About to embark on a refurb of my new home....

[auditt]

Im in need of a architect/designer to give me an idea on how and what i want to do.

The kitchen and living room are currently divided but i hope and plan to knock down that interconnecting wall and make it open plan but i also have an idea since im going upto the loft to create another bedroom/en suite maybe put in a glass wall between the kitchen and the stairs.

This is the problem i have, I need some help / drawings / graphics to see will it look right and will it work

Based in London

Thanks

Hope this makes sense.

[herbialfa]

Have a fanny about on floorplanner.com!

Easy to use!

[Job38]

Send me an email, that's what we do, happy to help ;-)

[m3jappa]

Have a chat with the people at spiral hardware regarding the glass wall, i am curently awaiting delivery of some glass for a divider in my bedroom/ensuite, they have been very helpful in terms of design and what will and what won't work. Also very well priced.

[auditt]

m3jappa
Thanks

[Harry Flashman]

auditt said:

Im in need of a architect/designer to give me an idea on how and what i want to do.

The kitchen and living room are currently divided but i hope and plan to knock down that interconnecting wall and make it open plan but i also have an idea since im going upto the loft to create another bedroom/en suite maybe put in a glass wall between the kitchen and the stairs.

This is the problem i have, I need some help / drawings / graphics to see will it look right and will it work

Based in London

Thanks

Hope this makes sense.

Quick one: I did something very similar. Bear in mind (small point) that the noise of the washing machine/cooking/even boiling a kettle will interfere with the other activities in the living area, such as watching TV. I have found this.

My new open plan area is lovely though - so you just learn to live around this (minor) problem by doing your washing when you're not at home.

[auditt]

Harry Flashman said:

auditt said:

Im in need of a architect/designer to give me an idea on how and what i want to do.

The kitchen and living room are currently divided but i hope and plan to knock down that interconnecting wall and make it open plan but i also have an idea since im going upto the loft to create another bedroom/en suite maybe put in a glass wall between the kitchen and the stairs.

This is the problem i have, I need some help / drawings / graphics to see will it look right and will it work

Based in London

Thanks

Hope this makes sense.

Quick one: I did something very similar. Bear in mind (small point) that the noise of the washing machine/cooking/even boiling a kettle will interfere with the other activities in the living area, such as watching TV. I have found this.

My new open plan area is lovely though - so you just learn to live around this (minor) problem by doing your washing when you're not at home.

You know what, I never thought about this.
God dammit - You might have put a spanner in the works. haha
TBH The washing machine will only be on at night time when im up in the loft or when im out so this really should not be a problem.
I love cooking so that not a problem and the kettle i can live with.

But i have to admit tho, Its something i totally forgot about.

Thanks

(lol i just read youre last sentence- and ive wrote all the above haha)

Have you got a kitchen-living room area or kitchen dining room?

[Vee]

Harry Flashman said:

auditt said:

Im in need of a architect/designer to give me an idea on how and what i want to do.

The kitchen and living room are currently divided but i hope and plan to knock down that interconnecting wall and make it open plan but i also have an idea since im going upto the loft to create another bedroom/en suite maybe put in a glass wall between the kitchen and the stairs.

This is the problem i have, I need some help / drawings / graphics to see will it look right and will it work

Based in London

Thanks

Hope this makes sense.

Quick one: I did something very similar. Bear in mind (small point) that the noise of the washing machine/cooking/even boiling a kettle will interfere with the other activities in the living area, such as watching TV. I have found this.

My new open plan area is lovely though - so you just learn to live around this (minor) problem by doing your washing when you're not at home.

Give serious consideration to Harry's points.
We did similar - pics in this thread . . . http://www.pistonheads.com/gassing/topic.asp?h=0&a...

Even the fridge, despite buying an expensive quiet one makes noise. The house always looks untidy imo but we do have 2 young kids.

