Garage Conversion page 3


 

Plans for new kitchen (draft one)

So planning permission had been applied for on the 16/11/2017 (or rather Robin did on our behalf) and we expected it to take the full allowed period up until the 10/1/2018.

So in the meantime, and being confident of permission being granted as it was only the removal of a garage door and replacement with a matching window, we went back to see Stadium Studios and Chris set about turning our ‘wish list’ into a workable plan.

This wasn’t an easy task, due to the number of doors, windows, openings and a cupboard all being present in the existing kitchen.

In the back of our mind we also rationalled that we could leave the front garage door in place, building a stud wall a foot behind it if planning permission wasn’t granted, the reality is this would have been a horrible room….dark and dingy.

Below is Chris’s 3D renderings, which incorporated a ‘larder’ unit at the end of the kitchen. It did away with the plan of a breakfast bar as we didnt believe it was necessary and would back onto the dining table anyway (so what was the point!).


 

A quote was given which was inevitably higher than the initial budget but then we had morphed from a standard high street type kitchen to a German Hacker one, along with a complete set of new Neff appliances (minus washer dryer).

We paid a deposit of 10% to secure the price before annual manufacturer price increases in the New Year (which still enabled us to make amendments to the style and design of the kitchen in due course). Chris even agreed to a refund of the deposit should planning permission not be granted.

Below is a kitchen on display in Stadium Studios (as it turns out I think it was the most expensive one in the showroom!)….it was the inspiration for the design of our own (although we incorporated less expensive cabinets and worktop).


 

So what else did we need to do?

Losing a garage…when I say ‘garage’ of course what I actually mean is

  • tool shed
  • bike store
  • room for junk waiting to go to the tip
  • second freezer home
  • ladder room
  • stationery cupboard area

…is a major issue if it is full, and you have nowhere else to store the above…

We realised that we would need to declutter but that there was still a lot of things that needed to be stored somewhere.

The solution was to install an 8′ x 10′ shed AND board the loft!

Then another level of planning was introduced (as if living and working around a garage and kitchen conversion, deciding on kitchen units, appliances, flooring and the tradesman to complete it all wasn’t enough to take on!).

Now we needed to source a shed, arrange for someone to put down a base and install said shed….board the loft and then transport what was being kept into one or the other place before the conversion started sometime in the New Year (assuming we received planning permission of course).

…and of course freecycle, ebay or Facebook sell what wasn’t being taken to the local tidy tip too..

That headache was left until we had our answer about planning permission..