How do I make weird shaped extension work?

last year

This is the house I'll be buying. The second reception room has already been extended a while back and so there isn't room to expand it further under permitted development. I could get planning permission to extend it by another meter but I'd rather not knock the extension down and rebuild. I'd like an open plan kitchen with space for a dining table (6 people) and space for a sofa/ chairs near the window to read and enjoy the view. I'm undecided between a single wall kitchen or one with an island (and the island would be one with no seating). A separate utility room would be nice but isn't a deal breaker; however I would like a WC. The room marked as "store" is actually a WC but not accessed internally and access from indoors is important. My preference would be either sliding doors or French doors, not bifolds. The part that makes it complicated is the odd shape at the back, I'd prefer to remodel the inside and leave the external structure as is, but am not sure whether the shape is limiting what I can achieve and whether it really needs to be squared off. All advice gratefully received!

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Comments (5)

Nova
last year
Are reception rooms the same as a living room? What country are you from? It is fun learning what different places call different things. I do know a garden is another word for a yard instead of just a vegetable garden like here in the US.

Definitely remove the wall between your kitchen and the large reception to create an open floor plan with a nice island, while keeping the other reception separate and cozy. Have the door for the WC open to the large reception and wall it off on the outside or keep it as 2-way access, if you don't want to mess with the outer siding of your home. Are those black rectangles against the walls fireplaces?

If you don't need all 3 bedrooms, you could make the smallest bedroom a laundry room or try to put a small stackable set in that closet at the top of the stairs. Otherwise maybe a stackable set in your small pantry and use a tall cabinet for a pantry in your new kitchen design plus you'll have the extra storage created in your island to replace the lost pantry.
Sabba Akhtar
Original Author
last year
I'm in London. Reception rooms are the same as a living room, although we tend not to call both rooms "living rooms". We'd typically call the one at the front the "front room" and then the one at the back the "reception", "living room" or "sitting room". To be fair, they also get called different things if you're from the north of England compared to the south.

To me, a yard doesn't have grass, eg my mum's house with no grass I call a "backyard", which is also a more northern phrase! Thinking about it, I think northern people have more in common with US English e.g. in the north, we call trousers "pants", whereas in London that definitely means knickers! (So when I first moved here and I said I was going to wear pants, I definitely got some funny looks).

I was going to make the small bedroom a study as I work from home and lot, but as a general point, laundry rooms/ machines upstairs is very unusual in the UK (although I can see the logic).
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PRO
PPF.
last year
last modified: last year
I'm in London

You might try: https://www.houzz.co.uk/discussions
bpath
last year
What if, you move the kitchen into that large reception room?
dan1888
last year
last modified: last year
The easy solution to the WC access is to square off the structure. Especially with the roof structure in place. This gives you a hall to separate the WC from a kitchen or other configuration. I'd overcome the narrow feeling of the house by removing the 3 main interior walls. A lot of options then.

For appliances, you have available my preferred induction cooktop, Miele full surface in different widths. Not available in US.