Martin Weaver Design

Interior architectural design

neil@websitesorted.com (Neil Kinnerly) — Mon, 06 Oct 2025 14:04:40 GMT

Help !!

Poor flow and poor light

The Brief:

Mrs M - having had an architect draw up plans to link her existing detached garage and house with a new boot room, she came to me for help with internal layout and kitchen design assistance. .

Her concerns.

Mrs M was unsure whether to retain both doorways between her kitchen and hallway or block one off to create a more functional kitchen-diner. She was also concerned about the limited natural light in the hallway, which added to the challenge of making the right decision.

My additional Thoughts After Reviewing the Architect’s Plans

After studying the proposed layout, I had several concerns that I felt were important to flag before moving forward:

Access through the boot room : The route from the back of the new boot room into the kitchen feels unnecessarily long — especially for day-to-day use.

Entrance experience : As it stands, guests would have to walk through a space designed for coats and muddy boots just to enter the house. It doesn’t offer the warm, welcoming feel you'd ideally want.

North-facing bifold doors : While visually appealing, bifold doors on a north-facing elevation — especially in this location — are unlikely to be opened fully more than a handful of days each year. It’s worth considering whether they offer real value for how the space will actually be used.

Kitchen and seating disconnection : With the kitchen located as per the plans, anyone relaxing in the soft seating area would be physically and visually disconnected from whoever is cooking — not ideal for sociable living.

Hallway door dilemma : I did explore the idea of creating a pantry next to the cloakroom, but this layout compromised the kitchen design and made access to the bedrooms from the kitchen unnecessarily long.

Wasted hallway space : Blocking off the second kitchen-hallway door may make the kitchen easier to design, but it would leave part of the hallway effectively redundant — a missed opportunity in terms of both space and flow.

My Proposed Solution

After considering the layout in more detail, here’s how I would approach some of the challenges:

Boot room and entrance improvement: I’d move the internal door to the kitchen so it sits where the current window is. This allows the new boot room to be divided into two functional spaces — a more generous and welcoming entrance hall with coat storage for guests, and a separate boot room/utility area tucked behind a door, keeping it out of sight.

Rethinking bifolds : I’d replace the north-facing bifold doors with a bifold window. This still allows for a good connection to the patio — ideal for passing out food and chatting with guests — while keeping the flexibility to open it fully for ventilation. You already have French doors elsewhere for direct garden access.

Keep both doorways to the hallway: Rather than blocking one off, I’d keep both kitchen-to-hall doors, but with upgrades:
Replace the single door with a central pair of half-glazed doors, ideally on Parliament hinges so they can fold back flat against the wall. This improves both light and flow.
The hall door near the cloakroom could also be replaced with a half-glazed door to increase light in the hallway.

Improving hallway light: Depending on what’s above the staircase, I’d consider installing a Velux window or a sun tunnel to bring in more natural light. These are discreet but highly effective.

Dining layout: The dining table could be positioned slightly to one side in the space, depending on how many people typically use it day to day, giving a more flexible and open layout.

Lounge access : The double doors into the lounge feel a bit awkward in the corner. It might feel more balanced and natural if they were centered, opposite the stairs instead.

Kitchen Design

Next Steps

At this stage, only a basic design has been completed — primarily to define the main living areas and ensure correct placement of drainage and services.

I’ll now be preparing a quote for the supply of kitchen furniture in two style options:

In-frame doors, offering a more traditional, high-end look
Lay-on doors, which provide a cleaner, contemporary feel and are typically more budget-friendly

Each option comes with its own aesthetic and cost implications, giving the flexibility depending on your preferences and priorities.

Conclusion

The client now has a clear understanding of the overall layout — including the new entrance, kitchen-diner, and hallway — and how movement through the space will work in day-to-day life.

They are now in a position to return to their architect and request the necessary revisions to the approved plans, ensuring the final design is both practical and well-considered.

Architectural Design

neil@websitesorted.com (Neil Kinnerly) — Tue, 29 Jul 2025 13:57:12 GMT

Help !!

The Brief:

Having lost confidence with his architect, Mr B came to us to complete four main objectives for him.