[Harry Flashman]

auditt said:

Harry Flashman said:

auditt said:

Im in need of a architect/designer to give me an idea on how and what i want to do.

The kitchen and living room are currently divided but i hope and plan to knock down that interconnecting wall and make it open plan but i also have an idea since im going upto the loft to create another bedroom/en suite maybe put in a glass wall between the kitchen and the stairs.

This is the problem i have, I need some help / drawings / graphics to see will it look right and will it work

Based in London

Thanks

Hope this makes sense.

Quick one: I did something very similar. Bear in mind (small point) that the noise of the washing machine/cooking/even boiling a kettle will interfere with the other activities in the living area, such as watching TV. I have found this.

My new open plan area is lovely though - so you just learn to live around this (minor) problem by doing your washing when you're not at home.

You know what, I never thought about this.
God dammit - You might have put a spanner in the works. haha
TBH The washing machine will only be on at night time when im up in the loft or when im out so this really should not be a problem.
I love cooking so that not a problem and the kettle i can live with.

But i have to admit tho, Its something i totally forgot about.

Thanks

(lol i just read youre last sentence- and ive wrote all the above haha)

Have you got a kitchen-living room area or kitchen dining room?

Hi chap - kitchen living room. I have a separate dining room. To be honest with you a kitchen/diner makes more sense, but this can easily be achieved in mine as it's big enough to take a big table if required. It's just that my TV was already wired in there etc, and I couldn't be bothered to move the Sky connections etc. I also like having the dining room convertible into a bedroom if required for selling the house. We eat in the living area anyway unless hosting a dinner party, as there's a four place table in there anyway.

Noise: I specifically bought the quietest AAA rated fridge I could. My mate (who rents a room off me) is a pain in the backside for putting the washing machine on while I am watching TV, and I have had to ban him from doing this. But there's no avoiding him cooking, and the extractor in the cooker hood is another irritant while I am chilling out and watching a show.

Reading etc I do in my room, the hallway sofa etc, so nit such a problem

Points to consider:

- make appliances as quiet as possible: get dB specs for dishwasher and fridge.

- make sure your extraction is very good, as you do not want a smelly living room. Twin fan extractor is an absolute must (and not pricey - my pull-out AEG was £160 from the net) - get specs for air volume drawn per minute. Also core drill the wall and duct for external extraction if your kitchen doean't already have it - don't bother with charcoal filters. I did both of these, and am very glad I did. My rubbish old extractor used to stink out the kitchen. Now no cooking odours at all, even when making curries or frying bacon!

- storage will be an issue in your new kitchen, as you may effectively only have one wall for units/hanging things. Design the kitchen carefully. If you have a high ceilinged Victorian house, fit a another lot of cabinets in the space between the above-counter cabinets and the ceiling. You'll need a stepladder to put things in there, but it's useful for items you rarely use, freeing up accessible cupboard space. It also looks good and unusual - mine are a coffee cream colour and accent the rest of the kitchen, which is gloss white with black granite floor, black splashback and polished zebrano wood worktop.

- make sure your kitchen floor is easy clean. When you are tramping through it all the time, it will get dirty. Mine is beautiful black granite, but as such needs cleaning every single day.

- think about your lighting. Decent under cabinet lighting can also work very nicely as atmospheric lighting for the living area, meaning that it should be energy efficient. You can then use ceiling lighting points to mount occasional use directional spots, which in my house accent paintings on the wall.

- If you used your living room to occasionally sleep guests on a sofa bed, you won't be able to any more. They will be sleeping near a fridge which will be making noise, and will be inhabiting an area that you will need to get to first thing in the morning for your cup of tea etc. I have put the sofa bed in the dining room for this reason.

[auditt]

Vee said:

Harry Flashman said:

auditt said:

Im in need of a architect/designer to give me an idea on how and what i want to do.

The kitchen and living room are currently divided but i hope and plan to knock down that interconnecting wall and make it open plan but i also have an idea since im going upto the loft to create another bedroom/en suite maybe put in a glass wall between the kitchen and the stairs.

