Welcoming feedback on our plans

This is our current house:


and this is our proposed plan for renovating:
(plans were wrong, see a few posts down for plans)


Any thoughts? Helpful hints? Criticism?

how exciting for you!!
looks good, my concern would be storage, doesnt seem to be much, and no wardrobe in bed 3.
The hall to the laundry...mmm, maybe that could be better utilised, but not sure how.
laundry be an ensuite? entry to master via the hall? Im not sure.

somewoman is good....hopefully she might see this thread. she is a visionary.


good luck, bet you cant wait.

very very nice good for you,im all for open and windows,
is there a window in the bathroom???

I would've kept the WC separate from the bathroom add a handbasin (or get the WC with a handbasin on top of the cistern) and have a sliding door.
Entry to BR1 via the robe room would make it more handy to every other room. Use the space for the door to lounge for a cupboard/tallboy?
Set the laundry door back into the hallway - it saves the door swing space in the laundry?
Does the bathroom need to have two entries?
Seems like good use of the plumbing you already have - save $$$$

I think this is a fantastic reno!

I agree with planfan to try and get the loo separate. Great idea to move the doorway to the laundry, rather than wasted space in hall.

I love that it has dual access to the bathroom, but it really comes down to whether you can afford the space. It would be more important to have a sep loo, than two entries!

well done!!!

A couple of point to consider.

If the kitchen bench is going to have that big an over hang across the hall it would be too small/tight IMO

and by having the master bedroom in that layout you can only have it set out one way. make sure you will be happy with that layout before settling for it.

We have a similar situation but we spent a lot of time making sure that was the way we wanted it first.

Also do you have teenage kids?

If so by having only one living space that can have a TV you may be stuck with having a TV very close to your own bedroom when kids may be watching TV really early or really late, unless you're happy for them to have TV's in their rooms.

Thanks so much for your replies!

I now realise these plans are WRONG!
Bedroom 3 (current bedroom 1) does already have a large BIR
The laundry will have a sliding door sliding internally into the wall, as will both the doors to the main bathroom.
There will also be a separate toilet in the laundry.
There will be a window in the laundry and a window in the new ensuite.
The "formal lounge" will also have a tv in it.
WIR is only accessible from the master bedroom. We like the idea of our bedroom being a little removed from the rest of the house.
Kitchen bench is a full doorway width from the wall corner (though that is a great point... I'm going to check about that!)
The hallway to the laundry: We have recently added to the plans a storage cupboard along the entire length of this hallway. The whole house has been pushed out 600mm to accommodate this.

it's not necessarily the area between the overhang on the kitchen bench and the wall that you need to worry about. Do you plan on using this as a breakfast bar? How far out will bar stools sit?

I'll wait until you can upload a correct image of your plans before I make any suggestions

Here's the current floorplan still doesn't show current BR1 as having a BIR but you get the idea.
Oh and the doors on the laundry and bathroom still show swinging doors... they are internal sliding doors.
Tell me if it's too small. On my Mac I can just zoom the image...


We do intend to use the bench as a breakfast bar. The bar stools will sit under the bench when not in use.

Loving the new design layout Kels.

I have often thought of bathrooms being accessed from two entry points (I have been tossing this around in my own extension ideas) but I keep coming back to wondering about... if you are in the bathroom, you would need to lock both doors to ensure someone doesn't come barging through the other door , but then you have to remember to unlock both doors upon leaving the bathroom otherwise one door becomes locked from the inside and you need to go around the other side to get in . I keep thinking it might end up being a total PITA and end up outweighing the convenience of having two entries in the first place... not sure. Unless there is some kind of mechanism on the lock so that you can unlock from the outside under those circumstances.

Anyway, just throwing it out there for consideration.

HHCIB

Thanks HHCIB!

