Browse Forums Renovation + Home Improvement 1 Jan 06, 2012 10:32 am Hi All, Looking to open up my very boxy house and in need of some help / feedback for a potential design I have come up with. I did not have access to the plans so have hacked up a quick and nasty plan online - my apologies. Like ⋅ Add a comment ⋅ Pin to Ideaboard ⋅ Pros: - Bigger bathroom. May put washing machine / dryer inside cupboards to conceal - Bigger kitchen - Kitchen opens up into Lounge 2 - Lounge 1 is much bigger Cons: - Sliding door in bathroom - might have to do something with this - Awkward shaped lounge room. Not sure how to position furniture - Lots of supporting walls requiring bulkheads or internal roof support Any ideas, suggestions or criticism welcome! Re: Possible floorplan feedback 2Jan 07, 2012 8:41 pm it looks a big house, and yes, boxy with every room having a 'room' do you want an ensuite? has a weird entry..is it really that big? can you move the entry? that could nearly be a 4th bedroom! might have a play...saturday night and nothing to do,. will re post later if I can imagine a better plan than the one you have come up with (which is good...just a bit boring though ay!? but dont think I can do better) Re: Possible floorplan feedback 4Jan 07, 2012 10:01 pm Like ⋅ Add a comment ⋅ Pin to Ideaboard ⋅ Ive given you a study where the entrance was, and a wip (walk in pantry) on the otherside the master ensuite and wir have cupboards facing the activity / playstation/ pool room, but you could add that space into the ensuite and wir... I will tell you why I have the master bed coming straight into the family/ dining room if you have kids (like I do..5) that whole activity/ hall, bathroom , 2 bedrooms becomes 'their wing' and you dont hear them (hence the cupboards in activity as a buffer) in the day if they are playing play station cos it is 'raining' , or at night..if they are doing the same thing SO BRILLIANT then you get lounge/ kitchen/ dining/, STUDY,/family area/ and master closed off for yourself with the doors..like 2 separate houses..whoaoaoao kept the laundry but moved the door to the hall, so you can have storage both sides of the laundry ...make that room really work. It is valuable real estate, so make it count.. broom cupboard, linen, food storage cupboard, dryer, washer, etc this is just an idea. it is raining..hubby was watching goldeneye or something..james bond, so had a play ignore it totally....wont be offended ps the window in activity/ ensuite (needs one) will need to be changed, but otherwise tried to keep it where windows already were Re: Possible floorplan feedback 5Jan 07, 2012 10:11 pm pss I have a pantry just like this and I dont have a door on it. As it is not in the publics view..why bother? it lets in light, so dont need to use the light switch much, lets in air, just a nice room to be in! I have a bench on one side with toaster, phone, fruit bowl , biscuit barrel on...which works well for us, and shelves below, above and on the other side. a mini butlers pantry but without the butler or the sink!! Re: Possible floorplan feedback 6Jan 09, 2012 8:09 am Hi Kiwi, Thankyou so much for your ideas! I really like your plan and ideas about moving the kitchen and creating the activity room! Just a couple of unfortunate things though. The main one being money. I am a single first home buyer and only just bought the place 1 month ago (real estate in Wollongong is far from cheap). I was looking to try to keep it simple so that I didn't have to deal with costs like plumbing. Moving the kitchen would cost too much unfortunately Other than money, the left side of the image is the back of the house (The house orientation is kind of strange as it has been twisted to look more towards the ocean). I need to be able to maintain access to the back yard without going through the laundry or master bedroom. Like ⋅ Add a comment ⋅ Pin to Ideaboard ⋅ I love your idea with the laundry. Will definitely take this on board although it means that the bathroom will stay tiny. It's strange that with so much floor space they put in such a small bathroom without a bath! In regards to the entry, I believe the previous owners used it as a reading room or something. The windows all around means it gets quite a lot of sun, and has a good view. I like the idea of turning this into a study, but I also like the idea of putting bi-fold doors on the south window and opening it onto the front balcony. hmmmm soo many decisions... Re: Possible floorplan feedback 7Jan 09, 2012 8:56 am mmm, yes , money...........always a problem, cos no one has enough! ok, so we need a bigger spacious gorgeous bathroom..so make the laundry and bathroom as one and if poss..make it 2 way into bed 2, so it becomes the master with a 2 way 'ensuite' maybe? this way, you can also have access to a loo from outside, (via laundry door) if you ever have an outside pool I would put a steel beam in (might cost $5k but sooo worth it) to open that whole family, dining pool room up, and if there is a view, and you will use the deck via pool room (not pool...but pool table room!), then def get doors. again..