Room design

[GreiginFife]

A stud wall?

View attachment 46160

Main challenge I see with that Bob is that it leaves a 3 x 3 living room. My office is 3 x 2.9 and it feels cramped. I do like the idea of introducing stud walls though

We did similar (except we hived off a dining room from the living room) but ours was 8m x 4m at the start so had plenty of space to play with. We now have a 6 x 4 living room which works really well. With Beezerk saying the current situ feels cramped, I think that might not solve his overall issue.

 

[Bratty]

Main challenge I see with that Bob is that it leaves a 3 x 3 living room. My office is 3 x 2.9 and it feels cramped. I do like the idea of introducing stud walls though

We did similar (except we hived off a dining room from the living room) but ours was 8m x 4m at the start so had plenty of space to play with. We now have a 6 x 4 living room which works really well. With Beezerk saying the current situ feels cramped, I think that might not solve his overall issue.

What about Japanese sliding doors? Or bifold doors to open and close the room off as needed?

 

[SwingsitlikeHogan]

On a personal level with a South facing garden I would like to be sitting on the sofa looking out over the garden and not base my sitting on looking at the TV.

Think diagonal viewing with the tv in the in a corner next to the french doors.

Radiators in a house often decide where furniture is located. I would be thinking in terms of fitting vertical rads to minimise the amount of space they need.

Snap. We don’t want the TV to be the focal point of our new living space. It’ll be on the wall but the point of what we are doing is to give us access to views to the garden that we didn’t have before. Plus guides on height of TV for optimum viewing is centre of TV at eye level…and so centre of TV 42” above floor. Above the fireplace is usually too high…ideally…

And as far as radiators are concerned we are being advised that all we need in our extension will be one, maybe two, narrow vertical radiators. Take up little wall space, plus for us the amount of insulation being put in means we won’t need much in the way of heating. And it frees up the walls.

 

[Beezerk]

I was assuming they were internal doors to the dining room. If not, you're pretty limited in what you can do with the room without major structural alteration.

The French doors lead out to the decking, the side door goes into the hallway.

 

[bobmac]

What about Japanese sliding doors? Or bifold doors to open and close the room off as needed?

Exactly.
Maybe an archway at both ends.
The wall doesn't have to be floor to ceiling either.
Speaker in each corner

 

[GreiginFife]

Exactly.
Maybe an archway at both ends.
The wall doesn't have to be floor to ceiling either.
Speaker in each corner

View attachment 46166

Nein!! Nein... no front speakers in corners!!!!!

Oh crap, I've gone all Foxholer!!

 

[GreiginFife]

What about Japanese sliding doors? Or bifold doors to open and close the room off as needed?

Still doesn't change the cramped nature/feel of the room when they are closed. They'd need to be offset to make the wall usable as depicted too. Might work for thems that their OCD wouldn't be screaming at them constantly (by OCD, I mean HID)...

 

[Bratty]

Still doesn't change the cramped nature/feel of the room when they are closed. They'd need to be offset to make the wall usable as depicted too. Might work for thems that their OCD wouldn't be screaming at them constantly (by OCD, I mean HID)...

I agree. It would however allow for a definition of space, albeit a smaller one.

 

[Bratty]

The French doors lead out to the decking, the side door goes into the hallway.

We could do with some photos of the living room and the dining room that could make a living room, to help us all make a determined Lawrence Llewellyn Bowen effort of your house, with apologies for a less than current reference point! ?

 

[Beezerk]

Nein!! Nein... no front speakers in corners!!!!!

Oh crap, I've gone all Foxholer!!

What’s the ideal speaker placement? Front and back.

 

[GreiginFife]

What’s the ideal speaker placement? Front and back.

Depends on preference and the style and system. A 5.1 will be different to a 5.1.2 for example.

I have KEF T301s mounted on the wall around 100mm from the edge of the TV, vertically centred and the centre channel wall mounted horizontally central to the screen.

Rears are wall mounted just slightly above head height around 1m offset to the front (wider) and angled in slightly using a wedge behind the bracket.

Subwoofer is just on the floor to the left of the screen, not sure that’s as important.

But how you set-up will be what works in your room. I can’t imagine any instance where front speakers spread very far apart would sound even remotely good (front facing sounds coming from out wide would do my nut in).

If all that makes sense that is

 

[Bratty]

What’s the ideal speaker placement? Front and back.

Here's some good advice from some very trustworthy sites.
https://www.techradar.com/how-to/how-to-set-up-tv-speakers-and-soundbars-according-to-professionals
https://www.soundguys.com/how-to-setup-home-theater-surround-sound-24444/
https://www.richersounds.com/knowledge-home-cinema

 

[Tashyboy]

There’s a couple of things that I feel are a restriction on your plans. You mentioned the dining room would be a better lounge. But expense could be a factor. if it was my long term house I would go down that route. several reasons why.
1, You get the lounge you want, starting from scratch.
2. Missis B gets the work from home office space she would like.
3, If the front room as it is now backs onto the decking is that where you cook, is that better for your cooking.

A plan of the dining room may help to see a fuller picture, but I have a feeling you may get expensive reply’s. ?

 

[Beezerk]

The dining room plan is simple, strip it, get the stupid Artex dealt with, new French doors, flooring etc, furnish it. What we’ve noticed over the last few weeks is it’s a lot colder than our current living room hence our change of plan. Also the dining room would make a stunning massive kitchen, the current kitchen which is a bit tired and in need of replacing could be turned into something else.

 

[Beezerk]

Just found a layout of the house on Rightmove, you can see the dining room is better shaped, I think it’s roughly a metre wider than the living room.

 

[Bratty]

The dining room plan is simple, strip it, get the stupid Artex dealt with, new French doors, flooring etc, furnish it. What we’ve noticed over the last few weeks is it’s a lot colder than our current living room hence our change of plan. Also the dining room would make a stunning massive kitchen, the current kitchen which is a bit tired and in need of replacing could be turned into something else.

Did you ever take a copy of the floor plan when you bought it? If so, throw it up on here, then all of us wannabe architects can chip in! ? edit: you just read my mind!!!!
Is there any obvious reason for it being colder?

 

[Bratty]

The dining room plan is simple, strip it, get the stupid Artex dealt with, new French doors, flooring etc, furnish it. What we’ve noticed over the last few weeks is it’s a lot colder than our current living room hence our change of plan. Also the dining room would make a stunning massive kitchen, the current kitchen which is a bit tired and in need of replacing could be turned into something else.

You need to very mindful of how much you spend versus how much it's worth.
I'll do you a plan for nothing that will cost you a small fortune, but you will never get the money back! ?

 

[Beezerk]

Did you ever take a copy of the floor plan when you bought it? If so, throw it up on here, then all of us wannabe architects can chip in! ? edit: you just read my mind!!!!
Is there any obvious reason for it being colder?

Not sure, I know the old patio doors let a bit of cold air in, the kitchen is very cold, really don’t know why.
The main front door is on the left of the kitchen btw not at the bottom of the hallway.

 

[Bratty]

Just found a layout of the house on Rightmove, you can see the dining room is better shaped, I think it’s roughly a metre wider than the living room.

View attachment 46168

Do the drains run anywhere in the void to the right of the kitchen and above the lounge, by any chance (im assuming it's a patio)? Where is the bathroom in relation to the downstairs?

 

[Bratty]

Not sure, I know the old patio doors let a bit of cold air in, the kitchen is very cold, really don’t know why.
The main front door is on the left of the kitchen btw not at the bottom of the hallway.

Yeah, estate agents always balls up a floor plan by forgetting to put all internal and external doors on the floorplan! ??‍