Browse Forums General Discussion 1 Feb 26, 2012 10:34 am Hi All, We are in the process of planning our dream home. We are a young married couple with one bubba and plans for another in the next few years. For those with kids, any advice on the sorts of things we should be thinking about when planning our new build? eg- types of flooring / use of spaces / bathroom considerations etc? We can't wait to have kids running around our new home one day and hoped for any advice from those in the know! Thanks! Re: Advice for building and planning for a young family 2Feb 26, 2012 11:08 am Everyone is different but for me: It is nice to be able to have a kids playroom area close to the kitchen - maybe a room that can be used as a playroom when they are little and become a theatre room as they get older. I love floorboards but it is nice to have carpet in the area that you know they will play in - kids are always playing on the floor. We had a corner spa in the last place - never again for me. It took heaps of water to bath 2 little kids and wasn't really big enough for an adult to really stretch out so I think a regular size bath is better for kids. I could go on and on..... but really everyone does what suits them and their family. We are building a double storey with kids.... some people wouldn't do that in a million years!! Good luck! Re: Advice for building and planning for a young family 3Feb 26, 2012 11:20 am 1. zoning. Make sure even in an open plan type house you can close off a passageway to minor bedrooms and perhaps one to the front of the house where a theatre room/lounge room is. That way if you have visitors it doesn't mean your childrens sleep/rest times are disturbed if things are noisy. This is also helpful to improve heating/cooling. Even getting frames put in to do the doors themselves later if you want to cut costs where you can. 2. Flooring. someht9ing practical not white or cream carpet. Consider the option to avoid carpet outside bathrooms and toilets ( passageway to minor bedrooms to be tiling to match bathroom /laundry areas) Lots of water, damp feet etc from littlies. 3. If you can afford a powder type room even better with young kids. I know I'd prefer visitors who might need the loo not to have to go into my littlies area. Great for parties so kiddies aren't disturbed. If you can't afford this and lets face it powder rooms while lovely add expense then perhaps at least keep the loo separate from the laundry. I used to hate it when my laundry was full of washing/nappies etc and visitors needed the loo. Although when they are little kids need fast access to the loo if possible put the loo closer to any passage entry to main part of the house from minor bedrooms and away from minor bedrooms. 4. Have a buffer of bathroom between laundry and bedrooms if possible. We did this when our boys were young. Again for the noise not only when they are young but also for when they are teens and sleep in. Now I have teens I'd rather they slept in a little if i am washing early than deal with the grumbling teen. ( she thinks as she hears the washing machine beeping loudly right next to eldest sons bedroom where he is still sleeping) Hmm On second thoughts, perhaps they'll sleep through anything. hehehe Re: Advice for building and planning for a young family 4Feb 26, 2012 11:33 am +1 for powder rooms, even for adults I think its better when you have visitors that a smaller dedicated room can be used. As far as blocking areas off that don't have doors, you can buy temporary jambs that are adjustable and about a meter or so high. They work for a while until they can climb. Mine grew up in a two story where both levels had splits and all floors were either tiled or wood, never had any problem with stairs or cracked heads on the floor. There was a while when we put soft flooring down but if you teach the kids to be careful they will be... On baths I agree with a standard bath, in fact I remember putting the baby bath inside the normal bath. Maybe one thing that would be handy and we are putting this in our bath, is a hand shower as well. That way the kids can sit in the bath and you can hand shower them. Cheers Mark Re: Advice for building and planning for a young family 5Feb 26, 2012 11:45 am agree about the hand shower. That's a brilliant idea. as long as you make it that the slightly older ones have a hands off rule. I can imagine water everywhere other wise. Advice for building and planning for a young family 6Feb 26, 2012 12:06 pm We built our dream home whilst we were expecting our third child. Our list of must haves were:- A. Large dedicated rumpus / toy room for them to have all their "stuff" in. It