North facing garden and living room

kasqueak

I would have built the extension not as a separate room but opened up the original lounge. So you could knock the wall down. Make one large living space. I don’t like the internal lounge with no windows. Although is suspect it’s cosy in the evenings. Personal preference I guess. 

Also wow what a price! Living in the south east we’d pay 2.5 times for a similar property I think!

Jeepers_Creepers

It's a toughy, and a decision only you can ultimately make.

There are a number options should you buy the place - (1) live with it as it is and use the garden room as your main sitting room and the 'sitting' room as the evening cosy room. If you watch daytime/evening (in summer) TV, then having a South-facing room will mean you'll likely have to pull the curtains to some degree, which kind of negates the sunny advantage for some of the time, (2) widen the opening betwixt the sitting room and garden room to increase the light and garden views, and possibly even do the same for the garden room itself (the skylights are a big bonus and you should find lovely shafts of light coming through there in the Summer months) - obviously you are talking around £2k for each opening, and ~£2k for the bifolds, (3) open the wall between the kitchen and sitting room to make it a far more enjoyable socialising space - if you entertain at all, then having a completely separate kitchen is really not a nice idea. You could leave this ex-wall open down to the floor - so you'd lose the units along that wall (nothing essential - the cooker and sink are on the other wall) - or refit these units so's they act as an island, still allowing social intercourse (missus!) and additional light to pass through. Taking down that wall - around £2k (less if it isn't 'structural' - but I suspect it is).

Does this house carry an extra premium due to this garden room? If so, I suspect it's relatively minimum due to the resulting darkened sitting room (ie, they won't get back what they shelled out for the extension). So whoever finds it acceptable - possibly you - might get value for money. 

You might even decide to go for it expecting to find the compromises acceptable - eg garden room becomes 'day'room, sitting rooms is 'evening'room - but being prepared to put some money into making it better still later on if you feel it's needed at some point - ie opening up walls?

rach_k

I like it!  You could use the back room as a day room and the living room in the evenings so having no window in there really wouldn't matter.  I keep our living room in shade anyway as I prefer a cool, calm place... but I've never been a sun worshipper.

gboy25

Jeepers_Creepers said:

It's a toughy, and a decision only you can ultimately make.

There are a number options should you buy the place - (1) live with it as it is and use the garden room as your main sitting room and the 'sitting' room as the evening cosy room. If you watch daytime/evening (in summer) TV, then having a South-facing room will mean you'll likely have to pull the curtains to some degree, which kind of negates the sunny advantage for some of the time, (2) widen the opening betwixt the sitting room and garden room to increase the light and garden views, and possibly even do the same for the garden room itself (the skylights are a big bonus and you should find lovely shafts of light coming through there in the Summer months) - obviously you are talking around £2k for each opening, and ~£2k for the bifolds, (3) open the wall between the kitchen and sitting room to make it a far more enjoyable socialising space - if you entertain at all, then having a completely separate kitchen is really not a nice idea. You could leave this ex-wall open down to the floor - so you'd lose the units along that wall (nothing essential - the cooker and sink are on the other wall) - or refit these units so's they act as an island, still allowing social intercourse (missus!) and additional light to pass through. Taking down that wall - around £2k (less if it isn't 'structural' - but I suspect it is).

Does this house carry an extra premium due to this garden room? If so, I suspect it's relatively minimum due to the resulting darkened sitting room (ie, they won't get back what they shelled out for the extension). So whoever finds it acceptable - possibly you - might get value for money. 

You might even decide to go for it expecting to find the compromises acceptable - eg garden room becomes 'day'room, sitting rooms is 'evening'room - but being prepared to put some money into making it better still later on if you feel it's needed at some point - ie opening up walls?

Thanks for this detailed approach! I dont know if opening the kitchen/sitting room part would be optional. But certainly the garden room/living room part would be. I think I'd be okay with how it is now in the short term but this could be an option in the long term. 
I think the price reflects the extension somewhat but not to the extent of what it cost. I also think they'd potentially take less as I get the impression they are relatively keen to sell

gboy25

rach_k said:

I like it!  You could use the back room as a day room and the living room in the evenings so having no window in there really wouldn't matter.  I keep our living room in shade anyway as I prefer a cool, calm place... but I've never been a sun worshipper.

Yeah a part of me really likes having the options for the day/evening rooms. Agin it is only me in the house to please for the most part. I'm also not a sun worshipper so I dont know where my recent obsession with natural light has come from! 

elsien

I'm in the no camp. 
Just looking at that dark room depresses me, without having to live in it.
That's one of my pre-requisites for a house; having natural light and decent sized windows

NinjaTune

rach_k said:

I like it!  You could use the back room as a day room and the living room in the evenings so having no window in there really wouldn't matter.  I keep our living room in shade anyway as I prefer a cool, calm place... but I've never been a sun worshipper.

I like it too and the living room would be a lovely place to cwtch up during the winter months.  It should have a reasonable amount of light during the summer but still remain cool.

Opening it up and making it into one room will increase the amount of light but will still feel cosy in the winter.

It's a lovely house and the price is jaw dropping to me.  You couldn't even get a bedsit in a grotty area for that price where I live!

RelievedSheff

They seem to have lights on in other rooms as well which would seem to suggest that the house is a bit gloomy in other areas as well.

That would be a definite no for us. Don't underestimate the importance of natural light especially in the winter months.

FtbDreaming

I like the thought of a cosy room for the evening and would use the kitchen and extension in the day. The only problem I see is I would probably hardly ever use the livingroom at all and it would become a go through space rather than a nice room unless is was decorated and furnished really cosy.

gboy25

FtbDreaming said:

I like the thought of a cosy room for the evening and would use the kitchen and extension in the day. The only problem I see is I would probably hardly ever use the livingroom at all and it would become a go through space rather than a nice room unless is was decorated and furnished really cosy.

Yeah that's what crossed my mind too which sort of seems a shame since it's such a nice space and bigger than the extension room. Difficult to decide what's best.