Narrow House (15.4ft / 4.7m) - what are my layout options?

9 years ago

I've just bought a small city pad and building will start from the plans (attached) in approx 1 month. The external part of the house cannot be changed as per planning regs but the builder is willing to reconfigure the inside.

I think that the current layout plan doesn't maximise the space as much as I'd like, particularily the ground floor (living) area. Could anyone give me some ideas for alternative layouts I could propose? I am open to complete change.

On the plans my house will be the house in the middle with the 48sqm garden. The garden is south-facing.
The dimensions of the house are-
Ground floor- 13.1m x 4.7m / 43ft x 15.4ft = 662 sq ft
First floor- 11m x 4.7m / 36ft x 15.4ft = 561 sq ft

Thanks in advance!

Featured Answer

PRO

Cleary Design Studio, LLC

9 years ago

I love the greatroom's skylights and that both the greatroom and garden are orientated together facing south. There are many possibilities in this footprint depending on your lifestyle... you could slide the bathroom and kitchen towards the front to make the greatroom a bit more roomy and get rid of part of the long hall. One suggestion though, no matter what your lifestyle is, is to turn the toilet 90 degrees and put it on the same wall with the vanity. It would also be nice to put a panel, like lumicor (www.lumicor.com) or wood, between the two to even further block the view of the toilet. Currently, every time you walk down the hall, you'll see your toilet - which isn't a very refreshing site. I hope that helps. Congratulations on your new house!

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Comments (9)

Faireden
9 years ago
I would open it up as much as possible by removing all unnecessary walls and doors. And I totally agree with Cleary Design to move the toilet, it is not the first thing you want to see when you open the door to the bathroom, probably the sink would be best positioned there. I would remove at least if not all of the "jog" on the peninsula in the kitchen.

