Browse Forums Building A New House Re: Which Floor Plan Do you think is better? 21Mar 25, 2015 8:49 pm If the rear of the house faces North, why are the eaves missing off this wall? It's good to keep that summer sun out. I'd look at finding Bed 2 another 200mm of width to bring the narrow dimension up to 3m. To me, the ensuite seems to waste space with a lot of passageway area. Then the robe has a lot of open area, but not so much hanging space. It may be hard to do a lot better in that shape though. Just looking at the plan, I'd have some concerns about the level of natural light in the living area. It's quite deep under the roof space, and there aren't a lot of windows through the direct line of sight. You may get a bit more borrowed light if you moved the scullery window to line up with the doorway, as per the original floor plan 2. On the whole, it looks pretty good though. Re: Which Floor Plan Do you think is better? 22Mar 25, 2015 9:21 pm Alexxdavid Do you mean the passage way on the right looks tight? As for a second entry it could have worked but as we wanted to keep the media isolated it would be to close to the sunken stairs if we were to have an opening there. We are also thinking of making the meals the living room and vice versa as we would want to have a view on the outside from the couch instead of giving the back yo the alfresco area. Don't know if that would work. Yes, passage/entry to right looks tight. oh I didnt realise you had stairs leading into the media. But it still looks like there's room to put another opening to living off media entry passage before the stairs. The good thing about the living/dining space is you can try it either way Re: Which Floor Plan Do you think is better? 23Mar 25, 2015 9:23 pm Then if I swap I won't need a second opening as it would only be the dining table there. As there is no door to the theatre i need to minimise the sound to the living areas and the opening would jeopardise that Re: Which Floor Plan Do you think is better? 24Mar 25, 2015 9:54 pm Oh right. I wondered whether you can bump the garage out a bit more to the right to open out that space a bit more ?? Re: Which Floor Plan Do you think is better? 25Mar 26, 2015 10:48 am Alexxdavid Hi Ddaroch, my backyard faces North and alfresco faces east so all good on the orientation North facing backyard, you're very lucky. Particularly as it's a nice wide block. Personally I'd be having my living areas out the back, to capture natural night & winter sunshine, not minor bedrooms. Re: Which Floor Plan Do you think is better? 26Mar 26, 2015 7:50 pm ddarroch North facing backyard, you're very lucky. Particularly as it's a nice wide block. Personally I'd be having my living areas out the back, to capture natural night & winter sunshine, not minor bedrooms. That can be hard to do, as you tend to get leftover spaces with no windows once you push living out to the edges. I don't think it's such a problem though, because there's the activity area out the back. This would make a nice little living space to be in on sunny winter days. Re: Which Floor Plan Do you think is better? 27Mar 26, 2015 8:01 pm I see TomCat's point regarding that entrance to living connection. I mainly think that the opening into the living should be getting up close to the width of the entry itself. To do this, you could just shorten the wall back a bit, but then it doesn't line up with the garage wall, and you do open up the sight lines from the entry. With some clever detailing though, this may not be an issue. If it were me, I'd put a little window-like opening in that wall, so it isn't an abrupt transition from wall to opening, and then the wider opening. You would be able to see into living from the entry a bit, but with the amount of wall structure in the way you wouldn't be getting a clear view until you get close. Re: Which Floor Plan Do you think is better? 28Mar 27, 2015 8:57 am I love your floor plan, we are trying to achieve something very similar, although our block is a bit more challenging to work with in dimensions than yours seems to be. I do have to agree with ddaroch though, our backyard is also North and we are working really hard to get the most living area possible exposed to that North sun. oneJohn is right, it's not an easy task. Re: Which Floor Plan Do you think is better? 29Mar 27, 2015 9:40 am TomCat Oh right. I wondered whether you can bump the garage out a bit more to the right to open out that space a bit more ?? Didn't understand this bit, how will moving the garage to the right make the entry less tight? Re: Which Floor Plan Do you think is better? 30Mar 27, 2015 11:47 am Your garage wall would then line up with the laundry wall making the entry wider, you'd just need to move your door from between the laundry and entry to leading into the entry. You could then make the wall between entry/living a bit wider as you wouldn't need to line it up with the garage wall Our build thread: https://forum.homeone.com.au/viewtopic.php?f=31&t=70984 Re: Which Floor Plan Do you think is better? 