Walking into a fresh, perfectly laid out space or a room that makes you instantly feel at home and relaxed is always the ideal. Pinnacle Works provides a wide range of services to our clients that can transform the atmosphere, usage and design of any home interior – making your property bespoke to your lifestyle without needing to pack a single bag.
The challenge for so many homeowners is that it can be difficult to see beyond your existing interior and imagine what you could achieve with creative craftsmanship, contemporary materials, and a little reconfiguration.
Here we’ll run through some of the concepts we have worked on with our clients that have made a profound change to how their home flows, the amount of functional space on offer, and as a compelling way to remain in the property you love, making it work for you.
Open Plan Property Reconfigurations
One of the most sought-after home reconfigurations is to create a light, airy, open plan living space. This aspiration is extremely popular in family homes and properties where it is essential to maximise natural light and ensure there is sufficient space and storage for busy families.
Many period homes and traditional properties contain multiple separated living spaces. For example, a ground floor layout might be split into a utility space, kitchen, dining room, conservatory, hallway and lounge. While separated living can work for some homeowners, it can have several downsides:
- Smaller rooms can be dark, cramped, and rarely used.
- Family members in different parts of the property become isolated.
- It is less sociable, with designated spaces often not large enough for entertaining.
- There is reduced capacity for larger pieces of furniture due to narrow doorways and wall space.
One of the reasons for this separated living style is that older homes didn’t benefit from the building materials and resources now available. For example, a closed off living room might have been cosier and less draughty and retain heat from a fireplace without it spreading throughout unoccupied spaces.
However, today’s homeowners have a vast array of options, from underfloor heating to triple glazed windows, panoramic Bi-fold doors and recessed lighting solutions, rendering those practicalities far less of a factor than having a light, spacious and appealing home.
Redesigning Your Home Interior
The kitchen is always a focal point in a home where meals are cooked, and people gather to talk about their day. Hence, it is no surprise that we often manage projects focusing on expanding this space and incorporating a generous kitchen/diner into what was a boxy, stuffy room.
Converting a kitchen can be a relatively simple job, with maximum impact on how you use your property. Some clients opt to retain their existing appliances and cabinets with a floor layout change to ensure the room feels wide open and attractive.
For example:
- Separate kitchens can quickly become hot, steamy and damp without enough space for the heat caused by cooking to disperse – whereas reconfiguring this can revamp it into an entertaining area, with large windows, vents and plenty of light.
- Galley kitchens can be tiny, with sufficient space for only one person at a time. Kitchen diners are more social and allow the person cooking to converse and chat with others in the dining space, or perhaps for them to lend a hand!
If you’re considering reconfiguring your ground floor to allow for an impressive kitchen/diner, it’s unlikely you’re keen to move. However, a fresh new kitchen can add around 10% to the value of your property. Large, open-plan kitchens are also one of the most desirable qualities on a buyer’s wish list.
Removing Redundant Walls
The next redesign project we work on regularly is in knocking down unnecessary walls. The amount of space you can gain by opening up an interior is astonishing.
Remember that a wall inside your property isn’t just a layer of bricks but includes plaster, insulation, and fittings. We often hear that clients are amazed by the change in space and how much valuable capacity a simple wall had taken up.
There are two scenarios here, depending on whether the walls you’d like to remove are load bearing or not. Non-structural walls can be knocked through quickly, with work required to make good the walls and flooring where the previous structure had been. This might be to:
- Create a larger bathroom.
- Open up a conservatory or sunroom to extend your living space.
- Convert two small bedrooms into one generous room.
- Knock through an unused box room to make it more usable.
Load-bearing walls (or support walls) are more complex but can still be removed if you want to increase the space, light and airflow in your property. This type of wall is part of the property’s structure and holds the weight above it through the foundations.
Even if you have a sizeable load-bearing wall running smack bang through the middle of your property, this can be removed and reinforcement built in to ensure the weight of the floor or roof above remains correctly supported. This usually involves creating a temporary support wall for the removal project and fitting a structural beam to carry the load. We can also add structural steelwork frames connected through robust bolting systems to ensure the new, more expansive space is structurally sound.
Note that it is essential to use a professional contractor to remove any structural walls. If they are removed incorrectly or the weight is not correctly supported, it can lead to disastrous consequences, including collapsed ceilings.
We regularly work on these types of reconfigurations and can provide professional advice about the best solutions to suit your property and intended use of your new open-plan space.
Architectural Property Redesign
We love the opportunity to work on exciting and innovative home reconfigurations – and to see the potential of properties with outdated layouts or tired interiors take on a whole new life.
We have specific architectural and structural steelwork experience, which is a fundamental component of any successful redesign where integral parts of the structure need to be changed, moved or removed. Led by our Director, Dave, who has 18 years of professional architectural steelwork expertise, the Pinnacle team has the know-how to advise on a wide range of property redesign projects, including help with reimagining your internal space and the range of layouts available within your property.
Please contact the Pinnacle Works team for more assistance with your home improvement project, whether you need initial design inspiration or are keen to get to work!