Browse Forums Building A New House 1 Nov 10, 2009 7:46 pm Hello, I would appreciate any feedback on my future house plans. The block of land is very small, and this is the biggest footprint we can have on the block taking into account setbacks and open space. The living area will just be a small separate room for our boys to keep their toys etc - I was wondering if we should change the door from where it is to lead out onto the family room? Originally the 2nd storey was a little bit different with main bedroom on the left and other bedrooms and bathroom on the right - but the back windows would have to be blocked out as they overlook the neighbours, and I think for a main bedroom it would be bad not to have a window you could look out of. As a result we have this rather odd shaped main bedroom and its hard to visualise how it would look in real life. Opinions on this and the window issue would be much appreciated also. I was also wondering if the downstairs toilet is too close to the pantry and kitchen? I am not sure if this will work with the pictures but here goes http://img41.imageshack.us/i/homesteadhouseplan.mp4/ Re: Small 2 storey house plan - suggestions & opinions please 3Nov 10, 2009 8:31 pm Thanks Helyn... will try again.. sorry - not great pictures http://img214.imageshack.us/gal.php?g=n ... 009041.jpg Re: Small 2 storey house plan - suggestions & opinions please 5Nov 10, 2009 9:12 pm Lee75 The living area will just be a small separate room for our boys to keep their toys etc - I was wondering if we should change the door from where it is to lead out onto the family room? I wouldn't, as leaving the door as is keeps flexibility for later if you want to change the purpose of the room. (It would make a nice quiet "escape" room to retreat to when the kids get older. Having the doors open onto the hall keeps that room private.) OTOH having the doors open onto the family allows interaction between the two rooms, which might suit you better? The plans look great to me! A very comfortable layout. The only things which caught my eye were the things you've brought up: - Personally, I would have a cavity sliding door for the powder room opening to the hall, not the laundry. - I'm finding it hard to imagine the main bedroom's wir too. Can't think of a better alternative though without major rearranging of rooms. I really like the short set of steps behind the entry, I think that's going to look schmick! Kylie Re: Small 2 storey house plan - suggestions & opinions please 6Nov 10, 2009 9:19 pm The only thing I would be doing is moving the downstairs toilet door from the laundry to the hallway side. I wouldn't want to walk through the kitchen past the pantry & through the laundry to go to the toilet. Also if you have guest over they will have to walk through an often messy laundry. . Please follow my in-depth two storey coral home blog at http://twostoreycoralhome.blogspot.com/ The only double storey Coral home blog . https://forum.homeone.com.au/viewtopic.php?f=31&t=22201 . Building Coral Montego 344 in northern NSW. . Start date 13/08/09 Re: Small 2 storey house plan - suggestions & opinions please 7Nov 10, 2009 9:45 pm A couple of things I see: - Have you thought of your garage door being through the laundry rather than the entry ? It will leave the entry area looking cleaner without the door, and probably serve you better. If you are bringing in the shopping, you walk straight into the kitchen rather than walking around the house to get there. If someone is working in the garage, the laundry doubles up as a clean up area. - The downstairs WC should be ok as you have an airlock before the kitchen (the laundry door). That said however, I would look at re-configuring that laundry/wc/store/pantry area. You could possibly move the laundry and enter from your garage into the house in a little alcove. Where the toilet is on the plan could be the alcove, with a door leading into the garage, the laundry and the WC. You would probably have to rotate the laundry and WC to make it work (if the space allowed) You could then re-arrange your kitchen and close off the gap (the gap would now be the entry to the pantry). I think the kitchen would look nicer and "fuller" without the hallway in the middle of it. It would also get your WC out of your laundry. It probably makes no sense in writing, but if you could scan a plan and send it to me, I may be able to sketch something up if you are interested. - The living area is an interesting one. It's being used as play room, so you want the toys hidden, but if you close off that wall and put doors into the family area, it could end up looking like a long corridor. As the previous poster mentioned, you may change it's use later also. - Maybe in the master bedroom have some nice joinery cupboards in that corner rather than the angled WIR. It will square off the corner and take away that angled wall. Just a few thoughts... Blog is now up - http://www.jbdave.blogspot.com/ Re: Small 2 storey house plan - suggestions & opinions please 8Nov 10, 2009 10:07 pm Thanks everyone for your suggestions.. I love this website because I have studied this plan and the toilet there just didnt feel right, but I never thought in a million years to change the door! I think we will leave the doors of the living room as they are, some very valid points raised. jbdave - i would love for you to do a little diagram for me - my scanner is on the blink tonight but I will have a go at fixing it tomorrow. The plan originally was very different and the laundry was on the left hand side of the house (where the stairs are), but i requested it be moved to the other side as we are hoping to have a cat flap out the laundry door and a cat run off that side of the house. We are not overly fussed about dragging the shopping through the house as just having a garage with internal entry will be luxury compared to what we have now - of course if we can utilise the space better and have that as an added bonus, then why not! What is everyones thoughts on the previous upstairs plan where the main bedroom was to the left so only has one window towards the back of the house which will be blacked out? The whole floor was much better arranged, it was just the window or lack of that was an issue.. if you were buying the house would you prefer the bigger main bedroom with no window to look out of or a smaller oddly shaped bedroom with a window to look out of? Re: Small 2 storey house plan - suggestions & opinions please 9Nov 10, 2009 10:39 pm Re: Small 2 storey house plan - suggestions & opinions please 10Nov 10, 2009 10:56 pm In my opinion the master bedroom should have a decent window in it. It's ok for the kids to have the highlight windows in order to avoid the overlooking, but not the master bedroom. Blog is now up - http://www.jbdave.blogspot.com/ there is a few calculators you can use if you just google it 7 7529 Hi Kristy Around $1.7-1.8m or around $4,600/sqm. if you PM me your email I will send you a break up in a spreadsheet so you can get an understanding of the costs for… 1 9925 Hey, I am wanting to add a second toilet to my house, bit we have limited room. There is a hallway/entry that is never used, so was thinking this could be an option. Only… 0 4697 |