Kitchen and hall open plan - downstairs

4 years ago

Hi everyone,

I've just reserved a new house with quite a small kitchen and I have been wondering how would it work to open it up with the hallway. I attach my super professional drawing :)

I thought of asking the developer not to put the walls in red. The house is at the early building stage so it might work, I just don't know if they would agree. It might be less hassle for them simply not to build them but maybe some additional designs would be needed that might cost. Any advice on your experience with such requests would be vey appreciated!

I would then move the units in yellow (oven and fridge). I would love to fit in a kitchen island somewhere too. I also had an idea to have a sliding door to the living room to limit the open space if needed.

They provide all the kitchen cupboards so I expect them not to be happy with any requests but worth trying I guess!

Thanks for any thoughts!

Kasia

Featured Answer

Ellie

4 years ago

Building refs do allow open stairs in kitchen area. We are renovating now and that is what we will have. Got planning permission/building warrant no problem. It does depend on what's up those stairs. If more than one floor I believe your stairs must be enclosed with doors/walls.

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Comments (15)

Ellie
4 years ago
Does that mean coming in front door and being in the kitchen? If so, I would avoid that.
Daisy England
4 years ago
A no from me too.
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Kasia Chiluva
Original Author
4 years ago
I would imagine it to be something like this:

So a nice kitchen island is the first thing you see when you enter together with a staircase.It could somehow replace a wall.

Any reason you think entrance shouldn't be through the kitchen?
Ella Smith
4 years ago
I would do it but you might have issues when you try to sell if people are put off.
minipie
4 years ago
Pretty sure that will cause issues with fire regs - I believe the kitchen needs to be divided from the hall/front door with a fire resistant barrier (this is usually provided by walls plus fire door) or else you need a sprinkler system (pricey).

How early on is the building? Could they swap the kitchen and living room? if so that would be my preference.
User
4 years ago
I don't think building regs would allow that. There has to be a door between each habitable room and the stairwell.
Kasia Chiluva
Original Author
4 years ago
Oh that’s great to know! It’s just one storey above: 3 bedrooma and bathrooms. It’s seems to be a bit on the case by case basis it seems. Where are you based Ellie? I’m in Manchester
Kasia Chiluva
Original Author
4 years ago
last modified: 4 years ago
It seems that if the house is two storey and the windows upstairs are big enough, it should be fine. I paste a quote from an article I found about it:

'Similar issues can affect two-storey homes where the windows are too small to be deemed viable as escape routes, as well as three-storey houses where kitchen-diners or living rooms are open to the staircase.'
minipie
4 years ago
Sorry completely true, the regs I mentioned apply to 3+ storey houses, apologies for the red herring!

In that case I quite like the open plan idea but with the following caveats 1) I’d still prefer swapping the kitchen and living area if possible 2) you‘ll need a great extractor to stop smells going up the stairs 3) definitely have a door on the living room and 4) I’d keep the small bit of wall near the front door to create a lobby area.

Also consider having some sort of partition that divides but lets light through - lots of ideas around at the moment such as glazed partitions or vertical wooden slats or perforated screens.
Kasia Chiluva thanked minipie
Kasia Chiluva
Original Author
4 years ago
Thanks for drawing my attention to this, I need to do all my homework before going to talk to the developer. I expect them not to be happy about changes so I'm drafting a list of how they will benefit (I won't need some the things they are meant to provide).

I definitely agree with your recommendation number 4), I've seen some pictures of such solutions and quite liked them. Thanks for the tip on partitions, I will surely check them out!
Jonathan
4 years ago
Personally I think it will cause more problems than it solves.
Firstly if the developer is a major national house builder they won’t do the changes- you will have to do it after you move in.
Secondly to create the breakfast bar you showed in the inspiration picture you have to make the kitchen area smaller to create room for the wider peninsula and stools. You will also lose wall space for wall cabinets and a radiator. And cooking smells could travel upstairs. And this plan jeopardizes any future plans to extend into the loft.
Kasia Chiluva
Original Author
4 years ago
Thanks Jonathan.

yes, i expect the developer to be reluctant. But I plan to present it to them as a win. There are a number of ways they will benefit from it. Hopefully, from their perspective not building these walls is less work.

There are a few things included in price I won’t want:

- 4 radiators (Id have underfloor Heating downstairs)

- tiling in the kitchen (I’d make all wooden floor)

- Fridge - I’d like an American style fridge which they don’t seem to offer. I’d be willing to give up the fridge if they go my way

My alternative would be to ask them to have all of it uninstalled and sell it to fund the work I need to do myself/hire someone.

The only cupboards I would lose are the corner ones. But Id gain some storage space in the kitchen island (i was looking at multifunctional ones). And we would leave the first bit of a wall on the left to put some shelving if needed.

I’m not thinking of loft conversion but if I had money for that, I would find it for sprinkles/mist system that would solve the problem.
Sarah Blackburn
4 years ago
We have just done something similar to a 1990s mid terrace 2 bed, 1 bath, 2 storey house where our daughter lives. Tiny kitchen at front has been opened up to hall and sitting room leaving the stub wall to shield it from the front door and take the end of the row of units on the front wall. An integral kitchen living room is much more friendly especially if you live alone and want to talk to guests while you prepare drinks and food. I toyed with moving kitchen to the back, even an extension there but that was much more expensive and would have meant rerouting all the water and waste connections, the boiler and central heating and taking the cooker circuits too. Your developer might shift a wall and some cabinets but the infrastructure can’t be changed easily. Anyway, good luck, as I think the bigger kitchen will be worth it.
PRO
OnePlan
4 years ago
Because it’s a new build - if it’s in England it will need to comply to part M - so might not have enough walkway space for an island .

Kitchen and hall open plan - downstairs

Ellie

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