Awkward Victorian terrace house lay out - advice needed!

8 years ago

last modified: 2 years ago

Hi there, I am new on Houzz and could really do with some advice and sharing of information. When we brought our house it had the most awkward lay out ever and now its time to change it!

For some reason our stairs are at the back on the opposite side to the front door and the garden door is at the base of these stairs. Meaning the front door is next to the lounge. Plus the roof is a butterfly or London roof making an extension more expensive and difficult.

Does anyone else have a similar floor plan and have you moved the stairs or done renovation works to change the lay out to a more traditional lay out?

We are trying to figure out the best and most cost effective renovations to do. We definitely want to keep 3 bedrooms ideally with separate entrances (so we don't have to walk through one to get to the other). We don't mind a downstairs bathroom but we want to extend the kitchen either by stealing room from the living room (but this is complicated by location of stairs and garden door) or by doing an extension (but would be last resort because of cost).

I have tried googling what others have done or looking for floorplans for neighbouring houses but to no avail! I would appreciate any help, advice or signposting! Many thanks,

Featured Answer

Patricia Suarez

7 years ago

I'd move the stairs too.
I've seen many like this in my area.
This one should be a similar size to yours though being end of terrace it has the door on the side

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Comments (17)

kb_55
8 years ago
If you're on a budget I wouldn't move the stairs but would add a stud wall or bi fold doors cutting your lounge in half (between the stairs and what I'm guessing to be a chimney breast).
Then I'd remove the kitchen wall and create a large kitchen diner with your current kitchen and the other half of your lounge.
Rob
8 years ago
last modified: 8 years ago
It all depends on your budget really but I would put the stairs going across the house from the right hand side to the left. The stairs would then come out into a landing you could build to bedroom 3. You would need to move the door to the master bedroom though to the opposite side.
Are the neighbours houses like yours layout wise? It's very unusual.
sammiejo63 thanked Rob
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Three bedrooms will always be worth more than 2. If there is enough headroom I would take loft stairs up above the main staircase - from the cupboard position. Leave a landing and corridor to the bathroom and partition off a tiny bedroom/nursery/study. A lot depends on which way your roof is pitched. I would get a few loft companies in to tell you what is possible within a limited budget. If and when you get the money it might be possible to close the existing back door and refigure the kitchen units to allow a lobby and door opening out toilet and use the toilet door as your back door. A downstairs toilet is heaven sent when you have children!
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Hello Duncan, They are good and I am biased as I don't use companies that don't provide trade discount... as I usually like to help my clients out... Here's a few images and an edging on a runner can be lovely too... I have also included one of a painted stair... So you have an option all of which are rather striking.... : )) x http://www.naturalrugstore.co.uk/coir-rugs.asp?gclid=Cj0KEQjwiKS3BRCU-7XQ75Te3NoBEiQAA2t_xPmcwAZ3TS0Qhq1t1hzYsP-r8oFgdC385qXO88eXioYaAjCE8P8HAQ The painted one... I would include the banister in this scenario..
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A few things I would change from experience...instead of a single and double door I would spend the extra money and put in a bifold corner section...would open up the space so much more. as for the kitchen...completely flip your design...put your breakfast bar closer to the window...make it large and multipurpose with the hob in it and then put your main band of cabinets either left, right or behind? We have recently restructured our existing cabinets to this layout and put in new countertops and it works far better than before!
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PRO
Nicholas Engert
8 years ago
Narrow Victorian houses are very challenging and much depends upon your budget.

Moving staircases and kitchens are big ticket items but would without doubt open you to many options. A "floating" staircase from left to right would give a clean and light look to the long living area whilst dividing it neatly to create a living space and separate kitchen/dining space.

If the budget is tight go for a cosmetic approach - either light and airy or dark and rich. For colour ideas look at The Little Green Paint Company who have an excellent palate of colours with references to past periods which will give you inspiration.
sammiejo63 thanked Nicholas Engert
PRO
creativeorg
8 years ago
Without moving the stairs there really is no way of separating your third bedroom without losing lots of valuable space. Obviously this is going to be costly. Ideally you need the stairs to be on the opposite wall the create a corridor landing you could access all three bedroom from. You could use a floating staircase along the left had wall as suggested that would maximise the space downstairs and create a design feature. If you moved the stairs forward you could carry out the suggestion below.

Regarding downstairs, I too would open up the space between the kitchen and the lounge and divide the lounge in two, creating a cosy lounge with bay window and a large kitchen dining room at the back of the house. You could use bifold doors as suggested earlier and then it would give you the option of having a completely open plan downstairs and would maximise on light making it feel bigger.
sammiejo63 thanked creativeorg
sammiejo63
Original Author
8 years ago
Hi all thank you so much for your suggestions they are really helpful.

I think you are all right, moving the staircase will really help to change the lay out and make it more workable across the whole house.

My only concern is safety. Does anyone know how safe it is to move a staircase and rebuild the ''missing' floor where the existing staircase is?

There might even be a chance we could build a bathroom in some of this space upstairs and extend the kitchen into the existing bathroom. But this building an upstairs bathroom would be subject to any weight restrictions on the new floor where there was previous no landing.

Rob - in answer to your question there are only a few neighbouring houses with their floor plans online and all of them are different! Some are two bed houses with an upstairs bathroom. All seem to have their staircase opposite the front door. Unfortunately we don't know the neighbours well enough to ask to see their lay outs!

