Hello everyone, we recently purchased a house and are currently considering how to redesign the living room to create more space by combining the bedroom and utility room into one area, as this will later be used as an office with about 10-12m² (108-129 sq ft).
At the very end, I will, of course, attach the floor plan.
The plan is to create an opening from the living room towards the bedroom. However, the bedroom will not be fully used but connected to the utility room through another opening between these two rooms.
Between the bedroom and living room, there will be a drywall partition at the same height as the utility room wall to ensure it looks visually coherent.
The couch is supposed to go into the approximately 2-meter (6.5 feet) freed-up space. It is 3 meters (10 feet) wide. Now, my problem is that on both sides there must be a base about 25cm (10 inches) high for the steel beam, and these two bases would be exactly at the height of the couch and TV.
Do you perhaps have a great idea for this?
I would appreciate any suggestions.
At the very end, I will, of course, attach the floor plan.
The plan is to create an opening from the living room towards the bedroom. However, the bedroom will not be fully used but connected to the utility room through another opening between these two rooms.
Between the bedroom and living room, there will be a drywall partition at the same height as the utility room wall to ensure it looks visually coherent.
The couch is supposed to go into the approximately 2-meter (6.5 feet) freed-up space. It is 3 meters (10 feet) wide. Now, my problem is that on both sides there must be a base about 25cm (10 inches) high for the steel beam, and these two bases would be exactly at the height of the couch and TV.
Do you perhaps have a great idea for this?
I would appreciate any suggestions.
Of course, this is a reasonable and important question before anything else, which is why there was a request to include the existing or desired furniture layout as well as more information about your personal situation and usage habits.
For example, we have an open-plan area with a living room section, but we rarely used it because we preferred to sit on our super-comfortable dining bench. Upstairs, there is a visually separated area that also serves as a TV area.
In this respect, you might consider letting go of a conventional layout and/or furnishing, and also include the upper floor in your considerations. I once had a nice apartment where the smaller living room was separated from the dining area on the other side of the house, or rather upstairs. I liked that arrangement. It always depends on the overall living concept and perhaps also on your own flexibility and imagination.
In fact, just because of the TV setup, I wouldn’t suggest knocking down half the house, as there are certainly smarter and simpler solutions. I assumed that the kitchen and dining areas—the entire living space—would be redesigned or repurposed anyway.
For example, we have an open-plan area with a living room section, but we rarely used it because we preferred to sit on our super-comfortable dining bench. Upstairs, there is a visually separated area that also serves as a TV area.
In this respect, you might consider letting go of a conventional layout and/or furnishing, and also include the upper floor in your considerations. I once had a nice apartment where the smaller living room was separated from the dining area on the other side of the house, or rather upstairs. I liked that arrangement. It always depends on the overall living concept and perhaps also on your own flexibility and imagination.
In fact, just because of the TV setup, I wouldn’t suggest knocking down half the house, as there are certainly smarter and simpler solutions. I assumed that the kitchen and dining areas—the entire living space—would be redesigned or repurposed anyway.
First of all, thank you very much for the many responses in such a short time.
I actually visited the site again yesterday to measure a few things that are difficult to estimate based on the floor plan, so I was able to get a good impression of everything once more.
I’ll try to respond to the individual answers/questions.
A ground floor bedroom is a good idea for old age; we are in our early to mid-30s and have decided that if later on it’s possible to have a bedroom on the ground floor again, that would be great, but it is unnecessary for us right now.
As ypg already mentioned, this is an existing building, and I won't even mention the size of our current kitchen, even though we still cook fresh and delicious food every day. The open layout that is now possible gives us more ideas here; this topic is more about the living area.
Regarding this, after yesterday’s visit, the current consideration is going in this direction: If a breakthrough is made, then only one and from the “living room” to the “bedroom,” and the laundry room will remain as it is and become a small, nice office. The laundry room is just called that on the plan but is actually a normal room; we have plenty of storage space upstairs and in the basement. This idea also automatically gives the living room much more light since the balcony faces south and no additional windows are needed. We can save the drywall partition and, as Katja said, avoid a lot of work just for a sofa. The wall has no cables running through the middle (checked and asked yesterday, the house is still occupied). If the breakthrough is made in the end, it shouldn’t be particularly complicated.
I’ll try to create a detailed drawing in the next few days, including the dimensions of the “current” furniture.
I actually visited the site again yesterday to measure a few things that are difficult to estimate based on the floor plan, so I was able to get a good impression of everything once more.
I’ll try to respond to the individual answers/questions.
hanghaus2023 schrieb:
In my opinion, you should keep a ground floor bedroom.
Try drawing all the furniture on your plan.
Access to the living area through the kitchen is not a good idea.
A ground floor bedroom is a good idea for old age; we are in our early to mid-30s and have decided that if later on it’s possible to have a bedroom on the ground floor again, that would be great, but it is unnecessary for us right now.
kbt09 schrieb:
You don’t like or cook much – or?
The kitchen is basically limited to 3.3 x 2 m (11 x 6.5 ft). The rest is circulation space also leading to the terrace.
As ypg already mentioned, this is an existing building, and I won't even mention the size of our current kitchen, even though we still cook fresh and delicious food every day. The open layout that is now possible gives us more ideas here; this topic is more about the living area.
ypg schrieb:
It’s just an existing house.
Support columns. How deep the columns need to be is decided by a structural engineer.
The other thread is not being managed by you, @yorolf87?
Anyway: I would probably leave everything as it is and turn the bedroom into a nice TV and relaxation room – just put in a sofa and that’s it. You can always set up a home office as a niche or with an office cabinet somewhere. These ideas here seem to work only if you ignore the dimensions.
No more storage room/laundry room needed?
Regarding this, after yesterday’s visit, the current consideration is going in this direction: If a breakthrough is made, then only one and from the “living room” to the “bedroom,” and the laundry room will remain as it is and become a small, nice office. The laundry room is just called that on the plan but is actually a normal room; we have plenty of storage space upstairs and in the basement. This idea also automatically gives the living room much more light since the balcony faces south and no additional windows are needed. We can save the drywall partition and, as Katja said, avoid a lot of work just for a sofa. The wall has no cables running through the middle (checked and asked yesterday, the house is still occupied). If the breakthrough is made in the end, it shouldn’t be particularly complicated.
I’ll try to create a detailed drawing in the next few days, including the dimensions of the “current” furniture.
yorolf87 schrieb:
With the open design now possible, we have more ideas here; the current topic is mostly about the living area. That’s good, but for that reason, you should already consider the whole house now and at least start planning, because otherwise you might unconsciously limit yourself unnecessarily for the next topic or possibly increase costs.
yorolf87 schrieb:
I will try to create a detailed drawing in the next few days, including the dimensions of the "current" furniture. That would really be helpful to avoid misunderstandings.
H
hanghaus202313 Apr 2025 10:35yorolf87 schrieb:
I will try to create a detailed drawing in the coming days, including the dimensions of the "current" furniture. A photo without distortion is also quite helpful at first.
I still agree with @ypg that no wall should be demolished. The current residents can live with it as it is.
hanghaus2023 schrieb:
A photo that is not distorted is also quite helpful at first.
I still agree with @ypg that no wall should be torn down. The current residents can live with it just fine. I posted here to gather ideas, and so far, this has worked out very well. Each of you has offered good suggestions and constructive criticism, so thank you again for that.
Comparing to the current residents, in my opinion, misses the point. We want to have our dream home in the long run, and right now, the living area simply lacks something. Otherwise, I wouldn’t have bothered with this whole topic here and would just live as it is now, with the wooden ceiling and all.
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