Architecture, Flooring, Interior Design, kitchen design, Mood Board, Project, Renovation
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The 3 Bed Semi Extension – The Site Visit

3 bed semi extension

Hello everyone, how are you all doing? It’s been a while since I last posted, for lots of reasons I won’t go into today, let’s just say there’s been a lot of (a bit too much) “life stuff” going on. Alongside that, i’ve been rolling along with three of my five live projects and wanted to share the progress we’ve made on the 3 bed semi extension over in North Yorkshire. It’s the one i’ve been working on remotely since the end of last year.

The Ground Floor Plan

Since January the whole house has been getting ripped out, extended and remodelled and as the property is empty, most of the works have luckily continued (albeit a little slower) throughout lockdown.

My suggestion to totally change the ground floor layout was given the thumbs up and has now been realised. And it’s looking pretty good. I made my very first visit to the property yesterday and took lots of in-progress pics to share with you. Let me walk you around…

REMOTE DESIGN

Before

The previous homeowners had removed the wall between the hallway and living room meaning the front door opened directly into the main lounge area. Not great for families. So the living room wall was reinstated giving them a designated hallway.

During

The wall at the end of the hallway was removed as part of the remodel which means, you now get a clear sightline from the front door to the very back of the house and all the way down to the bottom of the garden. It’s made such a difference, i’ve been told by my clients that even all of the trades involved have passed comment on what a positive effect it’s had to the ground floor space. Yay!

Here’s a view from the back of the house towards the front door and a decent shot of where the tall bank of kitchen units will be fitted.

Here’s the plan for this wall:

Kitchen Plan

We’ve worked on some small changes over the last few months, but the overall feel for the kitchen design has remained the same. Something that’s always been at the very top of their wishlist was to use as many sustainable and natural materials as possible.

Kitchen/Diner Mood Board

The cork flooring is a brave move, but one that’s going to add so much warmth to this Scandi inspired scheme. I wrote about the revival of Cork about two years ago and i’m so insanely jealous that they’ve agreed to run the cork floor throughout the whole of the ground floor (and also in their bathroom – more on that space another time). Cork is suitable for use with underfloor heating, is soft underfoot so great for families, and is a fantastic thermal and sound insulator. The Amizada Corka from The Colour Flooring Company is also waterproof and the natural markings running throughout the material means it’s very forgiving on crumbs too.

Birch Plywood and Studio Green kitchen with Cork Flooring

And another thing about cork flooring… it’s just cool.

Before

The before photo above shows the old external back wall. This room looks so dark, dated and cramped. Just a bit different to how it looks now…

During

You can see where the old external wall was which now leads into newly extended space. It’s so light and spacious – I want love it!

Along this wall there’ll be the sink and all the wet stuff, which should look something like this:

Kitchen Plan

The extension has a full width wall of aluminium doors with three large Velux windows which throw so much light into this new room and down the east facing hallway.

Across the width of the space there will be a peninsula unit which will house the hob. This allows the chef to chat and cook cook whilst facing the garden (which will be re-landscaped in due course).

There were originally meant to be pendants above the peninsula but due to the depth of the boxing in around the steel, i’ve updated the lighting to wall lights that can be adjusted over the cooking area. For those that are wondering where the cooker hood is, there’s a downdraft extractor with the gas hob, so no need for an overhead unit. The man of the house is extremely pleased about this, what with him being 6’3″. Here’s a picture of their current set up…

… a picture i’m sure a lot of you taller types out there will recognise (not me, at 5’3″).

On the other side of the peninsula there is an overhang for stools and some additional open and closed storage with integrated sockets for laptop and device charging.

Btw, if you’re looking for some tips about how to choose the correct size stools for your kitchen counter, bar or table, then check out this post as part of my Design Crimes series. Turns out buying stools isn’t as easy as you might have first thought!

On the other side of the peninsula by the full width aluminium doors will be the dining area, the table being directly underneath that electrical cable popping out of the ceiling.

The positions for the Velux windows and lighting have all been painstakingly planned to give the best possible layout and use of space. We wanted glazing and a lighting source above the dining area, for natural light during the day and cosy, intimate lighting on an evening.

