Browse Forums General Discussion 1 Apr 22, 2014 1:19 pm Hi All, We have a situation where we have the slab down and the frames up (not roof trusses yet) and are wondering if our living areas might be a bit small. We have a couple of options to rectify (if necessary) but would appreciate your thoughts... The situation is we have a square living area split into 4 compartments...at the top, the dining area and family area merge into a 8m wide by 4m deep area. Directly under these are u-shaped kitchen (on the left) and a media area (on the right). The media is essentially 4m x 4m and the kitchen 4m x 3m. The kitchen and media areas are split by an entrance way. We are concerned that 4m in the family area is too shallow and would like to deepen it as it seems like 4m from the media room wall to the outside wall (6.3m glass stacker doors) is too narrow and thus a bit claustrophobic. Options are as follows: 1) Trim the media and the kitchen both by about 0.5m to create a 4.5m family area. This would result in a media room of 4 x 3.5m. This would also result in the stovetop moving to a place in front of a window (which I believe does not require a rangehood?). 2) Push the outside wall in the family area out by 0.5m to make a 4.5m living area again. This would require additional slab to be laid, re-engineering of roof trusses and walls etc and the creation of some tricky angles where the family area attaches to the balance of the house (bedrooms etc). However, the media area would remain 4x4 and the kitchen as it was too. 3) Similar to option 2 but push it out by 1m and thus creating a 5m deep living area. The tricky angles become a little more pronounced though. Same issues with engineering etc. I would dearly love to have your feedback on this and thoughts. Thanks all. Re: Living areas... 2Apr 22, 2014 2:58 pm When the frame is up there is a common perception issue that the rooms feel small. Once the plasterboard is up the rooms will feel bigger. The Harder You Try - the Luckier You Get ! Web site http://www.anewhouse.com.au Informative, Amusing, and Opinionated Blog - Over 600 posts on all aspects of building a new house. Re: Living areas... 3Apr 22, 2014 3:53 pm Yes, when the plaster goes on things feel larger, but by then it's too late to change for most budgets. Try measuring out in your own home to get a real feel for the size or revisit the display and take the tape measure with you to say "it's one meter larger(or smaller) than this space" Re: Living areas... 5Apr 22, 2014 7:44 pm so your dining and family room are also the walkway to the kitchen and theatre? Re: Living areas... 6Apr 23, 2014 10:02 am Thanks for the messages... So, would an area 8m wide by 4.5m deep be a good sized living area? It is to be a dining/family area - dining on one side and family at the other. The living and dining areas are also the connection to the kitchen and the media room too. Re: Living areas... 7Apr 23, 2014 10:42 am Here are some images to understand what I have been saying...I have a meeting with the builder this afternoon so any comments would be most helpful. This is the first time I have tried to post photos so hopefully they work...do not worry about the words "Option..." on the actual photo. Option 1 - slicing 0.5m internally from the top of the media and also the kitchen to create a 4.5m deep family/dining area Like ⋅ Add a comment ⋅ Pin to Ideaboard ⋅ Option 2 - pushing the external wall in family/dining area out by 0.5m to create the 4.5m living area depth - slab is already laid at this point and frames are up. Like ⋅ Add a comment ⋅ Pin to Ideaboard ⋅ Option 3 - same as option 2 but pushing out by 1m instead of 0.5m to create a 5m deep living area. Like ⋅ Add a comment ⋅ Pin to Ideaboard ⋅ What we are wanting to really know, is a 4m deep (front to back) living zone to shallow? Is a 4 x 3.5m media area too small?Would 4.5m be sufficient? Any other comments of things you may have noticed or think we should consider? If the images are not showing up, the url address for each is: Option 1: https://www.flickr.com/photos/55140249@N05/13976906224/ Option 2: https://www.flickr.com/photos/55140249@N05/13953369016/ Option 3: https://www.flickr.com/photos/55140249@N05/13976906184/ Thank you all!! Re: Living areas... 8Apr 25, 2014 7:09 pm Our family/dining is 4m x 7m - I wouldn't want it any smaller - and wish it was bigger. We do have another living area - so it's so bad, but I think even 4.5m x 8m would make a huge difference. Cheers HHCIB Re: Living areas... 9Apr 30, 2014 11:13 pm It all depends how many people will use it and what furniture you will use. It's a spacious living area in an upmarket apartment for example. It's the size of a largish master bedroom. Is the media area a study or a theatre. Study I think that size is fine. And theatre perhaps a bit small. I would be wary. Is you site demilished but nothing else done? Sounds like liquidity problems to me. Our builder did the same. Got hundreds of thousands of dollars of… 2 15390 3 5579 Can anyone suggest a house layout where the kitchen-dining - living runs the length across the rear of the house left to right where our best view will be we… 0 4344 |