Magician !!

I'm not keen on any of the first three ideas, the bedrooms split the living / dining / kitchen and compromise on bathrooms.

I like both of Jonathan's plans, especially the second due to the 'L' shape living / dining, it looks more spacious, and, he's right about the Concept Planner.

Very interesting thank you so much everyone! Ideally the front room would be the lounge as it is otherwise a very oversized bedroom and it has lovely period features, bay window etc. I totally see that bedrooms off the living area are not ideal now. Any other ideas welcome! I don't think we need a laundry room. Thanks so much this is really helpful!

For me the three original designs compromised bedroom space and this flat would have been perceived as a property with one small double and two singles despite you putting double beds in each room- you might well have devalued the property by doing this.
I understand the instinct to have the grandest room as the living room but you can make modern spaces in the extension feel special with the addition of a focal point, great decorating, coving or a skylight.
The purpose of the laundry room is to take a noisy washing machine out of a kitchen/ living space- it doesn't have to be a big space - personally I would stack the washer and dryer on top of each other and then have a tall cupboard at the side for the ironing board and vacuum. In fact this property appears to be lacking essential storage space and this little space would help.

Something like this would allow you to keep the lounge at the front. Not sure how big bedrooms would actually be though

Thanks again! Just heard that the bedrooms can't lead out to the kitchen/dining area because of fire risk. They have to have a seperate corridor. Is this right does anyone know? In which case option 1 and 2 won't work and in option 3 the bedroom at the back would have to have a seperate door leading to the garden. Thanks so much for all your comments!

Jen thank you for your idea - but the bedroom at the top will need to have a window.... Ah regulations! It is semu detached.

Take 2! Does this work?!

I love it! I never thought about putting the corridor the other side of the wall so the bedrooms can be a bit bigger. To save costs we might just swap the kitchen and bathroom around as it's already there. But still I think we've got a winner. Thank you!!!

I would also want to keep the grand front room as a living room :). I've no doubt an architect or concept planner will come up with many more innovative ideas, it's just sometimes nice to get a feel for what you can achieve before you employ one :)

Since you want to keep the front room as a living room, here's another idea for you:

blue are bedrooms, red is kitchen, black are bathrooms and utility.

Thank you! Another great idea to consider. The only drawback would be that we lose the view over the garden, currently there's French doors there.... But that would make for a nice master bedroom. Lots to consider!

Be wary of planning this so that you can't use the garden without going through a bedroom. There are lots of bungalows that were built like this and failing to have access to the garden devalues them and will likely affect the salability of this property.

I like Jen P's final plan, it provides nicely sized rooms as well as an open open plan living area and a more private one leading out to the back which you can use to enjoy the outside views

Good point re the garden access, thanks again! Yes I think Jen P is onto a winner :)

I agree about the garden access through the bedroom. Not ideal. But I can't see two living rooms getting the full use, so to speak. I'd rather have a bedroom at the front and an open plan kitchen, diner, living at the back. But there we are. Thought I'd give you another option that hadn't been discussed yet :-)

My last idea: green are bedrooms, blue are bathrooms. Obviously it's a very crude plan shapewise, but I don't think that this layout has been suggested yet?

I think Jonathan or MATH proposed a similar layout- I think that layout could work well too (corridor looks about more spacious) and you get to retain the features such as bay windows and make a lovely master bedroom.

I think it depends on whether the owner prefers a private living space or open.

Oh yes, sorry Jonathan, it's basically the same as your earlier proposed layout. Didn't realise before. Oops.

Yep not me, definitely Jonathan - He's very good - wonder what he did in a former life?

I think idea 3 is great many flats have bedrooms coming off living areas no problems. Great that dining space next to outdoors too for summer, great ideas x

Faffing around like this is a receipie for disaster. DIY is great if you have loads of time and money and want it done amateurishly. If you have limited resources and want to make the most of the space you have get a professional who knows what they are doing and work with them to get a great result.

