Claire & Wesley contacted Lisa Raynes at Pride Road to help them with their ideas for reconfiguration of the ground floor of their 1950s semi-detached house in Sale.
The main issue was that there was space on the ground floor, but poor configuration meant that space was being underutilised. This house featured a long lounge, which was originally a lounge and part of a dining room, with space at the back of the property that was mostly useless. Next to this was a large area of kitchen and dining room where the space was also being wasted, with a limited kitchen and very little cupboard or fridge/freezer space. With ideas in their mind but no way to realise them, they brought in Lisa from Pride Road involved to help see what’s possible, visualise & bring their ideas to life.
The first option drawn up together looked at blocking off the current lounge behind the current door then having an open plan kitchen, diner & living area. This meant knocking down a separating wall that was in the kitchen but retaining a post that maintains the structure of the property. The kitchen would move towards the back of the property with a small seating area and dining area, and the back would open up with a bifold. With this design, Claire & Wesley felt there would still be an area as you walk into the kitchen that they weren’t sure what to do with.
The second option was to restore the wall that originally separated the lounge & dining room, making the lounge smaller but allowing them to incorporate a utility room & toilet, which was something that they were really keen on. This would leave a big open-plan space, retain the post, and allow a larger kitchen run with an island unit and seating area at back and dining room.
The third option moved to ignore the budget we got, and look at what we could get in an ideal scenario. This option looked at extending to the side, to add a utility room, make the lounge slightly bigger, put kitchen into the back area, take out the post and add new steels.
Option four gave the best of all worlds and saved the budget. In this option, the wall would move slightly to make a smaller lounge, allowing space for the utility & separate toilet. Moving the door across would allow for more kitchen units, keeping the post to support steels (& avoiding the extra cost to replace), with space for a seating area and dining area. To allow more light in, there would be three veluxes across the top, and then a bifold door all the way across the back.
It was brilliant, we’re really happy. The design incorporates a lot of the things we wanted in the first place, and a couple of bits we didn’t know we needed!
The next steps for Claire & Wesley are to look at costs and building regulations, and what they can and can’t do regarding the post. Luckily this design doesn’t need planning permission so they can move on and get started quite quickly!
At Pride Road, we provide design, planning and building regulations services to help homeowners with loft conversions, house extensions, kitchen designs, internal reconfigurations, new builds and much more. Are you interested in finding out how we can help you with your project? Book a Pride Road Concept Design Workshop.
"It was brilliant, we're really happy. The design incorporates a lot of the things we wanted in the first place, and a couple of bits we didn't know we needed!"
Claire & Wesley
"It was brilliant, we're really happy."