House Layout Advice

oligopoly

Apologies if this should go in the house buying board. We're thinking of buying this nice - but possibly on the small side - 4 bed detached house.



The kitchen is small and an awkward shape - particularly as it has 3 doors! The door that's on the bottom side of the floorplan opens to an understairs cupboard. The dining room is also small - too small to house our table and chair set. I'm looking for any advice on creating a more sensible layout. We may have up to £20k to play with (stress 'up to'!).

All ideas including building out into the garden (there's room for a small extension), converting garage etc all welcome.

Dimensions:

Lounge - 4.17m x 3.45m (13'8" x 11'4")
Dining Room - 2.49m x 2.44m (8'2" x 8'0")
Kitchen - 2.79m x 2.62m (9'2" x 8'7")
Utility Room - 1.68m x 1.45m (5'6" x 4'9")

Thanks in advance!

Doozergirl

How do you get from the front door to the kitchen? There seems to be a door from the kitchen but the floorplan suggests it's just a cupboard.

The simplest would be to knock through right across the back and move the utility and cloakroom into the garage area, still leaving you some garage. Some cost in building work but you can spend the rest on a half decent kitchen.

It also depends on whether you'd prefer a kitchen diner or a lounge diner. You'd struggle to fit any dining set in the current dining space.

£20k isn't really going to get much of an extension. If it does, it won't get you a new kitchen etc to do it justice.

You could do a full garage conversion if permitted development rights haven't been removed.

mildredalien

If you could move the cloakroom into the garage space with an entrance from the hallway you could open up the entire kitchen and do without the utility room. You could also open up into the dining room and have one big kitchen/diner, which would increase your dining space a bit.

You could just have the patio doors out into the garden from the dining area rather than a door directly off the kitchen. Alternatively you could put a door where the current window is (by the sink). That should still leave enough room for decent kitchen space where the current utility/cloakroom are.

I imagine all that and a new kitchen would eat into £20k quite quickly without any extension!

missbiggles1

Wouldn't the easiest (and cheapest) thing be to simply knock down the wall between the kitchen and dining room and make it into a dining kitchen?

Doozergirl

missbiggles1 wrote: »

Wouldn't the easiest (and cheapest) thing be to simply knock down the wall between the kitchen and dining room and make it into a dining kitchen?

Because the kitchen is too small and the dining room is too small? Knocking a wall down doesn't make either space bigger, unfortunately. It removes wall storage space for the kitchen, making it smaller.

Jamiesmum

That garage looks huge. Could splitting it in 2 and making half into a dining room then using current dining room to make a bigger kitchen.

Idk the need for a cloakroom via a utility room (to me they're pretty much the same? especially right next to a garage) but that is personal preference as that could make a dining room even bigger. Or could form an office/guest room.

I would also consider getting rid of one or two of the doors from the kitchen. A nice double/triple arch put into the dining room maybe so it's more open plan.

Do the stairs block direct access too the kitchen? Do you have to walk through the lounge to get to the dining room then the kitchen? As that will massively affect the things you could do.

mishkanorman

What space will you use the most ? We have 3 kids and need the social/entertainment space and have a tiny kitchen so we're adding a living /kitchen space.

I personally would get rid of that garage and make that a huge kitchen, add in a door to the front hall way and another to the old kitchen, make the old kitchen a dining room, the old dining room would become a games room / kids room. alternatively if you dont have kids/extra adults I'd maybe make the old dining room into a lodgers room or just storage.

missbiggles1

Doozergirl wrote: »

Because the kitchen is too small and the dining room is too small? Knocking a wall down doesn't make either space bigger, unfortunately. It removes wall storage space for the kitchen, making it smaller.

One bigger room can be greater than the sum of its parts - you may lose the wall spece from the knocked down wall but gain access to the walls in the dining room.

Doozergirl

missbiggles1 wrote: »

One bigger room can be greater than the sum of its parts - you may lose the wall spece from the knocked down wall but gain access to the walls in the dining room.

In an 8' square?

The kitchen is *tiny* with three doors in it. The dining room is even more *tiny* with two doors in it. All of those problems need to be addressed.

When there isn't enough room for a decent kitchen, dining table, chairs and circulation space, in two rooms, there isn't enough room for it with one wall down either. Put more kitchen units in the dining area but there is nowhere to put a table as we have a wide open doorway and need to get to the utility and WC, still. Really look at it.

The obvious answer, when there is a budget of £20k to make a drastic improvement to a four bed house with the living space of a two bed flat is to utilise the garage to balance up the upstairs and downstairs spaces. Either in a full or part conversion.

missbiggles1

Doozergirl wrote: »

In an 8' square?

The kitchen is *tiny* with three doors in it. The dining room is even more *tiny* with two doors in it. All of those problems need to be addressed.

When there isn't enough room for a decent kitchen, dining table, chairs and circulation space, in two rooms, there isn't enough room for it with one wall down either. Put more kitchen units in the dining area but there is nowhere to put a table as we have a wide open doorway and need to get to the utility and WC, still. Really look at it.

The obvious answer, when there is a budget of £20k to make a drastic improvement to a four bed house with the living space of a two bed flat is to utilise the garage to balance up the upstairs and downstairs spaces. Either in a full or part conversion.

If the money is there, certainly extend but I was under the impression that money was tight. My suggestion would give a kitchen diner of 8' by 17 ' with 2 doorways (one from the hall, the other into the utility) which seems perfectly adequate to me.

For me, the problem with this house is the living room which, for a 4 bed family house, is very small. Given all the problems with the downstaits layout and the fact that they can afford more than it costs, I'd just buy somewhere else.

oligopoly

missbiggles1 wrote: »

For me, the problem with this house is the living room which, for a 4 bed family house, is very small. Given all the problems with the downstaits layout and the fact that they can afford more than it costs, I'd just buy somewhere else.

Sound advice, but you know in real terms it's the location, road etc that you like as much as anything. It's a small house on quite an affluent road - i think you guys are right and it's probably a miss.