Browse Forums Building A New House Re: Our nest - any help/suggestions highly appreciated! 5Apr 12, 2011 4:00 pm Hi fekish Your plans are looking really nice. I love split designs. You'll love the massive ensuite shower. I assume you will be getting shower heads on each side. Kitchen. Maybe you can move the utility room somewhere else so you can open the kitchen up a little more. You could use some of that space for a walk in pantry. We don't have a door on our laundry directly outside and haven't missed it. It doesn't look like you have that much covered space outside. I would want to have enough covered space for an outdoor setting and a BBQ for when friends come over. Even if it's raining it's still nice to hang outside. Would like to see some side-on drawings. Mick Re: Our nest - any help/suggestions highly appreciated! 6Apr 12, 2011 4:52 pm Thanks again for your time! Is nice to meet such wonderful people. Basically the Utility Room, was planned to be also a pantry room... At the beginning we thought that it was better for laundry to be upstairs but the architect insisted that is better to be downstairs. Definitely as it is now, there is something that i dont like much in that kitchen corner... For covered space we requested this from our architect as we have also our concerns. We said that the nice views are at south (down as you see the pic) thus we needed more covered space that would be created there from the rooms above... But he noted that we have covered space at the side (left of pic) were a barbecue is there... And at the front would be better to place an electronic sunshade, in order to open it only when we want it, and not be always on top of us. thanks again Re: Our nest - any help/suggestions highly appreciated! 7Apr 12, 2011 8:44 pm micks_k Your plans are looking really nice. I love split designs. You'll love the massive ensuite shower. I assume you will be getting shower heads on each side. Do you have a split design house? We were thinking of reducing the stairs from kitchen to formal areas, and from bedrooms to master bedroom. So it wont be difficult to carry food and drinks to formal area, and also to be more convinient to go from one bedroom to the other with kids. Would you agree with this? Its not a massive ensuite shower, probably it doesnt show very well on the drawings. We would have a normal bathtub and we are thinking if a shower should be inserted as well... Re: Our nest - any help/suggestions highly appreciated! 8Apr 12, 2011 9:05 pm I think the space where the toilet is would be better as a cloak room, it is right at the front door after all! The toilet I think is too close to formal living areas. I think it may be a bit odd having the formal dining area just inside the front door too. Maybe the space could be made a bit smaller, treated as a reception area, thus buying space for a formal dining room....buy a bit more space by making the study a tad smaller too. Toilet? Let me think... I think it may be better in the utility area. Have you thought of doing a European laundry? That way guests don't have to see the piles of laundry n the way to the toilet? Re: Our nest - any help/suggestions highly appreciated! 9Apr 12, 2011 9:16 pm Pos I think the space where the toilet is would be better as a cloak room, it is right at the front door after all! The toilet I think is too close to formal living areas. I think it may be a bit odd having the formal dining area just inside the front door too. Maybe the space could be made a bit smaller, treated as a reception area, thus buying space for a formal dining room....buy a bit more space by making the study a tad smaller too. Toilet? Let me think... I think it may be better in the utility area. Have you thought of doing a European laundry? That way guests don't have to see the piles of laundry n the way to the toilet? Thanks! Yes, we are thinking of taking the toilet in the study room, and having the door towards the stairs. But that's just an idea at the moment... we thought also having an extra space "outside" the stairs that the toilet can be placed there, but not so excited with this one. So basically the toilet might be better to be placed in the family room rather than formal areas? If it is at one side of study room, then it would be somewhere between formal and family room. How are the European laundry rooms by the way? In the bathroom? The way that the structure of the house is, i dont know if we can have the dining room somewhere else. We thought at start if the dinner room can be transfered to the study room, and then study room can be made elsewhere... Thanks again! Re: Our nest - any help/suggestions highly appreciated! 10Apr 12, 2011 9:36 pm The European laundry could go in the bathroom, honestly, it's just a cupboard with plumbing, so it could squeeze in to the kitchen too! but maybe you should just take the laundry to the basement à la American houses? I wouldn't have it upstairs though, install a laundry chute to the basement! You also need to be mindful of the toilet, the last thing you want is just one door between you on the sofa, or even your guests at the dining table, and your other half on the toilet! Which is why I thought it could be in the utliy room as there would be a double door then. I agree with you though, the corner where the utiliy is just doesn't look right. I looked at the blog, the original orientation of the kitchen and utility looked good I thought. Just change it to a powder room...that way it is closer to outdoor area for when you or guests are enjoying the views from the deck! Study door change would be good, as it is then closer t family area rather than formal area. Re: Our nest - any help/suggestions highly appreciated! 