Any thoughts or ideas?

Could you move the front door to the left where the window is now and then have that room as an entrance hall with a door to the study and make the room on the right bigger by merging that with the space in front of the current front door. You could then replace the current front door with a window and have two windows into that bigger space.

I have never even thought about that, I think because the house is an old cottage with the two windows either side of the front door it has made me think we need to keep the door in the middle, but now I’m wondering if that could be possible. I just really need to get a layout that works better as it just does not feel right at the moment and now while it’s all back to brick is the perfect time to try and reconfigure.

It is a tricky one. I can understand why you don’t want to change the front but I must admit I am not too keen on the narrow entrance hall. If you want to keep the door in the middle you could style the existing room that it opens into as a nice welcoming entrance hall and close off the entrance to the dining room (maybe with double doors).

I agree, we put the wall up making an entrance hall but quickly realised it just didn’t work, I feel like the door would be so much better in the middle of the room instead of being to the side of it. It’s such a dilemma to get right.

I would get rid of the corridor and do some re-planning as you have described

J;aCualey do you think the moving the front door over is a good idea?

Ok so just having a look at the plan and thinking it might be possible to move the front door over to the left and make the narrow hall part of the sitting room, put a door into the study in the hall to the right a door into the sitting room to the left and then doors straight ahead into the dining/ family/ kitchen. I’m just unsure of the playroom being down a corridor with the stairs.

Does anyone have any thoughts on this or different ideas?

I really like it. I think it certainly helps with the flow. If you are worried about the playroom being a bit apart from the rest of the house then you could consider using the current playroom as a combined utility/bootroom (you would need to convert one of the windows or the window under the stairs to an external door to make that work) and moving the playroom to the proposed bootroom/utility. This would mean it could double as a guest room with en-suite (and it’s own entrance!) when required. But I suspect the playroom may be a nicer room/have a nicer outlook and so this may not be ideal. Would make the trek with the laundry a bit shorter as well.

Hope you get some more ideas from others as well.

With it being an old house (17th Century) it’s hard to know what to do for the best

Does anyone else have any suggestions based on the original plan?

Your revised sketch works with the flow, Vanessa. I would suggest flipping the bathroom and utility positions, with the entrance to the bathroom from the hall. I would also take out the wall for the Play room. It will make it more open. Since the sitting room has become bigger, I would still have a door leading to the corridor where the stairs are, so there is a flow from the kitchen, dining room, stairs etc. Or else, the sitting room gets completely cut out from the rest of the house. However the door in the original sketch needs to be blocked up and a new door inserted where the original hallway was..

I just thought it may help to visualise by posting a photo of the exterior of the house. The revised sketch works on paper but with the style of the house I’m struggling to imagine the door moving over. Does anyone have any suggestions or thoughts?

We have a quarter wall by our front door, just enough to delineate the entrance from the sitting room, which gives us both an entrance area and a feeling of spaciousness to the sitting room.

The quarter wall is covered by the pink cloth. You can see how it gives us both an entrance corridor and a spacious feeling sitting room.

in face, your house is a mirror image of mine, except your flow isn't nearly as wonky as ours. :). Our playroom is also very similar to yours, being across the small corridor with stairs, and I love it. Close enough to monitor, but that wee distance, and glass French doors, gives us a slight visual and auditory distancing.

the view from my kitchen (my kitchen and dining room are flipped from yours) across the stairs (to the left) and into the playroom. it will be good as the children get older and want their own space, too.

Wow! That is an old house and the old part is nicely proportioned. Looking at it now, I would not change the position of the front door. But when you enter, you can have a small foyer (can still be nice and airy) and turn left into the hallway as in your revised sketch. This may help with blocking wind and rain and create privacy. Behind this entry cubicle, you can put a coat and shoe closet for the same depth! This means your door to your sitting room cannot be in the centre but move to the corner leaving you good room inside for seating arrangements. The existing door for the sitting room still gets blocked up. This may slightly address the one concern I had in your revised sketch ie your main entrance leading into your dining room.

Hi I think I might be a bit late with this idea of absorbing the dining room into the kitchen. (Such to follow). Moving the study to the playroom. Having a toilet under the stairs. I just think the dining room as it is will not get used. Anyway...