We’ve got the first plans from our architect to comment on. None of the layouts are right, but there are lots of ideas that have made us think about how we want to use the house now and how we might want to use it in twenty years.
In case you don’t know, we moved into an old care home six months ago. We have lots of space, but the layout is strange, particularly because it has been adapted to accommodate a lift. As this is going to be our forever home we are happy to completely change the layout to be a perfect fit for our family. But we’re not completely sure what we want, especially as we are trying to think about three timescales; living with young children, living with teenagers, and living on our own when the children have moved out.
The key questions are downstairs, particularly about the kitchen:
- should the kitchen be at the front or back of the house
- how much space do we need to seat people if we host Christmas
- do we want an island, breakfast bar or just units in the kitchen
- what should go into a utility room apart from washer and drier
- is it a good idea to have a playroom
- is it useful to have a large cloakroom off the hallway so all coats and bags are collected hidden from view
However, there are a couple of suggestions we really like and if we had the cash right now we would be looking for a structural engineer and builder today.
Remove the lift – The lift dominates the house. It is the first thing you see when you walk into the house, it blocks the light from the landing window so the house is dark and some of the rooms are strange shapes because hallways have been created to go around the lift.
Move the staircase – The staircase is currently u-shaped tucked behind the lift. The architect has suggested keeping the shape, but rotating it by 90 degrees and moving it into the centre of the hall, this means we can have a circular landing upstairs; how grand!
I don’t know how much this would cost, but I think £20,000 would be a comfortable sum to start with. To satisfy the bank for our mortgage I started investigating the cost of removing the lift before we exchange contracts so I’ve got an estimate of about £5,000 to remove the workings of the lift. We then need to remove the brick lift shaft which is structural so will require new supports for the roof and the landing. For the staircase, we maybe able to use the existing stairs, but as it will be the first thing you’ll see when you walk into the house, I think it will be nice to have a new attractive staircase built.
Once we finalised plans with the architect we will work out the order to make the changes as it is likely they will take a few years. My gut feel is the kitchen will be the first room we will want to move or extend, because we are not finding it easy feeding the children in the dining room.
If you were starting your house from scratch, what are the key changes you’d make?
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Oh wow! I can see it time you will have an amazing space. You could probably fit our whole downstairs into the Living Room!
If I had money I would insist we move, this house has few redeeming features, I have no idea why my OH and his ex ever bought it. It needs turning round so we have a front door at thr front of the house, not the side, if it was that way on we’d have a better width of garden, so a proper patio, new windows, doors, boiler, fireplace (don’t get me started on that), kitchen just needs bringing up to date a bit. I’d magic a proper dining room into the equation, a playroom and a conservatory.
In the real world, I will make do 🙂
The house is larger than we were looking for, but we weren’t put off by the work that needs doing like everyone else, so I think got a bit of a bargain. I don’t know how long it will take to finish it because my husband is planning on doing most of the work, in his spare time. Our fireplace isn’t too bad, but the hearth stone has big chunks out of it where I guess it was hit by wheelchairs!
Wow! Quite a project and clearly one you are giving a lot of thought to. Kitchens are so much the heart of the home I think. Imagine having a lift in your house! Admire you taking this on and wish you all the best with it. Commenting for myself and on behalf of BritMums and thanking you for taking part.
Kate, thank you for the comment. You can imagine the delight the removal men had finding we had a working lift, I think we should have had a discount 😉 The lift is actually old and is probably long overdue maintenance so we don’t use it, although M has discovered the cause and effect of pressing the button and the doors opening. We will definitely be removing it at some point.
Initial immediate thoughts – definitely kitchen overlooking the back garden. Ours was in the front at our previous house, once the boys started playing in the garden in the springtime, I didn’t like it as I could not see them. Now we have a house where the kitchen, study and living room look out onto the garden. It’s great. Playroom could become a teenage hanging-out room later – we are just heading into that stage and then a craft room when the children have gone 🙂 It allows for an adult living space too then. Coat cupboard – excellent idea. Had one in previous house, miss it so much!! Finally, there are some fantastic “mud rooms” on the internet – check out http://www.abowlfulloflemons.com she has a fabulous room. Can be a dual use for a utility room.
Stephanie,
Thank you for your thoughts. My husband is slowly starting to consider the kitchen at the back of the house, because not a single person we’ve spoken to has agreed with him! I love the idea of the playroom / teenage den but at the moment it seems that it maybe a choice between that or a big cloakroom 🙁 Thank you for the link, it is not a website I’ve visited before. I need to show the pictures to DH so he can appreciate how important cloakrooms are.
We are currently waiting for the second version of the plans from the architect, it is exciting to see what she’ll come back with this time.