Terraced House on a Shoestring

8 years ago

last modified: 8 years ago

Hi all. In the process of buying my first house as our starter home. The kitchen is tiny and leads onto the bathroom. There is a bit of space for extending out the back but our budget at present (approx 20K which needs to include installing central heating, redo bathroom, appliances, flooring and furnishings!) will not allow it right now.

As you can see it is also very dark!

I would be interested in what design solutions this community would propose!

1. Kitchen sink / bathroom entry

2. Kitchen and door to the rear yard.

3. Living area leads on to the kitchen

My initial thoughts were to knock the wall or some of it (to make an opening like a window / countertop?) behind the buggy if possible to open out the kitchen a bit....or you could knock that wall and move the kitchen further in to that living space up to where the TV is?

Here is the entrance / hall and front sitting room too - I am thinking to knock the wall on the right as you enter, to open this up.

*also my heart wept a bit when I saw that the old lady was sleeping downstairs because she couldn't do stairs anymore, and only heating the house with electric heaters :-( :-(

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Comments (5)

User
8 years ago
If you can afford to extend your kitchen into the area with the buggy it would make a massive difference to your life, also the area with the buggy seems large and without a real purpose? Keeping flooring neutral and of a uniform colour always expands a space and the same applies to walls. The more light you can add with additional windows the bigger and better your house will feel. Good luck.
Jonathan
8 years ago
If you take the wall down between the hall and front room you wont get any more furniture into it as it will still be a corridor. I say save your money here. Personally I would put a dining table in here.

The back room with the stairs will make a lovely living room.

I presume the upstairs is not big enough to put the bathroom up there.

In the kitchen area I would put the bathroom in the sink area and then put the kitchen at the garden end so that you end up with a lighter kitchen and a bathroom with no window. Plus this way even though your kitchen will be small now you may be able to extend it later.
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peony grace
Original Author
8 years ago
Thanks both, I like these ideas! Jonathan I had not thought of that...re kitchen to the very back. Re: wall in hall, I did wonder about making it a half wall or cut out so that it could double up as a storage area....eg boxes down the bottom and books on the shelving......so a sort of shelf wall / storage wall, as there isn't much storage space and I hate clutter.....
Jonathan
8 years ago
last modified: 8 years ago
Would be cheaper to get a big piece of furniture for the front room to store stuff in. Save your money from taking down this wall- you are going to need to prioritise to get the essentials done on your budget
peony grace thanked Jonathan
peony grace
Original Author
8 years ago
last modified: 8 years ago
Ended up taking down the walls, moving the kitchen to the front and the bathroom upstairs! Have found an amazing builder who is just going above and beyond to help me realise my dream here. I cannot wait to share the finished job with you all!

Terraced House on a Shoestring

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