Yes that was my first thought too. I'm still digesting it actually...
However we're a family of four. We have two daughters close in age and we're a very open family at the moment anyway. Not an issue with walking in on each other etc.The only time I could see it being an issue is if we have guests over and in that case we'd probably just lock the door near the kids' bedrooms and access it from the living area.

hi kels,

had a wee play with your plan, the bathroom I didnt like, cos of no light, so have made it an ensuite..doesnt matter if there is no light, you look better under a bulb anyway!

have made bed 2 the master, with a walk through robe, we had one of these and they worked well.

a sep toilet with a small basin (that is that square thing!) and storage each side of the shower for the media/ lounge room.

a coat cupboard as you enter the house and
a study area, and a walk in pantry, through to the outside via the laundry
the fridge is that thing on the right of the pantry door.

I kept it within your roof line.

might be a better use of space? all the bedrooms are together, which is good if you have young kids..or kids who get up early for breakfast, you wont hear them as your bedroom isnt off the family room now

I just dont think you would have had enough room with that dining table in the way..would have driven you nuts and people on the stools would have blocked the hall to laundry/ toilet

The table stopped the flow through the house etc

as you dont have north sun in winter in that kitch/ living room, might be a bit dark, skylight might be useful?

media room you want east, so that in the evening there is no west sun and you dont have to pull curtains for the glare etc

sorry, couldnt sleep last night!



ps cavity sliders on the lounge room, so can be opened up..or closed off

ps kind of makes it like a villa, with a central hallway.

I would also swap the bed around.
I know it isnt a nice view (prob of a fence) but it will be the sunniest room in the home in winter and a really nice warm spot as it faces north
and private cos no one on the deck will now see in

Thanks so much, it was really interesting seeing a different perspective and on paper many aspects of it make a lot of sense.
Our plans seem to look a lot more spacious on paper than it is in real life. All the measurements are correct but bedroom two (that you made the master bedroom and which is currently our youngest child's room) is a useless little room. Great for single or double but dreadful for a king bed. I'd feel like I wasin a cramped little hotel room with our bed in there. It's perfect for our baby until she is about 12 ... at which point we'll be looking to move or further renovate anyway. Our children are only 1 & 2 now so that gives us plenty of time, iykwim.

We really like the open plan of our original because the house is flooded with sunlight from the front. I'm reclining on the lounge right now at 7:30am next to the front patio and I'm bathed in sun. To close that off into a bedroom would make a lovely bedroom however it would block the through light to the rest of the house.

The main prob with your design for me though is the new kitchen. I would Looooooooooha ha ha ha ha(cries)oooove a new kitchen and like what you've done there with the pantry but we cannot afford to do anything else than rebench with stone and replace the doors. All the plumbing and appliances are staying the same for now. SO the kitchen has to stay where it is for now.

- Late arvo sun doesn't matter. We're on a slope.
- Dining table is seriously massive on the plans. It is not to scale at all. That table IRL would fit 16, lol. There is a lot more room around the table than there appears. Imagine a table half the size and close to the window.


Thanks so much though! I really liked seeing what someone else thought. Our draftsman had some great ideas at first though to stay within our budget it really does need to stay simplesimplesimple.



Has anyone had any experience with solar tubes? Thinking of putting 2 or 3 in the bathroom... and maybe the kitchen area. Do they give of yucky white light? (I hate fluorescent colour lighting).

no probs mate, it was fun and I couldnt get it out of my head till I put it on paper!!
hearing ya re simple...and hearing ya re 2nd bedroom...GOT YA!

We received development consent from council today!!!!!!! IT'S A GOOOO!

Now to start a blog...

good luck Kels! We should be getting planning permission any day now too!

viewtopic.php?f=1&t=17462

solar tube thread

Thanks everyone!

We're now actually 99% sure we're going to sell this when it's finished, move into a rental for a few years and save enough to build our dream home.

Sooooooo... we're now researching different ways to add the finishes that may be more suitable for sale, rather than just our own needs. We want to keep everything nice, not tacky or cheap looking but at the same time we're happy to cut costs if we can. (e.g. use treated pine for our garden retaining wall instead of bricking and rendering it, using treated pine and staining it for the deck instead of more expensive hardwood.)

If someone knows of a more suitable thread I can post on for this please let me know!