31Mar 27, 2015 12:41 pm One thing I would consider is where the couch is going in the Theatre. In the latest plan, if the projector screen is on the Bed 2 wall, as you walk in to the room you are hitting the end of the couch. This would decrease the length of couch you could fit in the space (although its a pretty wide room so it probably wont matter as much as it does for us with only 3.6m) There is a lot of open (dead?) space just inside the door. As mentioned above, it doesnt really flow into the living area (open foyer into small hallway). If a nice open foyer isn't essential you can create some more space in the study, with more wall space (for bookshelves/cupboards). The entry may look a bit crowded, but a nice piece of artwork on the wall directly in front of the door may help open the space a bit (that's what we intend to do). Our plans for reference (see theatre and study) Like ⋅ Add a comment ⋅ Pin to Ideaboard ⋅ Follow my build here: viewtopic.php?f=31&t=74975 Re: Which Floor Plan Do you think is better? 32Mar 27, 2015 7:02 pm alex_6169 One thing I would consider is where the couch is going in the Theatre. In the latest plan, if the projector screen is on the Bed 2 wall, as you walk in to the room you are hitting the end of the couch. This would decrease the length of couch you could fit in the space (although its a pretty wide room so it probably wont matter as much as it does for us with only 3.6m) There is a lot of open (dead?) space just inside the door. As mentioned above, it doesnt really flow into the living area (open foyer into small hallway). If a nice open foyer isn't essential you can create some more space in the study, with more wall space (for bookshelves/cupboards). The entry may look a bit crowded, but a nice piece of artwork on the wall directly in front of the door may help open the space a bit (that's what we intend to do). Our plans for reference (see theatre and study) Like ⋅ Add a comment ⋅ Pin to Ideaboard ⋅ Couch in the theatre will be next to the bed 2 wall. I will actually increase this space by another 400mm (200mm theatre) and 200mm bed 2 to make it a decent size bedroom (2.8m was cutting it a bit short!) this will increase the alfresco another 400mm but I was also planning of extending bed 4 again on the right hand side (under alfresco) to make more space for the activity (isn't it a bit small) Sorry didn't understand the dead space area. Which location is this a problem? Re: Which Floor Plan Do you think is better? 33Mar 27, 2015 7:32 pm Quote: Couch in the theatre will be next to the bed 2 wall. I will actually increase this space by another 400mm (200mm theatre) and 200mm bed 2 to make it a decent size bedroom (2.8m was cutting it a bit short!) this will increase the alfresco another 400mm but I was also planning of extending bed 4 again on the right hand side (under alfresco) to make more space for the activity (isn't it a bit small) I think the Theatre is long enough and don't see a need to extend it any further. As for the bedroom, if you look at the sizes I have, I think yours are a luxury in terms of space, but it all depends on whether you want more back yard or more bedroom space. What I was trying to get at with the couch can be seen below. With the orange couch you could only go around 3.2m length so people can enter the room, whereas you could take up the whole width with the blue one. This would dictate where the screen (and possibly where electrical cables) are going, and the impact of light on the screen etc. Like ⋅ Add a comment ⋅ Pin to Ideaboard ⋅ Quote: Sorry didn't understand the dead space area. Which location is this a problem? I wouldn't call it a problem as such, but the red section below can't really be used for any practical purpose. It does add to the "openness" of that area, but then things feel a bit cramped going into the hallway. If you extended the wall a bit you make that space usable in the study. Similar to what we have done with our study wall. Like ⋅ Add a comment ⋅ Pin to Ideaboard ⋅ Follow my build here: viewtopic.php?f=31&t=74975 Re: Which Floor Plan Do you think is better? 34Mar 28, 2015 7:48 am If you have a good idea of your furniture, it could be worth drawing it out on the plan, to work out how big each room needs to be. There's always the temptation to keep making each one "a little bit bigger", but the overall size of the house gets out of control. I think Bed 2 is fairly good in area, but that narrow dimension of 2.8 is small. It would be ok, as the robe is in addition to that size, and you can still get past the end of a single bed, but given the generous proportions in the rest of the house, I think 3m would be better on that one. The theatre is quite long though, so I would have actually thought to shorten it, but if you've worked out what you'd like in it, the I guess that's what you need. The further you are from the screen, the bigger your screen needs to be for the same effect. But then space behind the couch would be good for the surround sound setup. That 2.4m width of activity is kind of small, but you'd have to work out what you actually plan on doing with that space. It may make sense, or it may make it a lot more useful if wider. The implied passageways through to bed4 and the sliding door also restrict how it can be used. Bed 3 and 4 are fairly generous, so could possibly afford being shrunk a bit. But then, if increasing the house size isn't a problem, then you can afford to be generous in dimensions. Re: Which Floor Plan Do you think is better? 