This is the problem i have, I need some help / drawings / graphics to see will it look right and will it work

Based in London

Thanks

Hope this makes sense.

Quick one: I did something very similar. Bear in mind (small point) that the noise of the washing machine/cooking/even boiling a kettle will interfere with the other activities in the living area, such as watching TV. I have found this.

My new open plan area is lovely though - so you just learn to live around this (minor) problem by doing your washing when you're not at home.

Give serious consideration to Harry's points.
We did similar - pics in this thread . . . http://www.pistonheads.com/gassing/topic.asp?h=0&a...

Even the fridge, despite buying an expensive quiet one makes noise. The house always looks untidy imo but we do have 2 young kids.

If only mine would be that big
Wow- Personally i love youre place.
mine is about half that size
I like the doors going out into the garden, nice touch!

[auditt]

Hi chap - kitchen living room. I have a separate dining room. To be honest with you a kitchen/diner makes more sense, but this can easily be achieved in mine as it's big enough to take a big table if required. It's just that my TV was already wired in there etc, and I couldn't be bothered to move the Sky connections etc. I also like having the dining room convertible into a bedroom if required for selling the house. We eat in the living area anyway unless hosting a dinner party, as there's a four place table in there anyway.

SINCE THIS WILL BE MY BACHELOR PAD IM NOT REALLY FUSSED HAVING A DINING ROOM TABLE, IM HAPPY EATTING OF THE BREAKFAST BAR I WILL CREATE.


Noise: I specifically bought the quietest AAA rated fridge I could. My mate (who rents a room off me) is a pain in the backside for putting the washing machine on while I am watching TV, and I have had to ban him from doing this. But there's no avoiding him cooking, and the extractor in the cooker hood is another irritant while I am chilling out and watching a show.

ALL APPLIANCES WILL BE NEFF, TRIED AND TESTED AT HOME AND OTHER PLACES AND VERY QUIET

Reading etc I do in my room, the hallway sofa etc, so nit such a problem

Points to consider:

- make appliances as quiet as possible: get dB specs for dishwasher and fridge.

DISHWASHER WILL ALWAYS MAKE NOISE BUT WILL USE THAT AT NIGHTTIME LIKE THE WASHING MACHINE

- make sure your extraction is very good, as you do not want a smelly living room. Twin fan extractor is an absolute must (and not pricey - my pull-out AEG was £160 from the net) - get specs for air volume drawn per minute. Also core drill the wall and duct for external extraction if your kitchen doean't already have it - don't bother with charcoal filters. I did both of these, and am very glad I did. My rubbish old extractor used to stink out the kitchen. Now no cooking odours at all, even when making curries or frying bacon!

I WAS GOING TO USE A CONVENTIONAL EXTRACTOR OVEN BUT MAYBE MIGHT HAVE TO LOOK INTO WHAT YOU HAVE SAID - AS ITS ON TEH FIRST FLOOR AND WE'LL HAVE THE BOARDS UP TO GET STUFF UP INTO TEH LOFT MAYBE THIS IS THE CHANCE TO CREATE A VOID AND LIKE YOU SAID DRILL A CORE HOLE TO THE OUTSDIE AND GET A PROEPR EXTRACTION FAN.

- storage will be an issue in your new kitchen, as you may effectively only have one wall for units/hanging things. Design the kitchen carefully. If you have a high ceilinged Victorian house, fit a another lot of cabinets in the space between the above-counter cabinets and the ceiling. You'll need a stepladder to put things in there, but it's useful for items you rarely use, freeing up accessible cupboard space. It also looks good and unusual - mine are a coffee cream colour and accent the rest of the kitchen, which is gloss white with black granite floor, black splashback and polished zebrano wood worktop.