1: To position and layout a new utility room to be built on the back of this converted cowshed.

2: To Design the internal layout of the main living space as the client was struggling to visualise how the space would work.

3: To Design and supply their new kitchen as part of this conversion

4: To produce CAD images the proposed bathroom layout to ensure it would work.

New Utility:

As Mr B is a farmer, and this conversion is centrally located within the farm yard, one of the main requisites was to have separation for the ' muddy' farm boots and clothes whilst maintaining a clean entrance for day to day use.

As outside space was not a problem, I suggested an external 'mud' room with a direct door to the utility.

This allows for a separate every day entrance way plus keeps the utility free from muddy boots and coats.

The utility room has loads of space for the dogs beds behind the door, and Coat hooks and Seat against the cloakroom wall.

Final internal design has not yet been discussed in any detail.

Internal living space layouts.

This is where having our CAD software comes into its own, although primarily for designing kitchens, we utilise it for showing people complete interiors.

We produced various variations so that the client could then see how the layout would work and thus enable them to make decisions accordingly

Kitchen Design

Only a basic design has been completed thus far, mainly to enable the basic living areas to be defined, and drainage to be correctly located.

I will be revisiting to go through the kitchen design in more detail, as the client gets towards that stage of the project.

Bathroom Visualisation

The client asked to see if I could produce some CAD images of the proposed Master en-suite layout, to ensure that what they had in mind was actually going to work in practice.

Two quick CAD images were produced to allow the client to 'see' the layout, and then be able to make the correct decisions and order the correct bathroom furniture and fittings.

The conclusion

The client now has enough information to:

Understand the basic layout of the whole of the living area.
Be able to build the utility room, knowing how it will fit with the rest of the house, and work how its needed to in real life.
Know where the stairs are going to go up to the mezzanine.
Know where the chimney /wood burner will be positioned.
Know where to put the drainage for the kitchen, downstairs cloakroom and utility.
Make informed decisions for the en-suite
Look forward to finishing designing the kitchen and utility rooms properly.

Georgian flat renovation, Redland, Bristol

neil@websitesorted.com (Neil Kinnerly) — Thu, 26 Jun 2025 09:25:53 GMT

Initial design for the client

The brief

This two bedroom ground floor flat has lain empty for four years and is currently undergoing a full renovation by the new owner.

What was a very narrow store room, has now been incorporated into what will become the main living space, and the need to create a new kitchen that will lend itself to open plan living and entertaining.

The Design

The client had a sketched out a basic layout, and pointed us in the direction of her 'Pinterest' board, as she couldn't really describe what style or colour she wanted.

Our answer

Having looked at her 'Pinterest board' we soon discovered that the overriding feel is what I call ' a warehouse feel' using traditional styles of cabinetry.

Using reclaimed brick slips, together with really high ceilings immediately evokes the warehouse look and feel.

Keeping tall cabinets to the bare minimum, coupled with long linear shelving, brings a nice contemporary twist to the kitchen.

Storage is maximised by utilising normal and shallow depth cupboards to create a peninsular for the sink, allowing good symmetry on the back wall.

Farrow and Ball - Hague blue gives a good contrast in a very light and airy room.

The Result

We are currently waiting for images of the finished kitchen.

Contemporary handleless design

neil@websitesorted.com (Neil Kinnerly) — Sat, 31 May 2025 09:07:23 GMT

Hague Blue with Copper rail

The Brief

A three bed semi detached house in Kingswood, Bristol.

Currently undergoing a remodel of the existing layout, with the existing kitchen, lounge diner and utility space all being knocked in to one.

The space had to include a modern kitchen ideally with an Island, utility area, woodburner, two comfy seats, two breakfast bar seats and dining for six people.

The Design

The existing french doors, and full height window meant having the kitchen to the interior part of the room, with dining space towards the doors.

Utility space is separated from the kitchen by the main walkway into the room, and due restrictions on space a wrap around peninsular was utilised.

The old chimney breast has been opened up to create a feature space for the hob, whilst the use of Corian worktop, true handle less design and bifold wall units bring a clean contemporary feel to this now light and airy room.

The Result

We are currently waiting for image of the finished kitchen.