Final design of my refurb layout, looking for ideas

[jpaul]

It looks like every shower you have proposed is about 600*600mm plan area? They look tiny! (why is there so many? Go for size rather than number?)

yes that was my thought on the upstairs - relations just had a large walk in (mira control) shower in main bathroom, it is so much more efficient/quick than the en-suites showers which don't have room to swing a cat.

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concur with others that enlarging access/pushing-wall to existing lounge to make it a more useful space(cosy with tv) especially with the expected fireplace (guess you can't can't open other chimney breast)
I'd also want some closeable partition with kitchen area to help duel role of lounge/living space.

 

[Deep]

It looks like every shower you have proposed is about 600*600mm plan area? They look tiny! (why is there so many? Go for size rather than number?)

I think the front lounge should be seperate, and how wide is the "dining area? Could use that as a telly space and another dining table near where your island/peninsula is

The shower cubicles are 800*800mm
It's around 4m wide, and it was going to be used as a TV space purely because I'd get too much light from the rear windows/doors. I'm quite a big fan of the island & peninsular, currently I'm thinking of putting the dining table on the opposite side of the kitchen

- remove shower from downstairs. Split that WC in half and put a storage cupboard door in from either garage or kitchen to use as general storage/ladder. I'd probably say have it with just the end wall in garage but face opening to allow additional tall freezer and stacked washing/dryer, bin rack and such units in the garage then. It would take some of your elements out of kitchen to free up more practical storage in said kitchen

- loose the peninsula and extend the island. It will make a much more flexible space and still allow a breakfast bar on the island instead. You can have the hob and sink on the island even and just full height units for half the run on the wall side with the food prep area opposite island to allow you to work effectively. Make island 900mm rather than 600mm. You also then from breakfast bar can see out the doors when say there and not backs too it.

- move the living room wall to align to the kitchen door wall to exerted living room and shorten the dining area. Remove door from hallway to dining as not required

- keep double door but move north to the external wall by a few hundred mm and move living room door from so next to return by hallway cupboard. That way you now have a usable corner of room with more options for instance sofa could fit by front window and TV on that corner wall

- check what size beds Arch has used. They like to use small doubles to make rooms look larger on plan but you go tonget a large double/king in there and suddenly no room left.

- There is no wardrobe space to bedroom 2 and the size of the shower rooms don't make sense. Make bedroom 4 as bedroom 2 with ensuite and make it square to larger walk in shower. Add wardrobe to now bedroom 2 but set it 600mm from landing

- Make bedroom 2, bedroom 3 instead and use the reduced ensuite as a small wardrobe

This is what I would initially look at if a client came and asked me to review and comment on design principles. I might sketch some things up to show in Sketchup but I wouldn't have time till weekend to just do some super quick mock ups with it.

The downstairs shower needs to be there, it will have plumbing ready but won't actually be installed any time soon. It's a contingency that I'm going to build in just in case my elderly parents ever have to live with me (hopefully not!)

I'm not a huge fan of really large islands and I hate cooking on islands. I make a hell of a mess when cooking so I'm going to have the cooking & washing along the back walls, and the island will be free for sitting around.
I had a rough kitchen layout sorted, bottom corner of the kitchen and the wall between the garage and hallway will have full height cabinets.

I'm leaning towards doing all of that for the living room

The architect used king size beds.

In regards to bedroom 2, I'm going to remove the ensuite and make that into a walk in wardrobe. The ensuite for bedroom 4 will then be rectangular and won't have a need for the two shower trays.

 

[Curlyriff]

All comments fair.

pl
I was playing about a little with a very quick 2D in CAD at weekend between work and honestly I was looking it and would flip the dining/kitchen space to maximise the light and full height windows to give a much more grand area and one that could be split with a reading corner, breakout area or secondary sofa as example. I would also actually looking at the available space move the living room wall even further than first suggested because it allows more versitility and you already have so much room available in honesty.

You could alo introduce a utility/laundary room. The lines from the large doors are to show the light path approx as it moves around the building. I'd use a sliding door for the room so that it allows ease of access without issue of clashing with anyone. This could also be used for the double doors between living/kitchen.

 

[Deep]

I finally managed to get my planning permission accepted today!
It's been 2 failed apps and a final successful one despite my neighbour getting 6 other neighbours to complain about my planning!
What a year it's been but finally finished! Just need to sort out a builder and take the brilliant ideas above into a new gaff!

 

[Deleted User 298457]

I finally managed to get my planning permission accepted today!
It's been 2 failed apps and a final successful one despite my neighbour getting 6 other neighbours to complain about my planning!
What a year it's been but finally finished! Just need to sort out a builder and take the brilliant ideas above into a new gaff!

What were their grounds for rejecting?

 

[Deep]

What were their grounds for rejecting?

The council thought it was overbearing even though 2 houses much further down the road have done the exact same thing and looks incredible. They had a 4m double story extension with a 13m wide house.

I tried for that and failed, I then tried for a 3.7m and failed (even though the 45degree wouldn't be breached) and finally tried for a 3m double story. Eventually the council offered me a 2m double story and 4m single story.

Lol now if you ask why my neighbours objected, some good old fashioned racism occurred here.