CEILING ARE NOT TO HIGH, JUST A NORMAL SIZE - STORAGE NOT A BIGGIE OF MINE, I PLAN ON USING 3 WALLS SO WILL BE FAIRLY DECENT SIZE WITH A BREAKFAST BAR. IM EITHER GOING TO GO FOR A GLOSS WHITE OR BLACK KITCHEN AND THE GROUND FLOOR TILES WILL BE THE OPPOSITE WHITE AND BLACK OR BLACK AND WHITE - UNDERFLOOR HEATING AND GRANITE WORK TOPS. GRANITE WORK TOPS WILL MATCH TEH FLOOR COLOUR.

- make sure your kitchen floor is easy clean. When you are tramping through it all the time, it will get dirty. Mine is beautiful black granite, but as such needs cleaning every single day.

- think about your lighting. Decent under cabinet lighting can also work very nicely as atmospheric lighting for the living area, meaning that it should be energy efficient. You can then use ceiling lighting points to mount occasional use directional spots, which in my house accent paintings on the wall.

I WILL BE USING ABOVE CABINET LIGHTING, UNDER CABINET LIGHTING AND MAYBE SKIRTING LIGHTING

- If you used your living room to occasionally sleep guests on a sofa bed, you won't be able to any more. They will be sleeping near a fridge which will be making noise, and will be inhabiting an area that you will need to get to first thing in the morning for your cup of tea etc. I have put the sofa bed in the dining room for this reason.
[/quote]

ITS CURRENTLY A 1 BEDROOM PROPERTY;
SEPARATE LIVJNG ROOM
SEPARATE BATHROOM
SEPARATE KITCHEN
SEPARATE BEDROOM

AND WHEN ITS FINISHED IT WILL BE A 2BEDROOM PROEPRTY WITH THE MASTER HAVING EN-SUITE
SEPARATE BEDROOM
SEPARATE MASTER BEDROOM WITH ENSUITE
SEPARATE BATHROOM
COMBINED LIVINGROOM AND KITCHEN

NO ONE WILL BE SLEEPING ON MY CHESTERFIELD COUCHES

IF SOMEONE NEEDS A BED THEY CAN USE MY SPARE BEDROOM

[Harry Flashman]

Good man - I think in a 1/2 bed flat, open plan makes a lot of sense. Opens up the space, and they aren't really meant to be family spaces anyway, so big dining tables etc aren't really necessary.

Hope you don't mind the tips below - learned some of these the hard way, while doing a similar amount of work to my place recently. I had a wall knocked out and open plan area made, new kitchen, rewire, central heating overhaul, 2 new bathrooms, new windows and a roof terrace built...

The extraction is worth spending money on, trust me! At the very least, if you can't core drill, get the best charcoal extraction cooker hood that you can. Sounds like you're doing a lot of work anyway though, so drilling a wall and ducting the extractor shouldn't be an issue.

I toyed with the breakfast bar idea, but bought a small table instead as there is enough room, and it makes the room more versatile (remove the table and you have a large party space). And it's lovely - a black marble topped job, so suite the room well, and you could still seat four round it for eating if required.

I also used underfloor heating in kitchen and both bathrooms, under stone floors. It is good - but not as cheap to heat a room as everyone says: use it in addition to your radiators, not instead of, unless you want big bills.

I used skirting lighting - highly recommended, especially the plinth lighting in the kitchen that reflects in the black stone floor. Above cabinet lighting is excellent - I didn't do this, and should have done.

You are already doing the right thng with appliances (i.e. getting good ones!) - another often overlooked one is the kitchen tap. Spend decent money. Seriously. My £100 B&Q one was rubbish, and taking out the Belfast sink to fit the Grohe filter tap that I should have fitted in the first place was a real pain.

I went with an instant boiling hot tap so I didn't have to have a kettle cluttering up my worktop. Exoensive, but invaluable if you liveon tea/coffee, or even cook with boiling water a lot.