35Mar 28, 2015 8:22 am My Thoughts.. And everyone will be different but... 1. I would reduce the length of the wall between Entry and Living so that it's not a hard right then left turn to walk through. Maybe bring the end of that wall back to the middle of the Entry. This gives you a "glimpse" of the other rooms as you enter but you still have some privacy. 2. I would move the opening to access the Beds/Bath further into the Games Room. Where it is now you have a straight line of view from Meals / Kitchen into the PDR / Bath area. Moving it up a bit will also give Bed 2 just that little bit more privacy. 3. Living / Meals to me seam backwards. Having to walk past the Living to the Meals just seam odd. This is just personal and I can see that the Living is probably more practical where it is (has more wall space to place TV and whatever). Have seen some new designs that have Living/Dining at front of house which you would then be walking from Kitchen down the Entry Hall and into the Dining with food.. just not something I can say is very practical lol. 3. A Media room to me is a place to go and enjoy a movie. That said.. Large windows are just a pain and also rooms that have no door. To me (and remember this is just my opinion lol), Small windows and a door to close the Media room up are the go. Overall I LOVE the design.. The Kitchen / Scullery / Alfresco are just fantastic!! Cheers, Paul (& Lisa) Parkhill 36 by ClarendonHomes in Coomera Retreat H1 Build Thread And Blog Building Blogs List - Go Ahead And Add Yours!! Re: Which Floor Plan Do you think is better? 36Mar 28, 2015 8:53 pm I absolutely love your plan Alexx But why not try this idea for the entry to living areas. It mightn't suit you, but hopefully will give you inspiration to try something else. Your original entry to the right really doesn't flow, it's too tight. Another idea I had was to have double cavity sliding doors at the end of the entry (into living areas). That would be my preference as you can control heating/cooling. I agree with everything Roomeat and Alex6169 have said. Now that Alex has drawn the study square, I think it's a better idea having a door for the study. At first I seemed to like it open but the front door opens neater if the wall is square. Like ⋅ Add a comment ⋅ Pin to Ideaboard ⋅ Re: Which Floor Plan Do you think is better? 37Mar 28, 2015 9:42 pm Hi Guys, Thank you all for your input Most of them have been taken on board and some will be changed at pre start when we can have a better view of the layout. For info: We really wanted to have a separate Media, and a big one as well. We currently have a 5.6 X 3 and wished it was bigger on the length. We will be aiming for a bigger screen that we already have. (Current 110", we are looking at 150"+) and hoping for 2 range of seats which is why the length is important. In fact, stay tuned as early next week I will be uploading the final plan as soon as I receive it. Changes have been done to the Media, Bed 2, Bed 3, Activity, And the whole of the open space living area. . We will play with the study area later and finalise where best to put a door, if ever lol. Re: Which Floor Plan Do you think is better? 38Mar 29, 2015 8:54 am Definitely take on the point about light in the living area. Ours is deep in the house similar to yours and we have the light on all the time. I plan to install big skylights in the alfresco and If needed will also put the tunnel sky light things in the kitchen. Re: Which Floor Plan Do you think is better? 39Mar 29, 2015 7:15 pm I've heard people say that alfresco skylights tend not to work so well at getting light into the house. I think that for them to work they may need to be boxed in so that the light tunnel is on an angle allowing the light to come directly from the sky and in through the window. Re: Which Floor Plan Do you think is better? Updated 31/03/2 40Mar 31, 2015 8:53 pm As promised, here is the final floor plan : Like ⋅ Add a comment ⋅ Pin to Ideaboard ⋅ Changes we have done since last time : Media : Increased 200mm to make it 6mx4m Bed 2 : Increased 200mm to make it 4mx3m Alfresco : Increased by 400mm making it 8mx5m under the eaves. Activity : Increased 500mm reducing Bed 3 to 4mx3m WIR : Increased 600mm upwards, 200mm downwards and 200mm to the right making for a bigger WIR and at the same time creating a cavity for the Projector Screen and Speakers (Didn't like it before how the stairs were facing straight on the screen location along; the whole hallway actually!) Games, Living and Meals, Kitchen and Laundry : Increased 500mm to the right (Alfresco is now flush and the Mrs is happy!) The entrance to the Living area is now bigger 1.4m compared to 900mm Moving the Laundry and Kitchen 500mm to the right has created a space for a drop zone Ensuite, Kids Bathroom and Powder have been upgraded to rectangular vanity Kids Bath have been changed to a bigger bath (1675mm instead of 1525mm) Total Area for the Games, Meals and Living have been decreased by around 100mm Total House Area : 269.96m2 Roof Area : 400.03m2 brokers will also be in a position to get you a better rate than the advertised rate most times. 6 7566 No. It's not original. Circa early to mid 90s would be my guess and maybe even as late as early 2000s 1 6631 Thank you. Do I use timber floorboards for stairs or do people use timber treads? Or is both the same? 6 7271 |