Bungalow renovation/floor plan help request

curtains174

Hi, I’ve in the process of purchasing a bungalow, it’s a 1970s build and in need of a full renovation.

I’m looking to transform this into a family home but I’m really struggling with possible layouts, I will be looking at architects but will do this once contracts have been exchanged in a few weeks, but would really like to have some ideas when the conversations start.

im not sure which walls are supporting at this stage (if any?) I’ve come up with one possible option, but wondered if anyone had any different ideas?

many thanks in advance for you help.

greenhill

The problem I see for a "family home" is leaving yourself only one loo.

curtains174

thanks for the reply, apologies my scribbles on the floor plan aren’t great, there will be 1 bathroom, an en-suite in the original lobby area and a w/c in the utility, the en-suite will be the only new part, the rest are already in place.
thanks again

knightstyle

Just try to keep the under floor services where they are as, if concrete, digging up the existing floor will be messy and expensive.

Doozergirl

I like the division of space between living and sleeping, but I'd be a little less trigger happy with the walls coming down.  

I'd leave the whole dining hall as an entrance hall.   Full height wall cabinets can take up one whole wall and provide valuable storage.  

The new study probably won't suffer from being a bit smaller. 

I'd consider squaring up the bedroom created from the bedroom/snug knock-through.  It makes the sub-hallway a bit larger to reduce the rabbit-warren effect when you hit the third hall. 

I like the creation of the ensuite and the cupboard coming down to create a better flow.  

I suspect that the lounge area of your open plan kitchen isn't big enough for lounging.  It is still effectively a hall unless you move the utility door round to the dining room side. 

You're seriously limiting the cupboard capacity of the utility by moving the door to that location anyway.   

I'd consider knocking though the wc/utility wall and either making it a mirror of the existing layout, or actually just opening it up and hiding all the utility stuff behind floor to ceiling doors, so it just feels like a lovely big WC but with all your utility sins hidden from visitors.  

**The alternative to using the dining hall as the hall is to use the proposed study as the hall.  Looks like some engineering will be needed as the wall looks thicker for some reason but it does reduce circulating space, making only two hallway areas.  The dining hall gets freed back up for living and can become a better open plan lounge to the kitchen.  

No reason why the living room can't be off an open plan space!  

Mr.Generous

I love it! But I'd make the study even smaller, and do 2 cupboards off the hall, one for coats and shoes, one for ironing board and vac cleaner. No understairs cubby hole remember. Nobody ever said "I hate this house, it's got too much storage space"

stuart45

If you get Piers Taylor as your architect, he will have all the partition walls down, all your skirting boards gone and a load of OSB and scrap metal nailed to your remaining walls. 

jonnydeppiwish!

Get rid of the study, and have a smaller walk-in wardrobe and enlarge the main bedroom.

kitchen diner lounge is a good space, you could always put a desk in one of the other bedrooms, assuming you don’t need them.

A lot of the walls will be supporting the roof - have you looked in the attic? If the joists are running perpendicular to the to the wall you want to remove, it’s likely to be load bearing.

Make the utility larger, for coats and shoes etc, with a smaller room for a toilet inside - nothing worse than hearing someone peeing when you’re in the kitchen 😆 

My last house was a 60s bungalow - we doubled the size of it and definitely learnt many lessons!

curtains174

Thank you some great suggestions, I hadn’t given storage much thought so that’s definitely something I need to think about.

ideally I would have liked the hall to be the additional part of the living room, I have it listed as a new study, but I was worried I wouldn’t be able to do this as it’s a chimney with very little wall space before the windows start.

We have been in the loft, but couldn’t see much as the access is terrible, the house has been empty for around 3 years.

I love the idea of a walk in wardrobe! But there is 2 of us who work from home and 2 children studying who all fight for space.

I’m very concerned that the main bedroom will be next to the front door but think that may be a compromise I have to make. I’d also like to have an additional en-suite if it’s possible and budget allows!

Doozergirl

I think it's worth a look at removing that chimney and remodelling the front.    Get the architect to earn their money.   

Your money is best spent maximising on living space.   It costs money in knocking walls down, not only in the physical knocking and potential propping, but also in moving plumbing and electrics to every single wall you've touched.  

You can update the 70s front of the house with your changes.  Win/win.  

curtains174

That’s true, the front is a fetching mix of crazy paving type slabs, although a lot of these are loose and wooden slats.

Our surveyor was there yesterday so I’m hoping the report will give me more to go on. 

I’m assuming that a re wire is needed and there’s only central heating in some of the rooms.

I’ve not done anything on this scale before so it’s all a little daunting. 

Thank you again