Microwave is integrated into the cabinets, so doesn't sit on the counter. Toaster is in one of the cabinets, on a socket in the cabinet for the same reason. Boiling tap replaces the kettle. Knives/cooking utensils are stored on magnetic mounts inside cupboard doors. All of this keeps your worktop uncluttered - important in an open plan space, IMHO.

I'd go for a white/off-white kitchen - black marks horribly and is a proper bugger to keep clean. I like my wooden worktop as it is beautiful - but they require a bit of care (not much - flatting back and re-oiling every 6 months, a 20 minute job). Looks stunning with black tiled splashback, white units and black granite floor. On the splashback, go with glass. Expensive, but I wish I had done it now.

Good luck with it - mine was 6 months of pain, but love it now that it is (almost) finished!

Buy everything off the internet and get your builder to fit it - you'll save thousands.

If you're redoing your bathroom, dostuff that is cheap when you have everything ripped out, but that would be expensive to retrofit. I went with touchscreen controlled underfloor heating, heated mirrors, whirlpool tubs and pull-cord dimmer lights. One bathroom has an integrated television too.

If you want recommendations for stone tiling people, wood worktop people etc, let me know. Best of luck with it, and post pics!

[auditt]

Harry Flashman said:

Good man - I think in a 1/2 bed flat, open plan makes a lot of sense. Opens up the space, and they aren't really meant to be family spaces anyway, so big dining tables etc aren't really necessary.

Hope you don't mind the tips below - learned some of these the hard way, while doing a similar amount of work to my place recently. I had a wall knocked out and open plan area made, new kitchen, rewire, central heating overhaul, 2 new bathrooms, new windows and a roof terrace built...

The extraction is worth spending money on, trust me! At the very least, if you can't core drill, get the best charcoal extraction cooker hood that you can. Sounds like you're doing a lot of work anyway though, so drilling a wall and ducting the extractor shouldn't be an issue.

I toyed with the breakfast bar idea, but bought a small table instead as there is enough room, and it makes the room more versatile (remove the table and you have a large party space). And it's lovely - a black marble topped job, so suite the room well, and you could still seat four round it for eating if required.

I also used underfloor heating in kitchen and both bathrooms, under stone floors. It is good - but not as cheap to heat a room as everyone says: use it in addition to your radiators, not instead of, unless you want big bills.

I used skirting lighting - highly recommended, especially the plinth lighting in the kitchen that reflects in the black stone floor. Above cabinet lighting is excellent - I didn't do this, and should have done.

You are already doing the right thng with appliances (i.e. getting good ones!) - another often overlooked one is the kitchen tap. Spend decent money. Seriously. My £100 B&Q one was rubbish, and taking out the Belfast sink to fit the Grohe filter tap that I should have fitted in the first place was a real pain.

I went with an instant boiling hot tap so I didn't have to have a kettle cluttering up my worktop. Exoensive, but invaluable if you liveon tea/coffee, or even cook with boiling water a lot.

Microwave is integrated into the cabinets, so doesn't sit on the counter. Toaster is in one of the cabinets, on a socket in the cabinet for the same reason. Boiling tap replaces the kettle. Knives/cooking utensils are stored on magnetic mounts inside cupboard doors. All of this keeps your worktop uncluttered - important in an open plan space, IMHO.

I'd go for a white/off-white kitchen - black marks horribly and is a proper bugger to keep clean. I like my wooden worktop as it is beautiful - but they require a bit of care (not much - flatting back and re-oiling every 6 months, a 20 minute job). Looks stunning with black tiled splashback, white units and black granite floor. On the splashback, go with glass. Expensive, but I wish I had done it now.

Good luck with it - mine was 6 months of pain, but love it now that it is (almost) finished!

Buy everything off the internet and get your builder to fit it - you'll save thousands.

If you're redoing your bathroom, dostuff that is cheap when you have everything ripped out, but that would be expensive to retrofit. I went with touchscreen controlled underfloor heating, heated mirrors, whirlpool tubs and pull-cord dimmer lights. One bathroom has an integrated television too.

