Downstairs layout - advice much appreciated

2 months ago

Good morning,
I'd really appreciate some advice about our downstairs layout.
We have an attached garage to the side of the house we would like to convert to living space. The boundary of this is linked to next door and on the boundary line.
We'd like to add a large porch in front of the garage to reduce the external offset and create a front facing entrance. I'm unsure how close to the boundary we can take this. The house lacks kerb appeal and I'm hoping this will help.
Internally, we'd like to achieve a large kitchen diner, ideally with an island and family space. We'd like to create space for a ulitily room and garden room and/ or home office. Ideally we'd like to be able to look out to the back of the house as this is where the garden space is. Rear of house is north facing and can be dark.
We could extend the rear of the house by a couple of meters to make the kitchen and dining space larger, but unsure if this is an unessessary expense.
Would welcome ideas about how best to use the existing floor plan and/ or what options extending a little to the rear would add. We've been mulling over our options for a while now and feel like we haven't hit on something that works and flows. Any advice much appreciated

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Comments (10)

Isla Cherry
2 months ago
There is so much potential here. Do you have a streetfacing pic? This would help with porch suggestions. Its currently very practical and should be relatively easy to achieve your wish list.
HU-505778788
Original Author
2 months ago
Thanks so much. Here is a street facing pic. We have plenty of work to do externally too. I suspect the reason we haven't landed on a decision as it's all so connected. We can't decide where to start. Thanks.
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Isla Cherry
2 months ago
You need Jonathan. He knows much more about this than anyone. I don't have enough knowledge of building regs, etc.
siobhanmcgee90
2 months ago
Have a look at this episode where they redesigned a house similar to yours from what I remember. https://www.channel4.com/programmes/kirstie-and-phils-love-it-or-list-it/on-demand/72383-001
rinked
2 months ago
last modified: 2 months ago
Please post the first floor as well. The storey on top of the garage is stand alone or connected to the house? And is the garage insulated, walls, floor? Ceiling height?
Jonathan
2 months ago
Personally I don’t think you should extend at the front because you mustn’t sacrifice too much drive and I don’t think it is the way of improving kerb appeal.

Instead I would put a large front door where the garage door is. Signpost it as the entrance by replacing a couple of metres of drive with either stone or ceramic tiles, add some oversized planter and lighting.

This is one possible layout.
Jonathan
2 months ago
And if you are looking for Kerb appeal suggestions I think you will get more bang for your buck by changing the face of the house that is closest to the road. You likely need an architectural designer to help with the plans you are considering
HU-505778788
Original Author
2 months ago
Thank you all so much for your help. I really appreciate it. I'll have a look at the love it or list it episode. Thanks.

Jonathan: I'm so glad I asked here as your suggestion is not something we have ever considered before. Ours were much more basic bolt on back extension ideas. It's a really interesting use of space and helpful in making us think differently. Changing the downstairs windows and render seems to make a big difference too. I'm not too worried about losing drive length as it's a little longer than shown in the image but. Thank you very much for your help.

Rinked, here is the upstairs floor plan. The garage is not yet insulated so we would lose some width when converting. Ceiling height is 2m for front 1.5m of garage under the balcony then 2.4m for the remainder. There is a 30cm step down into it from the kitchen.

Thank you very much
rinked
2 months ago
So 12cm styrofloor insulation would reduce the step down to 18cm which is nice. Because leveling it would leave just 210cm height.
rinked
2 months ago
Quick scetch

Kitchen could go in the garage, depends on where you want your garden views from.

I sometimes wonder if people actually use two sitting rooms.

Downstairs layout - advice much appreciated

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Isla Cherry

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Downstairs layout - advice much appreciated

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