Opposite the dining area, there’s a lovely little spot for the family sofa and a coffee table. It’s going to be a fab, family friendly space and i’m well jels.

As you can see there’s still lots to do, but we’re slowly nearing the flooring going down, the kitchen being fitted, then onto second fix. I’m really looking forward my next visit, and of course i’ll be sure to share updates with you as and when.

In the meantime, stay well out there as lockdown continues to ease. It’s all feeling very odd isn’t it!? Are you all getting back to work now – or are you like us and clinging on until September when the schools are (hopefully) back?

19 Comments

  1. Jo Bedford Wenman says

    It’s looking amazing Karen; so glad they signed off all your fab suggestions 👏 Hope you’re ok and life is now on a more even keel for you x

    • Karen Knox says

      Thanks Jo, really appreciate that 🙂 I hope you are keeping well too x

  2. Barbara -J says

    I just know that this will be another one of your amazing projects. You are genius! Always interesting
    Always beautiful.
    Stay safe n well. X

    • Karen Knox says

      Ah well that’s very kind of you. Thank you Barbara. That’s made me smile 🙂 x

  3. Claire says

    Wow – what a difference the extension and those windows make! The cork floors sound amazing too, something to keep in mind for our eventual reno. Good to hear from you Karen, I love your posts!

    • Karen Knox says

      Thank you Claire – that’s really kind of you to say. And yes, the extension is amazing isn’t it!? I love it!

  4. Anonymous says

    Hello stranger! Glad your back! I agree about the cork flooring,,, totally! Very much under appreciated and used,,, the company Armstrong cork employed hubby and was one of the best things to come out of the marriage 🤣🤣🤣🥰 their wall paper was interesting too!

    • Karen Knox says

      Ha! I’ve just checked out Armstrong (US only?) and they’ve got some great products. Thanks for the heads up! I’d love to use a cork wallpaper at some point too 🙂

  5. Shenley says

    Memories! Had cork floors installed in the hall in my first house (1976) . I agree, lovely and warm physically and visually. The old bloke who bought the house from us said in a loud whisper “ we need to get a nice patterned carpet down in here” .

    • Karen Knox says

      Ha. Don’t you just hate a loud whisper. I hope all is well down there btw!

  6. Anna says

    I love cork floors! My folks have just laid it in the bathroom of their Tudor house in Knaresborough, I’m off to see it for the first time today. I’m also speculating about using it as the flooring in the loft conversion of the house we want to buy: it’ll be our two eldest boys’ bedroom and I figure it’s a good choice for lightweight softness, warmth and noise insulation!!! Glad to see you back, hope all is well xx

  7. Marie says

    Hi !! So good to see in progress shots ! I can’t wait to see the cork floors. It wasn’t in our budget to do our first floor but we saved up to do our bathroom soon, I’m so glad ! Also this kitchen is gonna be soooooooo good. Have a good day !!!

  8. Elaine says

    This is looking fabulous! I’m so glad you got stuck in to the original plans because this is miles better – that long view is lovely. We had cork floor in our bathroom back in the 70s, but I remember it had to be varnished, and I was so disappointed by that, because I loved the feel of the raw cork. Does it need varnish?

    Very glad you’re back, and blogging, and hope everything is going ok for you.

    I love cork leather, and I’d adore something like that on walls, if that’s a thing (goes off to see if it’s a thing)

  9. The difference your design has made to the ground floor of this house is absolutely amazing, the feeling of space and light with that view through to the back of the house! It is so worth putting careful thought into all the positions of the skylights, lighting etc and the finished kitchen will be really beautiful too by the look of it!

  10. Looks like it will be an incredible space! You prompted me to look into cork for my own kitchen as I love the look of it but read that it can fade in sunlight, was just wondering if you had found a workaround for this for the area in front of the sliding doors? Can’t wait to see the finished result!

    • MS M SEYBOLD says

      Yes please post the final result- it looks so amazing so far!!!!!!

  11. Anonymous says

    Yes please! Outstanding design! Can we see the finished room?

  12. Sam Baker says

    as above, love the design and what you’ve done – please do post the finished space pics!!!!

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