Floorplan ideas needed for 2 cottages made into 1

vertex

Hi all

Ive just bought a place thats a complete renovation job. It needs new flooring, bathroom, kitchen (likely roof) etc...

It used to be 2 cottages which have been converted into 1 and a staircase run up through the center. Heres the current floorplan: http://79.170.44.76/progress-dev.com/floor-plan.jpg

The existing bathroom is too small (2m x 2m), and the ensuite is positioned oddly where the toilet is directly in front of a big window by the road. The road is raised so this window is almost ground level. (no privacy!)

Im looking for ideas on how to improve on this plan.

Ensuite:
I would like 1 ensuite, but not in the room where it currently is (or atleast not in the front window!). I could remove that ensuite and knock down the wall and the light from the big window would flood the stairwell which would look great. But Id have to find somewhere to fit an ensuite in one of the other rooms.

Bathroom:
This is too small. Where the bathroom currently is I could make that as an ensuite to bedroom 3, but then Id have to find somewhere to fit a bathroom (maybe divide Bedroom 1?)

Ground floor lounges:
What do people usually do with 2 cottages thats been made to 1? They dont have 2 lounges do they? Maybe a lounge and a snug?

Ground floor kitchen/dining room:
I think I would put a utility room (with downstairs toilet) on the left of the kitchen. Then have an open plan kitchen/dining room.

Becuase the house is on a busy road, I would probably have the side entrance (porch) as the main entrance. Does that make sense? You would walk into the dining room. At the moment you walk through the front and faced with stairs with lounges either side. Maybe its best to keep it as is?

Any thoughts would be greatly appreciated. Im a bit overwhelmed with it all tbh, Ive never done this before.

Thanks

magn8p

Glad you added the floorplan, really helps.

Ensuite:
I am with you on this one - as long as the walls aren't load bearing it makes sense removing it which add a lot of light to stair case.

Bathroom:
Dividing Bed1 would only leave you with 1 big and even sized bedroom. Since you have plans to convert your existing bathroom into an ensuite, why not build the family bath downstars which will also save you from adding a separate WC downstairs. Depending on who is going to live their, families with children or elderly will find a downstairs bath useful.

If this isn't something you are keen on, think about dividing Bed2 instead where your water and waste pipes are already running.

Kitchen and Lounges:
I am not a big fan of open plan kitchens as I prefer to contain the smells of the kitchen to itself. You can have big lounge or perhaps a downstairs bedroom depending on who is going to occupy the place - once again elderly will definitely appreciate a downstairs bed.

All the best.

vertex

Thanks magn8p.

It never occurred to me to put the family bathroom downstairs. There would be much more space for it. Is it normal to have the bathroom downstairs? I thought bathrooms usually go on the first floor. (Im speaking as someone who has never given house plans any thought before - Im new to all this!)

The ensuite toilet uses a macerator, so its evident theres not enough drop from the front of the house to the back to have a normal soil pipe. Not sure if this is an issue. If it is not ideal, then maybe that means adding an ensuite to bedroom 3 (or 4) would be more appropriate.

"Dividing Bed1 would only leave you with 1 big and even sized bedroom." Sorry - can you clarify?

magn8p

Bathroom downstairs is pretty common with the Victorian houses but of course almost all the newbuilds have the bath upstairs. Depending on how old your cottage is, the downstairs bath may fit into it's looks.

But once again, it's all down to the residents.

Aha..the macerator, so yeah, it makes no sense installing a ensuite in bed 1 or 2, stick to bed3 or 4 and it's quite straight forward that way.

"Dividing Bed1 would only leave you with 1 big and even sized bedroom." - If I got it right, you were thinking of carving out some space for a family bath out of your Bedroom1 which right now feels even sized and big. If you did divide it you may lose the premium feel of having a big bedroom which is definitely appreciated and now rarely seen in the new builds where the the double beds are limited 3 x 3 mts.

Once again, it's all down to who is going to live there and what their requirements are :-)

Someone like @Doozergirl is an expert on this topic. She should respond to this thread anytime this evening.

vertex

Wow - so helpful.

Yes - youre probably right - leaving Bedroom 1 as a spacious room. (Plus theres the issue of the 'drop' from the front of house to back).

The current bathroom is 2 x 2m. Does that seem too small for a 4 bed house? In a 4 bed house I would expect a walk-in shower aswell as a bath. 2 x 2m seems fine for an ensuite, but not a family bathroom. (again, Im speaking from ignorance!)