is fully viewable from the open plan kitchen / dining / living area. It does have double cavity sliders that can be used to close off the messy view in need. B. All bedrooms including the main are situated up one end if the house. This means we are close by should something happen and the living areas are far enough away to minimize any disturbances from tvs / people visiting. C. Internal access from garage to house - simple enough but sometimes overlooked. Can carry sleeping children / babies in without getting wet etc. D. Agree with the separate powder rooms. We have one in the hallway plus another in the garage. Means again visitors have plenty of options to stay away from sleeping areas. We were fortunate in this build to do a few extra things - so we have small ensuites on each bedroom. Each child has a bathroom measuring 2000 x 2000 and has a vanity, toilet and shower. We did this thinking long term that they would appreciate the privacy as they get older and the option of them being able to stay past their teenage years. Some things are worth waiting for. Re: Advice for building and planning for a young family 7Feb 26, 2012 12:23 pm Hey Kyton, we are thinking alike.... my kids are 9 and 12 and we are also putting in ensuites for them as they will want privacy too. Its so much cheaper to do it when being built. Bathrooms as a reno are cost prohibitive even if they are possible.... Like the "hands-off" rule. We are having rain showers in the Shower but also there will be hand showers as well so you can switch between them. I travel in Asia a lot for work and that is something I noticed in the hotels.... handy and I like it. Re: Advice for building and planning for a young family 8Feb 26, 2012 12:49 pm My kids have their own rumpus room area which their bedrooms come off of. It's very convenient, it's their playroom at the moment & then when they are older we will stick a couch & tv in their so that can be their teenage hangout room with friends. It also has a toy storeroom which is the same size as our walk-in pantry but with extra deep shelves to keep all their boxes of toys. Try & design the house so the kids areas/bedrooms are away from the main living area so when entertaining they are not disturbed at night. If you are not having internal insulation throughout the house at least have it to their bedrooms to also blockout noise. As for the bathrooms, I would avoid basins that sit ontop of the bench. We have them and my tall 4yr old can't reach the taps or see herself in the mirror & it will be several years before she can. We have a tall step-stool but it's annoying. We have timber flooring as I find tiles to be really hard. They hurt to land on when kids fall over & also hard for them to play on. If you really wanted tiles down the track you could always have the floating floors as they are cheap to buy/install & then easy to remove. I think someone might have already mentioned it but shower rails are great in the kids shower for hairwashing. We also had our soap/shampoo tray installed much lower than ours so that the kids could reach their things. Be aware of it's placement though as you don't want them banging their elbows when washing hair etc. If you are having a shower mixer tap see if it can be installed higher so little hands can't turn the hot water on. I wish we'd thought of that now my 2yr old DS is fascinated with mixer taps! Building our custom design "Dream Home" Follow my Build - viewtopic.php?f=31&t=46820 Contract Signed - 28/04/11 Siteworks Commenced - 20/06/11 Re: Advice for building and planning for a young family 9Feb 26, 2012 12:53 pm Just reading the other posts regarding bathroom privacy. I agree that older kids want their privacy, my kids don't have their own personal ensuites but we have a 3-way bathroom (as in powder room with toilet & bathroom coming off) & we installed a cavity sliding door so they could still have their privacy when infront of the mirror. My parents had a 3-way bathroom when I was a teenager & I hated people walking past & seeing in when I was squeezing pimples, doing my hair etc Building our custom design "Dream Home" Follow my Build - viewtopic.php?f=31&t=46820 Contract Signed - 28/04/11 Siteworks Commenced - 20/06/11 Give Jonathan a call. Tell him you know me. He is in my opinion the best surveyor I have ever worked with. His number is 0425 285 622 All the best Simeon 3 12392 I am not based in Victoria however i had a quick look into your question to understand what you were asking. The way I read the regulations, overshadowing relates to the… 1 2233 "is it exempt or do I need to get permission from council" Call your Council and ask them 1 1558 |