to make any worthwhile suggestions we need more information...can you please measure the walls inside the bathroom, pwder room, wiw and laundry

Kitchens and bathrooms are the most expensive rooms to renovate in a house, and you generally get what you pay for. The kitchens in your photos are not not cheap kitchens.

Both of the kitchens that are in your photographs have been designed by somebody with a good understanding of kitchen design and a good design eye for the proportions and the style. The cost of these design services may have been paid for directly by the client, or indirectly as part of a design and build kitchen project.

Both kitchens have been built by a team of tradespeople, including cabinetmakers, electricians, plumbers, tilers, painters and others who have been co-ordinated and project managed to achieve this end result.

All of these people have been involved and the results speak for themselves. There isn't really a cheap way to achieve this level of quality of design and co-ordination. Some companies, such as Ikea, offer similar cabinetwork, but when building a kitchen the cabinetwork is only half of the story, and you still will need somebody to fix the cabinetwork to the wall, as well as a plumber, electrician, tiler, painter etc.

Best of luck,

Dr Retro

of Dr Retro House Calls

@oklouise, thanks, let me get those measurement this weekend.

pending reality measurements..here are a few ideas to consider without too many big changes...your original kitchen looks good in the photos and a change of doors and counter could be the simplest option

oklouise has provided some great ideas/options - I would suggest however perhaps look at a config that flips the access to the larger bathroom from the passage so the bath is central and the smaller bathroom functions as the ensuite......either way you do this Sarah it's the expensive areas you're addressing and unless you are happy with relatively minor cosmetic upgrades (door fronts, handles, paint etc) once you start ripping it all out and replacing you may as well go all the way and get things repositioned to work better - honestly it won't cost much different either way once you cross that threshold.......so be sure that you're not treading the road of false economy and missing the design opportunity by thinking you'll compromise on function potential and avoiding some clever layout tweaks just to save on relatively minor expenses in the whole scheme of things like electrical etc.....other thought I'd have is developing a combined butler's pantry/laundry space that can serve functionally as both when required - great for entertaining ;) Important on these relatively tight jobs that you make the most of every square inch and the solution is considered with proper understanding of the practical costs involved. There are various "tight site" strategies that we could see being applied effectively here to maximise your property and investment you're considering. If you're interested feel free to contact us directly for further information/details/discussion.. Cheers PD :)

Here I go again, I should always refresh the page before I try to post, OK we are starting to think alike, I will check your kitchen ideas before looking back at mine.

Hi Sarah, Just a rough idea for separating the bathrooms without moving
fittings but adding a shower. I would have an opening skylight in the
internal shower/powder room, any children could still be bathed in the
ensuite. The Master bedroom could then have lovely built in Robes. As
already mentioned bathrooms and kitchens are the most expensive rooms in
any house to renovate, this idea would reduce those costs. cheers

This is as far as I got, I was trying to eliminate having to access the laundry via the kitchen. It can be either Island or bench, you know how a try to avoid "U" kitchens, I like OK's second plan with pantry but as I mentioned it's the laundry that I have a problem with. good luck

bigger bathroom and ens as suggested by Paul but these changes will need major restructuring and probably easier to organise with a builder to supervise the demolition, new walls, new ceilings, new floors, extra window or ventilating skylight, electrical, plumbing, waterproofing, tiling, choice and installation of new fixtures, taps, light fittings etc etc ....obviously subject to correct dimensions and available space and would be a major investment

yep - but arguably a better investment - of course as always, everything will come down to crunching the numbers and ascertaining the the most sensible spend in context with the available budget

I can see in the future that this house will have bedrooms upstairs as at the moment it's only a 3 bed house (which is ok with me) and doesn't have any MFR's as so many are adding, so I think I would be looking to pull back on downstairs bathroom reno's

agree siriuskey and this is exactly where the value of looking at various scenarios comes into play, in that by the time you stack up the relatively high costs of essentially rearranging the sock drawer, how arguably a better investment could be pursued if you incorporated/reconfigured the initial project scope into a larger, albeit high cost, yet arguably more cost effective overall value longterm investment for the property........as a rule of thumb, over a certain threshold, (ie beyond just cosmetic improvements) the smaller scale the project the higher the relative cost/m2 involved - potential higher value opportunities are so often overlooked/missed in the planning/design process of these renovation situations, which is why we always recommend the value in seeking professional input at this stage as it can open people's eyes to possibilities that are sometimes thought unattainable and also steer people away from the path of false economy...........of course it always at the end comes down to the numbers available ;) PD

Thank you very much for the updated floor plans oklouise, I like the 2nd kitchen plan and the 1st bathroom plan. The updated big pantry storage and bigger laundry is a bonus of us.

And thank you Paul Di Stefano Design and siriuskey for your good advices too. I have never thought about adding another floor to my current one, but this idea is SO attractive. Ideally I would like to have a 4 bedroom house, or 3+study, and by adding another floor, it could make it happen.

However, I have no idea whether it's possible or how to make it possible. It sounds like a really big job, but I can imagine it will be worth it. If I do go down that path, what do I need to do/know/consult?

now you need a specialist... but the space taken up with stairs would use most of one of the downstairs bedrooms and necessary upstairs setbacks, stairwell and hallway will reduce available space for the extra upstairs bedrooms and bathroom but, depends on the value of the existing house and expected improvement in value relative to the cost of the extension...check with local real estate agents to find out expected increase in value compared to cost of a a suitable bigger home in the area and there are roof conversion companies that would be able to give you an idea of costs

For most projects we are engaged for we begin with what we call a "feasibility" stage of service which is structured to provide clarity in regards to what are the logical and viable project approaches. The exercise considers options/variations of a nominated project scope within the specific context and applies accurate cost projections to a considered array of scenarios/options in broad form. We find this exercise to be is extremely helpful, particularly when people are scratching their heads with how far or how exactly to best approach a renovation/extension. What it does is provide the client with accurate information and understanding of what is possible in a particular format and for what cost and can hence they are better positioned to make properly informed decisions one way or the other moving forward. Whenever a significant property/project investment is being considering we believe it makes sense to allocate a proportion of the investment to professional advice that will help focus the project direction to both best suit a particular circumstance and also result in a maximised outcome/value.

Depending on your budget adding extra rooms upstairs (bedrooms & bathrooms), This would be good for families with enough room downstairs for parents to stay, you could also end up with space for a study downstairs when stairs are reconfigured, there are Pro's available on Houzz, Architects/Designers/Draughts people etc who can help you decide the way forward. cheers

PS: where is the house?