Having the bathroom downstairs does seem to solve these questions.

FYI: My girlfriend and I are renovating the property. We're not doing it for a 'quick buck', but we'd be fools to renovate it without thought of the resale value. So I guess I want to renovate it so that it appeals to as many demographics as possible. Being a 4 bed house it obviously wont appeal to a bachelor, or a young couple, but it probably would appeal to a family; young family; couple in their 50's. (again, Im speaking from ignorance!)

getmore4less

+1 for starting with the plan(not everyone is so considerate)

A noise profile and some idea of the garden layout use, where do you park the car may help.


If that first floor near road level is noisy you may want sleeping at the back rather than more bathroom & toilet spaces, might be worth finding the drainage plan so you can consider a new down pipe.

Do you want to keep 4 bedrooms?

There may also be structural considerations depending on where the stairs were before this conversion and any load bearing may impact financially some choices


if you want to make the side porch the min entrance consider changing that to an entrance hall/utility/boot/coat etc.

vertex

Try not to laugh(!), but here is a plan Ive mocked up showing the plot of land: http://79.170.44.76/progress-dev.com/plot-plan.jpg

To the front of the property is a busy B road. You walk down 3 steps to get to the front door, so the road is a few feet higher than the property's floor.

There is a drive that slopes steeply to the garage round the back. The garage is falling down. To the right of the drive is level land which I had mind to lay to lawn. At the moment is badly paved and theres some dodgy rockery to the front of the property. I like green, so will probably dig up all the rockery and pavement and lay to lawn.

The back is very quiet and peaceful - just fields.

Annoyingly the back gets the sun only until midday. The side of the property where the side door is would get the sun all day.

Possible usage of land:
Theres space at the top of the drive for 2 cars. I was thinking of removing the garage and drive completely and just have a path leading to the side door. However maybe removing the garage would be foolhardy as some people like them. I would have some sort of garden/terrace there, but then it doesnt get the afternoon sun.

If I extend the side porch as a small conservatory, there would be no access to the garage.

I see the side door as being the main entrance. IE: We would park our cars at the top of the existing driveway and walk down a new footpath to the side door.

re Rooms:
I dont want to sacrifice a bedroom for a bathroom. The only way I would do that is if I converted the loft into a bedroom/ensuite (theres loads of space up there!). But Im jumping the gun.

re Bathroom:
We've decided against having a bathroom downstairs next to kitchen. Although it easily solves the upstairs layout problem, I can envisage weird scenarios when guests come to stay.

Is a 2x2m family bathroom considered too small? I could extend it a little to make Bedroom 4 a small single room. I would like a walk-in shower/bath/sink/toilet. Thats too much to fit in a 2x2m is it?

Heres my initial idea for floorplan: http://79.170.44.76/progress-dev.com/floor-plan2.jpg

Any thoughts/feedback would be gratefully received!

System

What kind of budget have you got for this? plenty you could do to improve that plan!

getmore4less

can you see out of the kitchen windows?

since the porch side of the house get the sun make in better use of that for outside use makes sense maybe look at moving the drive to the bottom of the plot, couple of parking spots near the road and single width to the garage with turning reversing in the corner where door is written.

another option could be to plan a new garage on the south side with parking to the road at the back of that and to the side where "side door" is written more storage/summer house opening onto a patio that links to the side door, that would get sun all day and into the evening.

That would free up the current garage space to extend. or have a morning outdoor space.

vertex

the_r_sole wrote: »

What kind of budget have you got for this? plenty you could do to improve that plan!

Ive got a sensible budget. Just lacking the experience/knowledge!

What would you do to improve it?

vertex

getmore4less wrote: »

can you see out of the kitchen windows?

since the porch side of the house get the sun make in better use of that for outside use makes sense maybe look at moving the drive to the bottom of the plot, couple of parking spots near the road and single width to the garage with turning reversing in the corner where door is written.

another option could be to plan a new garage on the south side with parking to the road at the back of that and to the side where "side door" is written more storage/summer house opening onto a patio that links to the side door, that would get sun all day and into the evening.

That would free up the current garage space to extend. or have a morning outdoor space.

This might give you a better idea of the situation. Heres a video I took standing by the garage. https://www.dropbox.com/s/2vik1u5uhy0d3nd/1344.mp4?dl=0

Note the road is high up and the drive is quite steep and leads to the garage. The 'garden' (a bit of scrubland) is level.