Open plan living?

Dopey

We live in a terraced house with a typical small front sitting room, back sitting room and parlour style kitchen (to the side).

A few years back we knocked the wall between the kitchen and the back living room to make it open plan. It was a great success and we spend most of our time in there.

We are thinking about knocking the wall from the front room to the back to make it more open plan. The front sitting room won't feel so small.

We have a baby now and we can keep an eye on her when she starts walking and needs space for playing.

We think it will improve the layout but we're not sure anout it. Is it a bad idea?

Will it drop the value of the house? We won't be living there forever and it might not be to everyones taste.

I've attached an image to illustrate what I mean.

Any comments/experience greatfully accepted.

antoinolachtnai

Are you talking about knocking the whole wall or putting a portal through it? I don't think you could knock the whole thing, but maybe ...

Personally, I would go for it, but make provision to put in a folding door system or double doors later if you want to break it up again. When kids get older it might make more sense that way.

Dopey

Thanks for the response antoinolachtnai.

It's a supporting wall so we can't take all of it. They will have to put in a steel beam to support the wall above.

I guess we could put in double doors at a later date.

antoinolachtnai

That sounds fine if you're just putting a portal through. If you don't knock the whole thing, I don't think it will damage the resale value. It will be obvious that a door can go in there.

If it is really turns out to be an issue, you can always stick in a stud wall for maybe a thousand euros to sort it out. If you are happy living in it, that's the main thing.

a.

NextSteps

I'd go for big double doors, and make sure they can be folded right back against the wall. That way you can have it either way. I find it's sometimes nice to be able to walk away from the kitchen and the unwashed dishes into a different room!