Browse Forums Building A New House 1 Jan 21, 2011 5:14 pm We're still at the stage of working out what it is that we need in a home. We aren't wanting to use an architect to design a home, so we've looked at hundreds and realised the issue is we don't know ourselves what it is we are looking for. We have a family that rapidly expands and contracts, children young and adult (dare I say grandchildren at some point soon? ) so i've realised that the typical 3/4br+/- study probably isn't going to work. In a lot of the plans we've looked at they seem too small, but to go up in size you often have just more open space, bigger ensuites etc. Has anyone been through a process to help you work out what it is that you do and don't need or value in a home? Cheers Re: deciding on what to go in the floor plan 2Jan 21, 2011 7:24 pm Best way to start is to go through the house you live in and think about what is good and bad about it. Here is a link that provides some thoughts and a checklist. http://www.anewhouse.com.au/?p=238 regards 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: deciding on what to go in the floor plan 3Jan 21, 2011 8:16 pm I guess work out what is non negotiable and then a budget and work out what else you can have. for me it was a home that would evolve to house older kids (and spouses and grandkids) self sufficiently later. esp if they were in need of a bed for a few months etc. I didnt want them to be in my hair (If I had any left then) or me in theirs. also our budget was tiny. $250k ish so couldnt be that big on that amount...ie 220- 240 sq mets needed 5 beds, 3 bathrooms, and 2 living and an office/ 6th bedroom for kid #5 when / if/ he comes back from overseas. or it will be a play station room for the other 4 kids for now. we did it although it cost 264k as gst went up in nz in oct, and we chose double glazing on all windows (another 8k) good luck and when you find some plans, run em by us. always a sucker for plans! Re: deciding on what to go in the floor plan 4Jan 21, 2011 8:33 pm One other thing to keep in mind is that a lot of those volume builder 3/4 bedroom homes have options lists/booklets that have ideas for expanding the space of the home in certain areas. I know with our builder, their was a book about an inch thick with all the variations they would allow you to choose from; things like adding 1-2 more bedrooms, adding a rumpus etc. So just make sure you pick up those options books when you visit displays. If you like a house but it only needs more room/bedrooms, it can probably be done I don't know if this helps, but we were looking our main priority was finding a plan that had all the kids' bedrooms in one zone of the house with a rumpus/retreat attached to it. That way, when kids are a bit older they have their own 'wing' and while there are no kids, we just close that area off This kind of plan may suit your rapidly expanding/contracting family? i thought the flipped plan initially but bec i want narrow pathway from entry to dining (dont like bend), also cannot fit the… 7 17172 Hi, Seeking volume or semi-custom builder in victoria(east), which have existing double story wide floor plans. Seeking 18-20m wide homes with depth of 12-15m long. Or… 0 25049 Hi there! Absolutely agree on the wasted space. We have no desire for the master to be that oversized, but it occurred when we increased the depth of the garage. We have… 4 12391 |