$5k stackers will be less $$ I would change the opening to the sep lounge via the dining room..so the whole space can be a party space, or close it down with cavity sliders/ double doors. this way, you have a sept lounge (which is soooo good if there are ever kids, they have the family room tv, and you have the lounge to watch tv) If you move the lounge door you also get a wall of cupboards in the kitchen I would go for a large open plan kitchen / dining / family room with room for a pool table at the entrance or a small reading room and a sep lounge, and a large 2 way bathroom with laundry in a cupboard (we had that..LOVED it) in the bathroom. this will be maybe $15k? and you will have a much larger home, (cos you are using the halls as living space...living space is more expensive real estate than a hall!) and you keep your views, out the back , and access to the back, and you get an ensuiteish! you still only have 1 loo....but to be honest, in a 3 bedroom older home, that is what is expected unless you spend mega bucks to add another bathroom etc Like ⋅ Add a comment ⋅ Pin to Ideaboard ⋅ so excited for you though...MUST post pics if you ever do any renovations!! Re: Possible floorplan feedback 8Jan 09, 2012 9:23 am ps depending where you put the bath, you could have a linen cupboard in the hall, and the laundry against the kitchen wall.? the door comes from bed 2, and hall..and there is a shower, vanity by window, and toilet is blocked from bed 2 's view if you have the door opening against it. sorry for the crapppoo drawings, but used tinypic.com and 'edit' and they dont do straight lines the family room has 2 chairs (those purple things!!) and tv is the orange thing in the corner (not 'in your face') and dining room table in orange obviously... the pool table is green, but you could have it as a reading corner, a small study table, sooo many possibilities...even a toy area, with a toy chest in the middle and some bean bags Like ⋅ Add a comment ⋅ Pin to Ideaboard ⋅ Re: Possible floorplan feedback 9Jan 09, 2012 2:34 pm Well it looks like Kiwi has come up with some great ideas and hopefully they will fit within your budget...! I used to live in Sydney and loved Wollongong! Goodluck with the reno. Blog: http://matt-and-jo.blogspot.com.au/ Purchased Block: August 2011, Block Settled: Dec, 2011 Contract Signed: 28/6/12, Site Works Started: 9/11/12 Re: Possible floorplan feedback 10Jan 09, 2012 2:52 pm my grandad sold his flat in mosman and bought an apartment in wollongong. he was then mortgage free. it was 20 yrs ago... it over looked the water well nice. Re: Possible floorplan feedback 12Jan 10, 2012 11:48 am thanks again all for the suggestions. Kiwi thanks for your your efforts and ideas! Really helpful A couple of questions; 1- Is it weird having a sliding door to the back yard in the bathroom? I think I might be a bit odd. 2- How am I going to support the roof? It is an older house and all the walls are load bearing. I can put in a beam above the kitchen, but I'm a little concerned about knocking out all the dining, lounge, entry and hallway walls. Might need bulkheads everywhere.... If you wanted to see some photos, I have a couple of albums in google photos that I can share with you if you provide PM me your email address. I am currently in the destruction phase Re: Possible floorplan feedback 13Jan 10, 2012 6:03 pm wouldnt you just put beams up in the roof? (hidden...I know they can do it like that, ive seen grand designs ) you might only need one...going across from kitchen to pool table room..? maybe....that would be pretty awesome if you only needed one...less $$ you can but ask an engineer at the council. re sliding door in laundry/ bathroom...your house, have what you like. If it works for you (re outside access to the bathroom cos of kids/ pool, then why not, cheaper than putting in a pool house, as opposed to a pool room or a pool!!! i would like to see your pics..will pm you Re: Possible floorplan feedback 14Feb 04, 2012 11:12 pm Found this thread and just couldn't resist. . . hope I'm not too late (probably am, but I had fun anyway). Here are a couple of furniture configurations for the same demolition plan: Like ⋅ Add a comment ⋅ Pin to Ideaboard ⋅ Like ⋅ Add a comment ⋅ Pin to Ideaboard ⋅ I've extended the bathroom into bedroom 2 and moved the door to the centre. Laundry stays the same, but Kiwi's idea is excellent for putting a linen cupboard on one side. Kitchen, lounge 1, lounge 2, dining and entry are now combined, though I've extended the wall on the left of the entry, to give you a bit of privacy from the front door. I prefer having the dining room in the top left corner, as the sofas don't fit too well and block off the doors. I've kept the entry as a sunroom, with two Snuggle Swivel chairs from Plush. . . Mine arrives in 12 weeks! YEAH! Ooooh. . . I just thought of another one Like ⋅ Add a comment ⋅ Pin to Ideaboard ⋅ Re: Possible floorplan feedback 15Feb 06, 2012 9:08 am Hi Jo, Thanks a lot for your designs! Not too late as we are still mostly in the process of demolishing. I really like the idea of the living room in the third design! the only issue with this is the sliding door being blocked on the northern wall. Bummer. I'll have to draw up some plans of what we're going with, but in summary: - Bathroom will expand into laundry and become a 3 way, with separate toilet and vanities. - Kitchen will be U shape, with half height northern wall looking into family room - Entry Doorway being moved out to be flush with the south window in the sunroom / entry. - Sunroom / entry being opened up into loungeroom. Anyways this probably makes no sense, so I'll post up a floor plan hack soon! In the meantime, here are some photos of the work in progress: https://plus.google.com/photos/10228660 ... _dTIw82ZCw Thanks again for all your help! Cheers! Re: Possible floorplan feedback 17Feb 23, 2012 2:37 pm Great pics ... what the hell was that stuff on the walls??? The gyprock looks so much nicer than fake bricks! Looks like you had a lot of fun but what a mess! Can't wait to see how it all turns out .... For info on our build: viewtopic.php?f=31&t=43093 Built the McLaren by Dechellis - slab down 22 Feb - handover 30 Aug 2011 - and gardens finished 9 Dec 2012!! 2 6424 yes it is possible but watch for noise transmission, decouple as best you can. Maybe wider top and bottom plates with 70mm studs to allow the cabinet to be recessed fully 1 6636 You can wash over existing pavers with 10% solution of water and hydrochloric acid, then wash off. The acid will provide for required bond key with new concrete. 1 36960 |