Suburban dreams

It’s not just period properties that benefit from a bit of restructuring for modern life. This typical 1950’s semi was in need of a complete refurbishment but had obvious potential as many of its neighbours had been extended. Loft conversions, conservatories and garage conversions were commonplace in the area, each with the potential to add more living space. 

 

When rooms are knocked through to create modern living space it is often living and dining rooms that are connected together. This improves the light but can turn rooms into circulation space and reduces the wall space available for positioning furniture. Kitchens extended out to the side provide more space but often fall short of their potential to being the new heart of the house.

 

In this project we did pared back what we trying to do in order to maximise functionality and space. By joining the kitchen and dining room with part of the hall, we created a large dining kitchen all within the original house. Taking down the old chimney breast freed up space and made the bedroom above more useable. By enlarging this room not only is this suitable for modern living, but the proportions work much better with the planned extension.

 

This house has plenty of scope to extend with its large garden and wide space to the side.  Quite often such homes end up having too many rooms, not all of which are fully used. By extending on from the enlarged kitchen a large interconnected living space is planned at the rear of the house making the most of the garden view. By keeping this as two connecting rooms we maximised space without creating an impersonal and large boxy room. By considering the light and bringing it in from as many sides as possible, a more comfortable and pleasant environment is created. The next phase of this project is planned to start soon, we hope it lives up to our expectations. It had better, it’s Mark’s own home!