 

[jpaul]

you hadn't really said how close it is above and below on plan to the neighbours (assuming it was not semi-detached, but the upper storey bathroom window suggests it is detached)

 

[Deep]

Detached - probably 3m from one neighbours (who will slightly affected by the sunlight) and 2m from the other

 

[jpaul]

Thanks, so I understand the 45 degrees view(sun) obstruction remark now - so did yourself or the protesting neighbours utlize a solar modelling package ,

(the current govt rules on sem-detached houses where neigbours could extend 3m on the party wall, seem out of control.)

 

[Deleted User 298457]

Thanks, so I understand the 45 degrees view(sun) obstruction remark now - so did yourself or the protesting neighbours utlize a solar modelling package ,

(the current govt rules on sem-detached houses where neigbours could extend 3m on the party wall, seem out of control.)

It is generally the person who is doing the works' responsibilities to make clear any impact on light. In my old house, the neighbour was proposing an outrageous rear kitchen extension that would have killed any natural light into my kitchen. His architect pretty much spelt this out in the drawings:

Needless to say they quickly revised the drawings to put a slanted roof on the left hand side to avoid any impact. And then the c-unit came to his sense and realised 80k to gain 12sqm was stupid and just had a kitchen refurb.

 

[SpellowHouse]

Just remember that doors mean that people will walk through them! I know, silly, but it means that nothing can be placed in front of them and you need a clear path between the door and where people are going. What seems like a perfectly decent sized room can be ruined by a through-way that limits the use of the room.
I don't see the need for those doors.
Also, I would not have the dining room/ kitchen as open plan. It's all very trendy to have a large open-plan but in reality the kitchen is a messy place, you don't want that spreading in to the new lounge. Kitchen/breakfast room is fine. Kitchen/ dining room, not so good. Kitchen/lounge, terrible. Just imagine watching TV while someone is making a right clatter in the kitchen. Also, you haven't got a utility room so the kitchen WILL be noisy.
Are you using all those bedrooms? Reason I ask is because attic rooms tend to be very hot in the summer. Not somewhere you want the primary bedroom. If the other rooms are used less then shift them in to the loft and move the master down.

 

[Deep]

Just remember that doors mean that people will walk through them! I know, silly, but it means that nothing can be placed in front of them and you need a clear path between the door and where people are going. What seems like a perfectly decent sized room can be ruined by a through-way that limits the use of the room.
I don't see the need for those doors.
Also, I would not have the dining room/ kitchen as open plan. It's all very trendy to have a large open-plan but in reality the kitchen is a messy place, you don't want that spreading in to the new lounge. Kitchen/breakfast room is fine. Kitchen/ dining room, not so good. Kitchen/lounge, terrible. Just imagine watching TV while someone is making a right clatter in the kitchen. Also, you haven't got a utility room so the kitchen WILL be noisy.
Are you using all those bedrooms? Reason I ask is because attic rooms tend to be very hot in the summer. Not somewhere you want the primary bedroom. If the other rooms are used less then shift them in to the loft and move the master down.

Sorry fella, which doors do you not see the need for? The ones between the living room and dining room?

After a lot of debating and working around I've basically figured out the perfect usage for myself going forward.

The downstairs layout is basically going to stay as the layout above, however the living room will be my TV watching area (as it is now). It's a good sized room and it's got a great layout for perhaps one day installing a projector.
What has been marked as the dining room will have the chimney breast opened up a touch and a nice stove put in, the door on the opposite wall to that chimney will be blocked and a row of bookcases will go there. I'll whack a pair of armchairs and that will be a formal sitting room.
I'll decide where my dining area will go once the thing is constructed as I can't visualise which is better.

I won't bother putting a TV in the rear area, but will put a sofa for just chilling when it's nice and hot facing the garden.

My garage will be part utility room and part garage, I don't want to put a dividing wall as to me they're one and the same. The garage will house my boiler associated gubbins, it'll also have the washing machine, afew kitchen cupboards for extra storage and a boxing bag secured to the floor.

I'm quite intrigued by the loft room, because I haven't decided if I'm going to use that as my main bedroom going forward. As you said I need to see how hot it gets during summer but the bigger issue for me is that I'm 6ft6 and I get nervous when the ceilings aren't very high. So once the shell has been constructed I can properly assess whether I'd be OK in that room. Otherwise Bedroom 4 will be the master, that's what I'm currently in and it's fantastic size.

 

[Deep]

Thanks, so I understand the 45 degrees view(sun) obstruction remark now - so did yourself or the protesting neighbours utlize a solar modelling package ,

(the current govt rules on sem-detached houses where neigbours could extend 3m on the party wall, seem out of control.)

My architect did the 45 degree measurements and the council have agreed.
One interesting thing to note is that if my neighbours didn't knock through their kitchen and rear room into one room then I would have breached the 45 angle.

The neighbouring properties with the potential to be impacted by this proposal are Nos. 26 and 30 to the sides of the application site. With regard to No. 30, there would be a slight breach of the 45o sightline taken from a ground floor rear facing window however given that this window serves a large open plan room which is served by other windows, the impact is acceptable. At first floor level, there would be no breach of the 45o sightline taken from rear facing windows. The impact of the proposal on all other windows of this property in terms of light is considered to be acceptable