Thanks?!

We all need help before seeking advice we then pay for...

Remind me not to use your firm if that's what you call seeking advice, asking for ideas, looking for help on a public forum as ' faffing around '

What a fabulous help you have been to this thread !

Must get you to design my new home...not

OK so after long pause here's what the latest plan is... any thoughts greatly appreciated! We're making a tiny tiny 3rd room - Annoyingly we cant knock the wall which is next to the existing bathroom/the tiny room at the bottom on the right of the room (the thicker wall as drawn in pic below) - which influences everything. Definitely want to keep the front bay room as the lounge, it's too big for a bedroom. thanks in advance. Do you think this layout works?

(this is the CURRENT layout below...)

So is it where the bathroom was? Sorry..hard to see on my phone

The three rooms r in a line?

The end has an ensuite ?

Is that right?

Looks good to me. See if you can have a pocket door or a sliding door for the smallest bedroom.

Also, is that the actual kitchen design that you're going with?

I would hire structural enginner to caluclate how we can remove chimney breast ( you need to fit RSJ) to make bigger open space.

annoyingly the squarer lower bathroom walls can't be knocked, in the propsed picture above its the top wall with the door and the thicker wall to the right that can't be knocked. the stud wall on the left bit could be.

I'm not really happy with the long thin room to be honest but i cant think of another solution, unless we do indeed make it a 2 bed. but it's massive and we've got 2 babies! yes we could hire an enginner NLC, thanks. Carolina thanks so much for your input, yes thats the kitchen layout we're thinking. Sliding door great idea. Kiwimills - yes exactly. Any thoughts? x

If this is about having 3 good sized family bedrooms how about having the kitchen opening into the front living space with double doors, and using it as a corridor to get through to the back of the house. Bit weird I guess, but it does give you bigger bedrooms. Not sure if there are any fire reg implications in doing this either??

Love it! only thing is the walls (underneath where you've written 'bed3') can't be knocked. Love the corridor idea that solves the problem of having the master bedroom off the living space! thank you so much :)

(either side of your typed words 'bed3' are brick)

also theres a nice rooflight/velux skylight just literally above where youve written utility. incase that makes a difference! would be nice to use that to light the corridor, i guess?

Have you considered hiring a space planner/kitchen designer, like OnePlan for example (you can find her on Houzz). The kitchen seems tiny for the size of the flat and you don't have a lot of counter space in that design. Also, you need space either side of a cooktop for pan handles. I think it will be money worth spending, and on the scale of the project it will be peanuts. She might even come up with the best layout ever!

It's just an idea for you to consider :-)

yes ive just got in touch with her, thanks!!

Here's a pic showing which walls we cannot knock... you guys are all sooo helpful!! x

Please do update when you have decided the final layout- I hope it ticks all your boxes in the end! Out of interest why can't you knock some of the bathroom brick wall out and put a steel in? It would increase your options dramatically

So while you were all sleeping. .....hee hee!!

I moved the front door

Kept the yellow walls

How did u manage a skylight on the ground floor !? But kudos.

If the ceilings aren't high and a mezzanine is out in front room for a play room for kids, how about this?

Washing machine by bathroom ( if u can't use steels to get rid of walls)

Linen cupboard opposite , three beds two baths. Two living rooms.

Access to garden....

Also while you were sleeping ....

I think you are over complicating it -
Have the front lounge set up so it can also be master bedroom with a Murphy bed, wardrobes and tv over fireplace /on chimney . ( you won't have to move furniture - just pull down the bed and sleep ! ) don't waste this beautiful room and space !!

Did some other small tweaks too - changed smaller bathroom into shower room with new door - put laundry stack and cleaning clobber next to bigger bathroom - put double doors into an island kitchen with dining space under roof light and chill out corner sofa overlooking garden - put a sliding blackboard door over entrance to kids rooms
Basically giving everyone good space to live in.
Hope that helps !
Kindest regards
Karen
OnePlan




-

I think this could work with the yellow lines!! The 2 and 3 bedroom would be equal singles, but that's ok for kids isn't it?

