use of space question

Hey all,

I own a small cape cod style brick home.

The ground floor is about 800 square feet. The second story is currently unfinished(planning a dormer and master bed/bath and office up there within the next couple of years.

Here is the thing, the current 2 bedrooms are both small (about 12x11 and 10 x 11) and on the one side of the house. the bathroom is on the back wall, and the kitchen is a gally kitchen beside the bathroom. The kitchen looks like a hallway...

The bathroom is on the slate to be re-done and I hate how small it is and am thinking of making it bigger at the expense of the kitchen.

Here is a rough layout:
*Forgot to add on pic, the squre by the fridge is the chimney.*





Now what I would like to do is knock down the wall between the kitchen and bathroom, turn the tub so its between the outer wall and the chimney, and the new kitchen wall would be moved in about 3 ft.

The 3 ft is a lot of space to take from the kitchen, but the kitchen feels cluttered and feels like a hallway, I did the math and while I would lose floor space, I would actually gain counter top and cabinet space by then cornering the counter/cabinets instead of just running them along the back wall.

I would then move the stove from where it is to the opposite wall(back corner of the house) and put a vent over it allowing the stove's current corner to stay open or put a breakfast bar type table with more storage underneath.

So the question is, am I unwise to shrink an already small kitchen a little more?

With only 800 sq. ft. to work with it's hard to get a qt. of jello in a pint jar.
May want to call in an Arutect on this one. He or she will take into account any supporting walls you may be thinking about moving.
Also think about making this an expaned cape instead of the dormer idea. You will gain far more usable space up stairs.

Joe,

Thanks for the input.

I have to stop by city hall to pick up a copy of the original blueprints and have an architect friend who should be able to confirm that one wall I am looking at moving is not load bearing.


Expanding the house would be a great, but I just don't think its viable.

The lot has only about 20 feet on one side(with the driveway and carport leaving only 5 ft to the property line, and 9 ft from the side of the house on the other side. My backyard is decent at about 75 feet from the back of the house.

My other potential thoughts were to make the kitchen, bathroom, and back bedroom bigger by bumping out the back of the whole house.

I could make the kitchen big enough to put a dinner table, and even put a back door to the back yard.

Only issue is the garage is next to the house, but back about 10 feet, so if I expand out the back of the house, I can only go about 7ft total so as not to block 3ft or so access to the back yard.

Wow. This sounds like a major renovation. I think you should really get a professional architect to help you out with what should be done in the first place. BTW, do you mind getting some pics and post it here?

Wow that's sounds like a hard decision. I'd scream real loud if my husband wanted to take space out of my kitchen, yet a small bathroom is hard to live with also. Sounds like pushing out the back wall is your best option. You'd be surprised what 7 more feet will get you. I'd get a pro to help you out with an overall plan for now & down the road. That way you could possibly do 1 project at a time with an overall goal for a complete remodel finished in a few years...
Good Luck!