Reworking ground floor

4 years ago

We are thinking of buying this 80s house. Large lounge, smaller kitchen, sunroom. Thinking of opening kitchen to sunroom and doing something with all the clashing doors in the kitchen.

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Maths Wife

4 years ago

Excellent news about the Sun Room. I think the only thing that doesn't work for me so much is the downstairs shower room. If you need a second bathroom, it needs to be as near to the bottom of the stairs for ease of use as possible.

So, I'd move that first. That gives you this sort of space.

What you do after that is really a matter of choice and budget.

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Comments (14)

steph_grant7
4 years ago
https://img2.propertypal.com/sd/p/568950/14727162.jpg

This links to the property details including floor plans
PRO
Vita Architecture Ltd
4 years ago
Hi Stephanie, looks nice! You've also got the opportunity to extend behind the lounge, relocate the shower room and by knocking out the walls between the lounge and kitchen you can have a truly open plan kitchen / dining and living space!
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Thank you both. The staircase does actually have a turn in it, near the top. And we are planning glass doors in the hall to the kitchen so you can see all the way from the front door out through to the garden! I'm not sure about opening up the playroom & family room. We would really value an 'adult' room at the front of the house for TV in the evenings, and somewhere to close off the kid's toys! We could also use the playroom as a 4th bedroom/guest room if necessary. Thanks again
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Stephanie Nelson
Original Author
4 years ago
anks
PRO
Exacting Standard Ltd
4 years ago
Hi Stephanie,

Loads of potential in that house. It would be a good idea to extend to the back of the lounge and connect it to the sunroom if the garden allows it. Would make it a great space.The shower room downstairs can be removed, as you can add an en suite shower room upstairs by making the existing bathroom smaller and taking a little bit of square footage from the adjacent bedroom.
Maths Wife
4 years ago
last modified: 4 years ago
Don't forget though, that the Sun Room will not be a 'proper building', it's a conservatory / Lean to. So unless you change the walls and roof, ie convert it, then you can't have it open to the main house. Often it's better, and sometimes cheaper to knock them down and extend. It will depend on the quality of the Lean To.
rinked
4 years ago
last modified: 4 years ago

Even with some smaller changes you could have a more open layout: Close off the hallway door and have a 3+3.6+2m U-shaped kitchen. Make a decent opening in the living-kitchen wall, no need to remove all of it.

Some suggestions for your first floor: Move the bathroom doorway and switch bath and shower. And add both wardrobes to the 'master bedroom'.

Every other idea I came up with would mean knocking holes in loadbearing walls, besides that, extensions and second floors are probably not why you've chosen this house in the first place, so I rest my case ;)
steph_grant7
4 years ago
last modified: 4 years ago
Thanks, we’re hoping to keep work to a minimum! The sunroom is in fact a proper one storey extension with a proper roof, so no concerns on that end.
PRO
House 2 Home Design
4 years ago
I d say the above overall layout (maths wife) is right on the money if you don't want to spend any more on further extension. There are only 3 bedrooms upstairs so i would carefully consider if a shower room is needed downstairs or a WC is sufficient, hence keeping your spacious hallway which in itself could be a wow factor. The kitchen layout could be somewhat different depending on which aspect you want your patio doors to face. Perhaps patio doors are best placed at the end of the building bringing the green in. Or perhaps there is not a large garden in which case the above patio door positioning could work. Good luck with your purchase.
steph_grant7
4 years ago
Thanks everyone for the thoughts. I like the maths wife layout, thank you for your effort. You can't see in the plans, but there is an attached garage which runs from the lounge wall, just behind the fireplace and juts out beyond the lounge window, (with a door into the garage from the garden) meaning that's not a great place for patio doors. The back of the sunroom does face out over the garden, facing south towards mountains, so a nice outlook. We had thought of converting the shower room to a utility space, (water supply already in place) although I suppose we could put that in the garage.
steph_grant7
4 years ago
Update, our offer was accepted today, so we will be looking to put some of those ideas into place. We're considering living in it for a while first to see what we think would work best. Any opinions?

I actually woke up yesterday thinking we could close off a "best room"/adult space from the current lounge, and connect all three other spaces together in an eating chilling and cooking combo.
Maths Wife
4 years ago
Yey!!! Keep us posted Steph
PRO
House 2 Home Design
4 years ago
congratulations Steph. My advice to you is.. if you have the opportunity to renovate whilst not living in the place then do it before you move in! Will save a lot of dust and hassle, especially if there are kids involved.
steph_grant7
4 years ago
Thanks everyone, lots of planning and pricing ahead, I think. We’re really excited!

Reworking ground floor

Maths Wife

Comments (14)

steph_grant7

Vita Architecture Ltd

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Reworking ground floor

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