Any further advice much appreciated!

Thanks,

SJ.
PRO
Amber Jeavons Ltd
8 years ago
last modified: 8 years ago
Hello Sammiejo63,

The one thing you may want to consider is moving the bathroom upstairs where the little tiny room is you can make this a walk in bathroom slightly smaller than the size of this room to allow more space in the bedroom area ie bedroom 2.. At the top of the stairs you can situate a tiny loo area by putting in a wall to reduce the size of current sized bedroom 2 to the left with a sliding or bi-fold door to enter from the top of the stairs and another door to it's left to enter the bedroom 2..

Leave the stairs as they are but make them blend into the fabric of the walls... so glass or something entirely open even just paint them to match the walls..... Remove both walls that partition the kitchen and bathroom (currently situated) and instead create a full open plan kitchen in this area.. Additionally if you were to take the end wall out from the garden door onwards to make the current kitchen/bathroom rooms same width as the living area the stairs would have more room...

This affords you more space overall.. Galley kitchen and dining area going out then onto the garden with an introduction of bifold, french or sliding doors.. Better have an adjoining bathroom in the master bedroom and lose a bedroom because you have a fully open living, kitchen and dining space which is perfect for entertaining.. Depending on size of garden and budget, you could even add an extension onto the rear to give you more space for kitchen dining....... : ))
sammiejo63 thanked Amber Jeavons Ltd
Jonathan
8 years ago
If budget allows have a loft extension- then your stairs will be in the perfect place..... Coming up into the tallest part of the roof space.
If you have a bedroom up there then I would have a first floor bathroom in between bedrooms 1 and 2 and knock the small kitchen and downstairs bathroom together to make a better kitchen.
sammiejo63 thanked Jonathan
PRO
Amber Jeavons Ltd
8 years ago
last modified: 8 years ago
That's an idea too... Even create a bathroom in the loft for master bedroom and a walk in bathroom for 1 of the guest rooms, on a smaller scale and have a loo too at the top of the stairs... : ))
sammiejo63 thanked Amber Jeavons Ltd
PRO
John Botham Architect
7 years ago
A very unusual plan. If your neighbours are different, then it may have been altered and extra care should be taken with any further structural alterations.

The loft was also my first thought - Victorian houses often have spacious lofts, and you could put your third bedroom up there. Bedroom 2 would be divided up to make bedroom 3 larger, and provide a bathroom and landing. Downstairs, you could consider making the bathroom into a utility room, and then open the kitchen up to the rest of the ground floor.

If you do decide to move the stairs, then the structure needs to be properly worked out, but there is no reason it can't be done safely.
sammiejo63 thanked John Botham Architect
Najeebah
7 years ago
(oldish post)
sammiejo63
Original Author
2 years ago
Hi all,

Thank you so much for your posts and ideas. I really appreciate it! Well 6 years have passed and we still haven’t made any structural changes as we started a family instead! But we think we’re ready to make some changes now (just when its become more expensive than ever to do structural works!)

A few things I forgot to mention in my original post is that the roof is a butterfly/London roof so its not a traditional pitched roof and would be expensive to make convert it. Plus we had to unexpectedly replace the entite roof this year because it was causing problems and didn’t have the time to think about a conversion due to the urgency 😫.

The front door is next to the lounge (floor plan is upside down 🙃)

I think we’re thinking of a ground floor extension now but ideally i’d love to separate out the 3rd bedroom so it has its own entrance and possibly make it bigger. The third bedroom is at a split level from the 2nd bedroom ie you have to go down 3 steps. But the roof above the 3rd bedroom is pitched and i’m wondering if its possible to extend into it and make it a study/4th bedroom.

The pesky stairs still seem to be a problem!

RE: John Botham thanks for your advice to be cautious as the layout differs so greatly to other properties on the street.

Any advice, ideas or similar problems solved very much appreciated!

many thanks

SJ
tab darcy
2 years ago
Hi. Well done on starting a family - you'll appreciate different uses of space when seen from a child's viewpoint. I played with an idea based on adding an internal hall and splitting the front room in two.
sammiejo63 thanked tab darcy
sammiejo63
Original Author
2 years ago
Hi Tab, thank you so much for your post and for taking the time to rework the floor plan! Thats really helpful and some great ideas, which I’d never thought of. I especially like the wc in the entrance hallway, I never would have thought of that! Great to have some food for thought. Thanks again, SJ
tab darcy
2 years ago
If you wanted to keep the loo at the back of the house instead, the hall 'loo' would be a great parking spot for buggy / bikes / rain gear. I'd also incorporate shoe storage ( and low hooks for small coats?) into the new hall half- wall.
Felix
2 years ago
last modified: 2 years ago
Congratulations on starting a family! A few ideas here, inspired by @Patricia Suarez's post. You might also have room for a study/4th bedroom on the ground floor even before extending.

How do the ground and first floor align with one another? At the widest part, it seems that the floor plans are not the same length.
PRO
Build Team
2 years ago
If you are based within the M25, we offer free design consultations and advice on layouts: https://www.buildteam.com/book-design-consultation.html.

We also have some blogs which might be helpful to consider when you proceed! (Keeping the character of your Victorian home: https://www.buildteam.com/blog/273/ )

We wish you all the best with your project and hope that this might help!

Awkward Victorian terrace house lay out - advice needed!

Patricia Suarez

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