Hi again! Sooo speaking to the architect today this seeems to be the latest, slightly tweaked to incorporate a cupboard into the tiny room stealing it from the corridor slightly. We can't see a way to make access to the third bedroom not go through the long room, so a door from there will have to do!

kiwimills - i really like your ideas. however the twin bedroom at the top needs to have a window to officially be a bedroom? (also, what's WR stand for, sorry?) We have a rooflight there because it's over the single storey side extension.

OnePlan - thanks so much too. I love your ideas but we are not keen on having to re - make up the bed everyday by using the front lounge as a murphy bedroom and lounge - But I do see where you are coming from! I like the simplicity of this design actually. So the kitchen island and table, would they be the same height? Like higher barstools?

Jen P - Thanks so much too! However we are pretty keen on the play area looking out over the garden, and having a single bedroom there means we lose that view. But i know we have to compromise somewhere... We can't knock the bathroom walls without huge costs with steels which we are trying to avoid. We can knock a doorway but not the whole wall down.

Jonathan - Me and my sister spent all night talking about your ideas earlier, we keep revisiting them. Thanks soooo much for your great ideas!!

Here's the latest version that we are thinking of, slightly tweaked, but still really considering everyone's thoughts so I'm sure it will change again! Ensuite now in middle room and kitchen bigger (thanks Carolina). The tiny room now has an inbuilt cupboard which i think makes a big difference...?

Thanks so much for your time!! :)

WR is wardrobe

Wir is walk in wardrobe

The third bedroom I thought could use the skylight (an opening one ) as their " window "

If the kids are young, they can always share and use the small room as a play room. Store the toys in the cupboard.

You will be amazed how having that area frees up the lounge re kids stuff. And makes the place feel bigger!

I have 5 , so a play room( we converted the loft...cricket could then be played, not in the lounge )

Is wonderful.

As they get older and toys become less of an obsession one of them can use that room or you sell etc

There will always be toys in the family room , that's a given, but them having their own space is wonderful.

I like the new design its a shame the second bedroom isn't near a bathroom...and they have to troop through the living areas to get there but compromise ...!!

And if u are happy that's all that matters

Thanks for the update! So glad you have found a compromise you are happy with. Good luck with the project :)

So after long discussions we have finally gone for the L-Shaped kitchen living diner with the master bedroom at the front. Also a very small bedroom where the bathroom used to be. (We couldn't knock that walk in the end) So 2 beds and a box room I guess. Thanks so much for all your input!

Next dilemma! We have raised the floor in the whole flat to add a wooden floor as it was concrete before. The only thing is, ideally we wouldn't raise the front bay room floor as it is a lot of work, and we have been given an engineered floor which only needs underlay rather than batens to raise the floor. Which means we will need a step somewhere.

Question is.... should we raise the floor all the way to the front door and have a step down into the bay front room ? Or have a step in the hallway just outside the bedroom? Could tile the hallway until we reach the step.

Also we are looking to redo the bathroom as it's quite old. We might make it slightly bigger - that space is a bit strange st the moment. Ideas welcome!

Many thanks in advance!

the final plan.... kitchen at the back next to the bifold doors.

Okay... I think you've made the right decision to move the living room and kitchen to the garden side and the bedroom to the front. I know you said final plan, but (sorry), I'd make the bathroom a bit bigger and the third bedroom could be bigger if you did this?

I love that idea. Only thing is we found out we can't knock that wall either. We need to redo the bathroom as it's very old and would like to make it bigger, just not sure how it would work in that space. We will need a door between the kitchen and hallway somewhere for fire regs. Just started a new post in this one today! Thanks!!

Your thoughts are great thank you!! That third room is annoyingly small but I can't see a way around it.