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Design DilemmaStorageRenovating
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Mission Impossible?

last year
last modified: last year

Hello,

We are considering the purchase of a recently developed home - this was a conversion from a workshop to a 3 bedroom home in the Kent greenbelt AONB. it's beautiful, but falls short on storage space. I know from the estate agent speaking frankly that this is why its not selling.

I can tell planning was limited - the footprint, design and layout looks compromised, so I can only imagine planning to extend is nearly impossible. With this in mind, we're looking for some help to understand, worst-case, if a reconfiguration of the upstairs is possible, to achieve what we are looking for - more space for intelligent but practical storage and less of a living space compromise! Some helpful hints on our chances of extending would also be helpful towards our decision on the purchase.

Initially, my thoughts go towards asking a designer / planner, but keen to see if this audience has any guidance or thoughts.

Here is the plan:



I am hoping the first floor can be reconfigured as so:

1) The stairs in the reception room can be removed (this is not load bearing) and there is another stairway.

2) The 1st floor bathrooms can be amended (or one of them removed) as they both impede the bedroom storage.

3) The 1st floor study area, smallest bedroom and secondary bedroom could be changed somehow, given the removal of the reception room stairs, to ensure a nice space that is suitable for an expanding family. Having a child in an isolated room only accessible by going downstairs, then back up another set of stairs seems ridiculous and not very fire friendly. Poor design?

Other points to consider:

Ground floor already has a bathroom that the spare rooms can access

There is another stairway

We'd probably still need space for office work in the main building - the outbuilding will be used for a main office and gym

Generally, I can't see much of the ground floor needing work

Do your best and hopefully you kind folks can see possibilities that we currently can't visualise. Also, any recommendations for prosessionals to look at this and advise would be appreciated. We have owner and estate agent permission to take a planner round to survey.

Thanks in advance!

Scott & Cheryll

Featured Answer
  • PRO
    last year

    Can you measure the depth of your existing eaves? I’m guessing it’s 40-50cm but can’t really tell. If your ok to get rid of the study then the en-suite can move to that side of the house, creating space for a bespoke wardrobe. The big challenge is that middle bedroom. If you want to access the right side bedroom you need a corridor that cuts across the middle room. As it looks like you gave max 2m width of walking ceiling height it’ll need to go down the middle. Therefore the key is to reconfigure both rooms on the right. I’ll drop your plans into a scaled drawing and have a quick play around tomorrow.

    Comments (8)

    • PRO
      last year

      Unusually you have large storeroom on the ground floor only accessible by the outside. Swap the kitchen and dining room around and you can have an entire wall of embedded closets. You can easily extend the eaves and turn them into bespoke wardrobes. If you remove the study and create a hall along the south wall you can take the stair away as you suggest but it depends on the ceiling height. You may need to add a dormer. Planning for these are usually pretty straightforward. If you take the stair away from the reception you can add a storage divider unit to help separate the space. Otherwise you have various small areas you can add storage to as well such as by the entrance. I have some time before holidays and can redesign it for you for £500 (floorplan version). Would just need measures for the walls.

    • last year
      last modified: last year

      Thanks very much for the reply.

      The storeroom you refer to is actually a shed and it's not reflected well on this drawing, where it appears to be within the footprint of the house, but is in fact adjoining the outer wall. See below picture:



      We wouldn't be looking to change much on ground floor and the kitchen will need to remain where it is.

      Can you possibly elaborate on extending the eaves? I'm not sure if the ceiling angle / roof space would allow for this. I've attached a bedroom photo for reference below, which shows some minor storage space in the eaves but this is only enough for a medium suitcase:



      I'm led to believe that dormers are very difficult to get planning for in an AONB - according to my interpretation of the council documents.

      Storage as a divider will certainly be necessary in the reception room as that area feels like a suitable play / children's area. I'm not sure storage in the entrance area would work - it's very nicely decorated with Spanish wall tiling, wood and glass:





      I'm very grateful for the floorplan design offer, however we're keen to look at options on the 1st floor rather than the ground floor. Bathroom and bedroom reconfiguration options, plus storage solutions for the bedrooms is the biggest key for us.

    • last year

      Thanks! Eaves are around that but no way to confirm as we've not bought the property yet and have not re-visited.

    • last year

      I feel your pain. We bought an industrial shed converted into a large house and have lots of small rooms off bedrooms etc. but not even one shelf inside and no linen cupboard. This is our second year of living in a mess. We are turning a fifth bedroom into a walk in wardrobe and are adding shelves and full height cupboards absolutely everywhere. The house looks very attractive, these things can be sorted out if you love the house. I would also move in first and see how you live. Yes, it's annoying to have plastic trugs around but you might want to pare down a lot which is what we are busy doing. I wouldn't rush. Luckily we had a lot of freestanding armoire's etc to use in the interim.

    • PRO
      last year






    • PRO
      last year

      Struggling to see the imagery on my small screen, but certainly removal of an excess staircase would help, though that leaves an issue of a "through" room which isn't ideal.


      A good carpenter will make quick work adding acres of storage into those eaves - pull outs are far more practical than doors, though at a higher cost.


      I'll await Canmore's design ideas with interest!

    • last year

      Thanks for all the comments, folks. We didn't buy the house in the end as we felt it was too much work to get what we desired and there were better options out there. Still looking and we've found something else that we feel we can turn into our own. Thanks again

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