Best layout for a walkthrough room

3 years ago

Hello, please help with some inspiration for a middle room that is currently the kitchen but, with an extension we have planned to create a new kitchen diner, this room will become a playroom / office / snug (marked yellow).

It is a “walkthrough” room with 3 doorways; one from the living room, one to get to the bathroom / bedrooms (it’s a bungalow) and one to the utility room that has the back door. The room size is 4m x 4m, but with needing the walkway space between the 3 doors, the usable floor area reduces to 3m x 3m.

The original stone walls are half a meter thick, so keeping the doorway from the lounge in the same position seems the most sensible option. I have also drawn on the picture a w.c. to the new front entrance area (marked green).

Any thoughts on the most efficient layout would be much appreciated. Thank you!

Featured Answer

CWD

3 years ago

have you thought about putting the new WC room in the walk-thru room? in it's own little room, leaving the rest of the space as hallway really - but build in really useful storage space so it's not a mess to walk through. could have shelves/cabinets with big baskets to tidy toys into and then store in there when not in use, plus space for coats, shoes etc. maybe even space for a small desk for household admin - somewhere to sort mail, etc. keep it functional but also pretty. the loo off the kitchen is not good and really eats into that open place space unnecessarily. I'd also consider adding a door from that room into the middle section of the open plan new bit - rather than always having to walk thru the lounge to get to the rest of the house. close up the doorway into lounge and that will give you that whole back/top wall for built-in storage.

Comments (10)

Tim Baker
3 years ago
I think the solution might be in your question. What room do you actually need? My experience with children is they will play all over the room and you will be left to pick your way through their mess. Do you need a home office? If you do you will probably want to shut yourself away and a walk through doesn't seem very "snug".

I don't know your full situation but it's an easy mistake to render an existing room superfluous in an effort to create the new room of your dreams. Thick walls are not really a big obstacle to modern power tools. The reason that they can be expensive to remove in a house is the need to support all that heavy stonework above. You don't have that issue with a bungalow. Walk through rooms often work well as the working end of a kitchen diner. You naturally want the units on the perimeter and leave the centre of the room open. It's not a private space and people passing through are not an interruption.

I would look again at your plans. The cost of removing a wall will be far less than building an extra 16sq m to replace the area you have made virtually redundant. Also the new wc doesn't look happy there, usually best to access them from a hallway or tucked into a corner.
ljecrowe thanked Tim Baker
PRO
Ideas for Interiors
3 years ago
I agree with Tim, I think you are asking too much of the space to fulfil 3 functions. You might, with lots of clever storage, be able to accommodate 2, eg office wall on the bedroom wall and play space in the bottom right corner of the room or playspace with a couch and tv or office wall and couch tv, but if you have young children their toys will expand to fill the room and make it hard to walk across the space. If you remove the thick wall I think the problem could be worse(?) as you lose the ability to shut anything away and also place to hang storage units against.
ljecrowe thanked Ideas for Interiors
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Missy C
3 years ago
last modified: 3 years ago
I think you should look at making a hallway where the bedroom is, straight through. Then make the playroom a bedroom without all the openings to other rooms and the bedroom you cut through the playroom or office space. Perhaps you should see an architect to get the best use of the space. I personally wouldn’t like to walk through a room to get to the kitchen/lounge so I think this needs a central hallway. The proposed toilet also seems to be in an odd place?
ljecrowe thanked Missy C
ljecrowe
Original Author
3 years ago
Thank you for the comments, I did think about the new wc in the middle room as there is existing plumbing there from the current kitchen, but wasn’t sure where best to put it in relation to the window and the doors. Our utility room does overflow with outdoor clothes for 5 of us especially in the winter. I would like to change the doorway from the lounge to create a square lounge, but then I didn’t know if having a new doorway along the wall would cut through more of the useable space.
CWD
3 years ago
ljecrowe thanked CWD
ljecrowe
Original Author
3 years ago
Thank you, that’s really helpful. I will give these suggestions some more thought
siobhanmcgee90
3 years ago
Why would you not extend the hall so you have direct access to the extension. Move entry to the utility from the bathroom and I would give serious reconsideration to your bedroom layout from the limited plans I can see. One v small rectangular room with a hallway that looks awkward.
CWD
3 years ago
Alternative - keeps the window into the hall for light in that space...could have a desk under the window and tall storage either side...
ljecrowe thanked CWD
Ellie
3 years ago
I wouldn't just accept it's a walkthrough room, I'd change it. How will you get to new kitchen? Id want my living room and kitchen to be both accessed from hall. I'd create hall along by where purple storage block is in last plan posted by colourwise

Best layout for a walkthrough room

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Best layout for a walkthrough room

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