11Apr 12, 2011 9:57 pm Re laundry: Didnt think at all to be honest about puting the laundry room in the basement. We just thought to put it somewhere that it would be more convinient for us (or actuallyu my wife )to move the clothes here and there... Re toilet: this is the reason that we wanted to take it away from the corner next to dinner. Last think we want is for guests not being comfortable while....sitting on the throne ... we'll need to think this a bit more. Also under the stairs in anotehr optiion. Re utility room: Looking at initial plans, we wanted to take advantage of the corner of the house, as towards down is the area of opennes/light/garden, thus we didnt want to put an utility room at one of the nice corners of the house. So when you say poweder room you mean toilet room? Re study room: we put a wall between study room and formal areas, and towards family room area there will be a library that could even stretch along the stairs. As we wanted the study room to have direct contact with family room. Thanks once more. Re: Our nest - any help/suggestions highly appreciated! 13Apr 12, 2011 11:05 pm Pos Yep, a powder room is a toilet room but with a little sink in it too. We are currently in a rental, our pwdr room is under the stairs, perfect position! We are a bit confused now. At beginning we didnt want to make a formal area, but in the end we were "convinced". Convinced in the way that we had the square meters for extra spaces, and having in mind that if we wanted to invite more people at our place to have the space and dont think about it. We were initially relactunt because i suppose such occasions might be just 6-7 in a year... Now on the toilet issue, in the kitchen might be good for family times (thus most of times). However when you have a dinner would you want to bring people in the messy kitchen area? I suppose again there wouldnt be so much problem as certainly all of them would be friends that would pass from the kitchen anyway when they pop in the house! I think to put the toilet at the study room (on stairs area) might be the best idea, since it would be in the middle of both areas - family and formal - and if the door is towards the stairs it would as if it is in a totally separate room. Re: Our nest - any help/suggestions highly appreciated! 14Apr 13, 2011 8:52 am fekish Do you have a split design house? We were thinking of reducing the stairs from kitchen to formal areas, and from bedrooms to master bedroom. So it wont be difficult to carry food and drinks to formal area, and also to be more convinient to go from one bedroom to the other with kids. Would you agree with this? Its not a massive ensuite shower, probably it doesnt show very well on the drawings. We would have a normal bathtub and we are thinking if a shower should be inserted as well... Yes. Our house splits front to back. Single storey at the front and double at the back. Our kitchen, lounge, dining and alfresco are all on the same level so the stairs haven't been an issue. I think having splits can make the house a little unique especially when you have open voids between the areas. I didn't picture your ensuite correctly. I thought the space to the left of the ensuite was a massive shower. Personally I would drop the bath from the ensuite and just have a shower. Re: Our nest - any help/suggestions highly appreciated! 15Apr 13, 2011 2:27 pm Ok great thanks! Basically the space on the left of the ensuite that has an "X" on it, is an open space. That study room below has an high ceiling on top. We are still thinking of either puting a shower or a bathtub. I don't know if it is prudent to have both in there, thus make the bathroom bigger. Re: Our nest - any help/suggestions highly appreciated! 16Apr 13, 2011 7:02 pm Tried to update and move the toilet a bit and also make a bit different the utility room... Definitely needs more work at the kitchen area. I think i like the position of the toilet now. Plan 1 - (only difference with plan 2 is the kitchen) Like ⋅ Add a comment ⋅ Pin to Ideaboard ⋅ Plan 2 - (onlt difference with plan 1 is the kitchen) Like ⋅ Add a comment ⋅ Pin to Ideaboard ⋅ Original Like ⋅ Add a comment ⋅ Pin to Ideaboard ⋅ Re: Our nest - any help/suggestions highly appreciated! 17Apr 14, 2011 11:18 am Personally I think your kitchen - dining area is looking pretty cramped. Especially now you have moved the couch (which I think looks better positioned now). I would be moving the utility room somewhere else (maybe basement) and utilising the extra space with more cupboards. My take on the kitchen dining area. Like ⋅ Add a comment ⋅ Pin to Ideaboard ⋅ Re: Our nest - any help/suggestions highly appreciated! 18Apr 14, 2011 2:30 pm Thank you so much for your time! Yes such an open plan would've been ideal, but on the other hand; I don't know if having the washing machine at basement would be convinient. During the first couple of weeks I was really excited with the house, but in the last week I am a bit dissapointed and lose my sleep at night. I need to get my excitement back by doing changes to the actual plan ASAP! Re: Our nest - any help/suggestions highly appreciated! 20Apr 14, 2011 10:33 pm What about adding a second door to the powder room? We're on split level so we have the WC off the kitchen, but the basin is outside the WC. Go through the 1st door, past the vanity then into the toilet. WIth both doors shut (which doesn't happen with the blokes and I thinki it's gross) you can't hear a thing. Perhaps you could add sound insulation in the wall. I hate hearing people wee..... or worse If so what were the "special circumstances" under which it was granted? 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