a decent garden that would be lovely in summer.

Panda78

hazyjo wrote: »

Well, I've seen far worse! I don't think it's a horrendous size for a lounge... I suppose it depends how much dining space you want/need. That's what would put me off. They have a breakfast bar in the kitchen atm. Would you want to get rid of that and put a table in? That kitchen's not huge so wouldn't fit a very large table anyway.

With a thru-lounge, you would obviously have a lot of space for a dining table, and maybe a computer or something in that space. Think long term. In this market, you won't want to be moving again in a couple of years cos you've outgrown it...

Jx

Thanks, that is exactly what i'm concerned about - a dining table has always been on my wish-list as i've been renting a 1 bed flat with no dining space for a while now. I'm torn between something like this flat which is certainly nice, or holding out for a lower end priced house with a through lounge and you're right, i really don't want to be moving again any time soon.

Panda78

Kalama wrote: »

Is the only dining space the breakfast bar in the kitchen? If so, then personally I would find this less attractive than a terrace with a proper dining space. I suppose it depends how much you want to be able to have people sat round a dinner table!

Other than that it looks very nice - with a decent garden that would be lovely in summer.

Yes, it's just the breakfast bar, so in terms of having people round, we would have to use the garden, which is great in fine weather, but obviously difficult for large periods of the year.

I could wait for a suitable terrace, i'm just in that "sick of renting" mode and have been looking all year due to the shortage of 2 bed terraces in my area.

littlesaint

I have had an offer accepted on a 2-bed terrace in a similar area recently. Not so close to the station though. The lounge size in this place isn't so bad, the kitchen looks a decent size - even the lounge in our new place is about the same size though we do have a dining room. Could you alter the kitchen size slightly to fit a table in? I would be more concerned about the size of the bedroom. One plus point is you have a lovely area for outside dining on sunny days. Maybe you could invest in a decent awning and use it on wetter days too.