Thoughts about new downstairs layout

[roganty]

Hi all,

Next year we are going redo our whole house (decorating, windows, electrics, the whole hog!)

Here is our current layout

Bottom is the front of the house. Not shown is external doors and windows.

Currently there is only a half wall between the kitchen and dining room. This will be removed.

The gap top left in the kitchen is our current back door. Not shown is a cupboard in the corner next to the back door where we have the down pipe from the toilet above.

Here is our plan

There are 7 main changes:

1. The wall between the hallway and front room is moved back against the stairs.
2. The door between the front room and kitchen/dining room is moved.
3. The back door half bricked up, and incorporated into the kitchen window.
4. The dining room window is changed to french/sliding doors
5. (Not shown) replace current uPVC porch with brick porch.
6. (Not shown) replace all windows.
7. (Not shown) replace and relocate the boiler

The only structural change would be moving the front room/kitchen door, as that is a supporting wall.

I only have a couple of reservations
The first one is what to do with under the stairs. Currently only under the stairs is bricked up with a door for storage.
What could we do with the space afterwards?
We have to keep the access because our electricity meter is there, and we can't place anything in that corner because we will need access under the stairs!

My other grey area is the boiler (currently in little front bedroom)
First plans were to remove the cupboard next to the back door and place the boiler there. It also conveniently means the down pipe will also be boxed in, and the boiler will be best placed for providing hot water.
The only issue is I can't work out how the flue will exit the building.

The second plan was to move the boiler up two flights above the bathroom. Then all the pipes can use the down pipe void between the floors. But I'm concerned about noise transfer to next door, and access to the boiler for maintenance.

The third plan is to place the boiler in the old airing cupboard accessed through the back bedroom. Good points is that it would be located close to the existing pipework. Bad point is the loss of storage, and noise transfer.


Does anyone have any ideas or suggestions for the layout or position of the boiler?

Anthony
PS I hope this is in the right area

 

[acurachris]

Hi

Take my opinion as you like, it's just my opinion. It's difficult to say just looking at drawings for perspective.

If that were my house i'd likely keep the hall through to the kitchen and have the lounge separate. In my house we have to go through the lounge to the kitchen and we don't like it, it can be particularly annoying if someone is in the lounge and you're plodding through every minute with shopping, stuff for the garden etc. (are you terraced; do you have access around the side/back of your house? If not how do you get stuff to your garden? Through the lounge?).

I would move the existing kitchen to the right hand side which appears to have more space for units (bigger kitchen area) and put the dining section on the other side. This will allow a straight access through the house if needed. This would also mean no moving of walls, no blocking up of windows and the door can stay where it is or widened to create french doors. You would need to move the pipe work but that is going to be easier than walls, doors and windows.

It's your house though, you gotta live there, so do what you think you'd like and what suits your living!

 

[freddiemercurystwin]

I've not really looked in detail but I would hate access to the kitchen via the living room, that said I guess it makes your living room bigger but I've always been put off by such layouts in the past.

 

[roganty]

Hi

Take my opinion as you like, it's just my opinion. It's difficult to say just looking at drawings for perspective.

If that were my house i'd likely keep the hall through to the kitchen and have the lounge separate. In my house we have to go through the lounge to the kitchen and we don't like it, it can be particularly annoying if someone is in the lounge and you're plodding through every minute with shopping, stuff for the garden etc. (are you terraced; do you have access around the side/back of your house? If not how do you get stuff to your garden? Through the lounge?).

I would move the existing kitchen to the right hand side which appears to have more space for units (bigger kitchen area) and put the dining section on the other side. This will allow a straight access through the house if needed. This would also mean no moving of walls, no blocking up of windows and the door can stay where it is or widened to create french doors. You would need to move the pipe work but that is going to be easier than walls, doors and windows.

It's your house though, you gotta live there, so do what you think you'd like and what suits your living!

Thanks @acurachris, To help with dimensions, the front room is approx 3.5m x 3m, the house is approx 7m front to back, and yes we are mid-terrace house built in the 70's. The upstairs is approx 1m wider (on the right) as it half goes over the shared alleyway.

I've not really looked in detail but I would hate access to the kitchen via the living room, that said I guess it makes your living room bigger but I've always been put off by such layouts in the past.

(in reply to both) It would be cheaper to keep the door into the kitchen where it currently is, and this would keep a 'hallway' area.
The idea of moving the door was to give us extra worktop space in the kitchen and allow the fridge to stay within the kitchen.
By keeping the door where it currently is would mean the fridge may end up in the alcove in the dinning room.

The wall between the kitchen and dinning room is already down to worktop height. If money was no object, we would move the kitchen to the front of the house. We would then have the back of the house as a lounge/sun room!


To be honest, all the other houses I have lived in in my life (all two of them!) have had the kitchen accessed through the front room, so for me there is no issues with that!

Anthony

 

[RichA]

IMO it doesn’t really make the living room much bigger, as you have to leave a ‘corridor’ to the kitchen.

I would leave the walls as they are and remodel (or extend).

 

[roganty]

@RichA, very true, but at the moment we have a limited number of options for rearranging the furniture due to having to leave space for the door.

 

[acurachris]

The idea of moving the door was to give us extra worktop space in the kitchen

If you put the kitchen on the right side instead of the left, would that not give you more workshop space?

at the moment we have a limited number of options for rearranging the furniture due to having to leave space for the door.

Why don't you move the door for the lounge to the back of the hallway, then you'll enter the lounge in the corner near the kitchen. If it's a solid wall, you'll lintel and cut out the new door and brick up the old one.

 

[roganty]

If you put the kitchen on the right side instead of the left, would that not give you more workshop space?

I've been thinking about this, and I'm not convinced.

1. The dinning room window sill would have to be raised if we wanted any worktops along under the window.
2. There is the alcove to deal with. We could have the worktop finish in the alcove, and then have the fridge there. Or we could remove that bit of wall and have the alcove in the front room.
3. Thirdly, the waste water from the sink. Currently it discharges directly into a drain (rainwater I believe) this will be changed. We could either dig up the patio and break into the sewer that way, or somehow bury it in the floor (Macerator anyone!?)

Good points are:

1. Bigger patio doors (2.2m instead of 1.8m)
2. More high level cupboards.
3. And I've forgotten the third one!

Why don't you move the door for the lounge to the back of the hallway, then you'll enter the lounge in the corner near the kitchen. If it's a solid wall, you'll lintel and cut out the new door and brick up the old one.

Yes, it is a solid wall (good point about this house is that all the walls are solid!)
Someone in the family has suggested this one before, but I've got my heart set on getting rid of this wall.
Plus it should help with bringing more morning/early afternoon sun in to the front of the house.

(Serving hatches and windows into the kitchen have all be vetoed by SWMBO)