Consider putting either the range top or the sink on the peninsula since you will not have windows. Good luck!
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Wow, I really like this design and the rest of the house....really has a lovely flow to it and is very bright. My only concern with opening up the original living room to the hallway would be that the existing house is poorly insulated and would leave the front room cold during the winter. I imagine the existing front room as a dynamic room in that the doors to the dining room can be closed, a stove fire turned on and it would be a quiet reading/relaxing zone in the house. Though I must admit...the above example provided is really tempting. thanks Dytecture!
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Lots of ideas....couldn't resist adding my two cents. i copied your photos and did a little cut and paste- it's messy, but hopefully gets the main idea across. i'd put your sofa in front of the large book case, chair by the fireplace, tv on the stand on the wall opposite the fireplace - so you can either look at the fire or the tv. Someone suggested using frames of one color for your photos - an inexpensive way to do that would be to spray paint them all a dark color-black goes with everything. Since your shelves are a medium tone wood, display things that are dark or light so that they contrast against the wood. Limiting your display items pallette to a few values usually helps to unify things. (I think that's why so many people want to paint the shelves or put inserts in the back to help your nice things read more clearly...some get lost). If you want to "splurge" -you may consider having a carpenter make a few solid tall cabinet doors to provide a visual break in the shelving. I'm showing 3 doors - 1 on the right side of the fireplace and 2 on the left to leave two open vertical shelves for display on each side - with things arranged to frame the fireplace as the focal point. To add some height to your big vases, consider stacking some books beneath them. Enjoy experimenting untill you get something you're happy with - good luck!
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It looks very good James. Even though as you say it was a clients design build, it works fine. Once the Island has stools it will fill it out better. Has that naked look at the moment. The position of the wine rack might cause issues but overall it looks like a really clean and fresh kitchen. Plenty of natural light and the colours compliment each other. The extractor is a nice feature too. Everyone has different opinions as I see on here but if the client is happy with it then job done. Looks really well fitted too.....well done :)
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Hi minnie101, Thanks so much for your detailed reply. Great to know what colour that grey is. It may be a little dark with our floor. We will definitely update the handles - I hate the current ones. We'll probably go with wood to keep within budget. Your non-tiles pic is lovely. We'll probably keep some tiles and try to keep the kitchen a little more modern than country kitchen, which might be a challenge with wood. The room faces south. I like your idea of dividing it with paint. We probably will go with white in the kitchen and then 1/2 slightly darker tones in the tv-couch area. The 'other' entrance into the dining area is narrowed by a non-structural wall, so we should remove this to open it properly or like you say, close it off. Maybe not close it off entirely as we'd lose a lot of light, but maybe put in a counter or breakfast bar if space allowed. I love your pendant light suggestions over the dining table. Details like this and a rug in the couch area will really help divide the room as at the moment it is one big cavernous space. I really can't decide yet what way the couches should face - into a tv in the corner, or out into the room like you suggest. We'll have to draw out some chalk outlines on the floor and see how much space there actually is. Colour-wise we like the idea of keeping walls and cabinets quite stark, the wood counter will add a bit of warmth, and then adding colour with couches, rugs and possibly dining chairs. I've attached a couple of pieces of furniture I like. Some may not work, but we'll figure it out.
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lefty47
9 years ago
HI --- Change the bathrooms. The one on the main floor -- use the space that shows on the plan , the closet area for the lounge , take that for the bath by moving the toilet into that back corner, backed to the kitchen wall so the toilet is behind a wall or in it's own little room then back the vanity to the kitchen wall , have the door moved to the left and set back from the hall . And for the bathrooms upstairs , turn them so each bedroom has it's own bathroom , You don't need to have the entrance to a bath off the hall . The upstairs is the private area and your guests will use the one on the main floor , right. If you don't understand what I've said I will try to post the plan changes. Now for the kitchen layout. I'm not sure I like the horse shoe arrangement , maybe you might like a big island instead ? Then that would be more open , better flow.
Ann Gross
9 years ago
Agree island instead of peninsula. Which way are you most frequently entering from. I don't see a coat closet. I would move the bathroom to the same side as stairs. Depending what you are going to use that lounge for I reall think once you put that bathroom there will be major work if you want an open floor plan. Love it or list it, Holmes on homes all they are doing is making open floor plans from front to back of row house. I think you will hate have that bathroom smack inthe middle of that space.
lefty47
9 years ago
HI -- gross635 -- Your right to some degree but you can't move the main floor bath to the other side because then that interfers with the floor plan on the second floor. Would not work . I would have loved to turn the whole plan around but it won't work in this case. Added note to what I posted before is to get rid of anywalls you don't need and also not every room has to have a door. Like the one on the lounge and the one at the end of the hall. I would open the lounge up by not having the walls on the entrance hall . As for a closet , there is space in front of the set back powder room for some coat hooks etc. I also question the fact of , if the lounge is really needed. Everything could have been shifted to the front and the kitchen set back , then that would have made a larger dining/familyroom area . But that would have ruined the resale value . So I think moving the bathrooms was the lest and best for this plan. One question I have , is this an English plan ?, because the English love putting doors on every room ?And usually the doors swing the wrong way.
trifides
Original Author
9 years ago
Hi all,

Thanks for all the imput, its been really helpful and there are a lot of things I hadn't considered. Lefty47- yes its an english plan and I have to admit I find all the doors pretty irritating myself. Lefty could you also explain further about the resale value if you wouldn't mind?
Ann Gross
9 years ago
Is that a fireplace in the lounge? can you move that to the front somewhat and then move the bathroom forward too. I really think one you get table or furniture in the living dr area it is going to feel small. Does the plan have a basement? I think you are going to spend most of your time in living room.dr. If you shrink that loung space it would give you more room where you will really need it. Maybe use lounge as office. I'd remove wall to lounge from to to bathrooms. I would get rid of door to lounge and put closet on left of entry between foyer and lounge.
PRO
Dytecture
9 years ago
I agree with moving the bathroom closer to the front of the home to give you more area for the 'great room', also agree with having an island instead for the kitchen.
lefty47
9 years ago
last modified: 9 years ago
HI -- trifides -- I think if the lounge was taken out of the floor plan this may reduce the buyers, because more would expect a lounge area . Most English buyers still like their traditional spaces. PS : One thing I was going to ask was - Where is your laundry going to be?

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Narrow House (15.4ft / 4.7m) - what are my layout options?

Cleary Design Studio, LLC

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Narrow House (15.4ft / 4.7m) - what are my layout options?

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