If you want recommendations for stone tiling people, wood worktop people etc, let me know. Best of luck with it, and post pics!

Sorry for the previous post in caps, Think i should of just quoted you.

Harry, The more tips the better, So anything further just fire across.
The flat was rewired only 2 years ago and had a brand new valiant boiler the same time.
TBH The flat at the moment is pretty much ready to move into but also its fine to move into i want to put my own mark on the place as well as the loft.
Underfloor heating liek you will be in the kitchen, bathroom and master bedroom ensuite and also like you will have radiator inside the rooms too - as you cant depend on floor heating to warm the rooms. The heated mirror is a must, doen it in a previous place and it works.
In the kitchen will probably use a slate tile but dont know about the bathroom yet.
plinth lighting is something im toying with and if i can will defo do this, as well as on top of the cabinets.
The appliances as i said will be all neff, hob, double oven, fridge/freezer, extraction fan, and either a microwave (which i never use at the moment- or a coffee machine to fill the gap) above the double oven.
im probably going to use the brita tap http://www.instantbrita.co.uk/productdetail/55/29/... but to be honest its not the best looking but pretty smart when the filters run out having a green led light change to red.
Not looked into the instant boiling tap, Not a big tea or coffee drinker but will defo have a look into this.
Think like you say will go with the gloss white kitchen and black slate tiles.
The work top will be granite to match the tile floor but i dont know about the glass splash back never done or used this before and im guessing youre measurements need to be spot on to make sure the splash back sits infront of sockets/cooker switches perfectly i tend to just tile and grout.
Im looking at having the opus500 but more than likely the opus6 Audio/visual system installed; 3 main zones, 2 sub zones, opus 600 wall mounted units to control sky, ipod, dvd, playstation- control lutron lighting and lutron electronic blinds as well as the heating system.
From commencing work i estimate 12 weeks (and that gives me alot of lead time) considering the flat is already there, just the loft and a few amendments to the existing flat, new kitchen, bathroom, amending wiring/av systems.
I'll send you over some pictures of before and after

[Harry Flashman]

Sounds blody good! I neglected the A/V system, and regret having done so as having stuff chased into the walls would, with hindsight, been a good thing. That said, my internet use is light, and so wireless does pretty much everything I need.

I think your choice of slate is better for the kitchen floor than mine of granite - much, much less cleaning hassle, trust me!

Good luck, and I look forward to the pics. Will try to find some to upload myself of before and after.

[E36GUY]

auditt said:

Im in need of a architect/designer to give me an idea on how and what i want to do.

I'm here for lighting design if you want that too.

www.ecoledlight.co.uk

[Rollin]

With regards to the slate kitchen floor. If you want really uniform black colour then I'd use these porcelain tiles. Lavagna Nera





I had a slate floor laid in my old kitchen and ended up ripping it out because it looked too rustic.
The porcelain tiles were miles better for a contemporary look. You couldn't tell it wasn't slate as the riven pattern is random i.e not repeated in each tile.

[Harry Flashman]

Good tip actually. Sleek kitchen and "rustic" slate floor may not work. Uniformity of granite does - slate, maybe not...

[auditt]

These are very similar to what im looking at.
Rectangle shaped titles.

[auditt]

Rollin said:

.

I like the barcelona, Very nice.

[The jiffle king]

I've been through conversions like this a few times and would only add the following:

Think about how you really live. Do you have dinner parties/mates round for beers/watch TV on your own. Think about what things you like doing and make the place work for you.
In the smaller places I've done, make sure you can pack away the cleaning and ironing things. I am amazed when viewing flats how often they don't have a home in a cupboard
In the bathroom, put in enough storage for how you live. The shower area needs somewhere for shampoo, gel etc etc

From all the other things I have read, you are going about this the right way and with materials I like the look of.

T-J-K