Ideas on how to make better use of space of our late 1940s home

Hi :) we have just purchased a late 1940s single storey weatherboard house that is in need of some TLC before we move in. Our issue is that we have a limited budget right now, so realistically we'll be doing some initial renovating, and then save up to do something more substantial in around 5 years. I am hoping to get some ideas about what might be possible with the floor plan and get some design ideas for the initial renovation but also have the long term plan in mind so we don't do anything short term that we'd have to completely get rid of in 5 years time. Our budget is around $40k, and so far we have the must do jobs as: minor reblocking (quotes for $1500), heating (and cooling if budget allows), floors (rip up carpet and replace with floorboards - timber or vinyl planks), fix internal areas of cracked render, painting and built in robes in the bedrooms.

I have attached the floor plan and a few pictures of the inside of the house. I would be grateful for any advice or ideas, especially around re doing the kitchen, removing the wall between the kitchen and dining room, and between the dining room and living room.

Thank you for any advice you can offer.
 

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Nice place!! it looks neat and tidy as is!

First you should check out what other places in the area are doing. it looks like a nice vintage and you want to get it right. speak to neighbours and issues they have had or what upgrades completed.
you might find out all the elec needs replacing etc. depedning on the area a certain finish will be required, plus what you want from it.

your q's.
heating and cooling, a good split system can do both so look into those. or you may want to go ducted. get a tradie out and work out what your preference is.

floors, im pretty sure you'll find original floor boards underneath, get a pro in to give you a quote. we are in a 100year old place and the owner got them done by a pro and they came up tops!!

internal cracked render may be worth leaving as you said you dont want to come back, doing work may get things moving more and re-open the cracks. Also worth getting underneath the house or checking the stumps if they need packing first up. easy check, does it feel like your on a boat with the waves in the floor?? it looks good from the photos but the cracks could be a warning sign for you.

hold off on the built ins, they will detract from the origianl era look. so look into that a little more. i do love a built in but it could detract from the overall look and feel.

floor plan, i have done a quick sketch of ideas i came up with initially, keeping it simple. its over budget but gives you some long term ideas.
the front bathroom convert to a ensuite and fill the entry void for a WIR.
You have a HWS in the living room, get it move outside, you can get that done early plus a bigger tank if needed. then turn that area in the new bathroom, im hoping the scale is reasonably close for it to work.

the bath/ldy/pdr needs to be looked at and minimised and combined to be more practicle to todays standards. plus use the space appropriately.

The photo of the wall unit, get rid of and wack in a big window to open it all up!

Kitchen knock out the wall to open it up. depending on the scale again the dinign/living/kitchen may be swapped around??

Also look at the covered area, could you close it in for extra space, then you could sneak in a study to the old dining
 

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I agree with Bob, adding:

Put the HWS inside the store room or laundry rather than outside in the cold. You might have to replace the walls/floor/ceiling in its old home as it may have rotted from condensation in its past life.

I would turn the WIR into an ensuite and extend the front bathroom all the way to the hallway. I'd then lose the bathroom at the back of the house and make the laundry smaller. You could have a toilet in the laundry if you must.

I would remove the wall between the dining and living room. I expect it will be load-bearing so get an expert to check it for you and do it properly.

Have fun
 
It looks in quite good shape.

First if all, ensure the basics are sound. Re stump if necessary, check all electrical wirng and plumbing and check the roof.

Before you start making alterations I suggest you live there for a year or so to see how your family uses the spaces.

I'd hold off on built ins, usually you cannot give older wardrobes away so you should get some cheap on gumtree.
Marg
 
Thank you for all the ideas, it was great as we had a couple of builders through yesterday to give quotes for the various pieces, and I was able to add these to the list we were already thinking of.

Bob - thanks a lot for the very detailed reply! The builders both thought that we would struggle to get floor ducts in through the front section as the ground clearance gets very low as you move towards the second set of bedrooms. One of them suggested hydronic, as apparently the gas or water pipe is very thin and much easier to run in tight spaces. That doesn't help us with cooling, and I always thought hydronic was super expensive, so I asked for a quote on all 3 options, hydronic, ducted and individual split systems, and we'll go from there.

You were right about the boards. They are in all of the 4 bedrooms. Unfortunately, in the kitchen and dining room, it's just chipboard. Both builders suggested just replacing the carpet in those rooms and the living room. I am against carpet as one of our dogs was a rescue and we were never able to fully train her not to poo inside, so it could be a pain cleaning up after her on carpet. I'm thinking maybe vinyl plans in those areas, since we may not have the same issues with the floor levels not matching, compared to if we tried to do floor boards, engineered or solid. They said boards would require grinding of the concrete and would be labour intensive. Whereas the vinyl planks + underlay might not be too different to the height of the current carpet. I'll keep thinking about that one.

We've had a couple of stumping guys call out, and they both said house is pretty good, maybe about $1500 of packing to fix up the levels a bit, which seems reasonable to me. Also, I really like your floor plan ideas, especially the U shaped kitchen, I was wondering how we could open it up but not leave ourselves with no cupboards, but that looks great! Thank you, I really appreciate you spending the time to do that.

Angel - I love the idea of turning the WIR into an ensuite and it makes sense to extend the bathroom wall to the hallway to be level with the bedrooms, wasted space as it is now. Both builders said that living room wall is load bearing, so I suspect these changes will go on the wish list rather than the "do immediately" list, as I think most of our budget will be eaten up by the floors, heating & cooling, packing, plastering. If we can afford it, I would love to take out the wall between the kitchen and dining room, that space really feels cramped, and that would be the first room rearranging thing that I would like to tackle.

Marg - Agreed, I stressed this with the builder, given we have 2 young babies, safety of the major elements is number 1 priority, then we can tackle the cosmetic stuff later. Funny, one of the builders said the same thing about waiting 12 months for the things like wardrobes, he said you need to live in a space in order to work out what you really need. Thought that was nice of him, as he was potentially talking himself out of some work.

Thanks again everyone!
 
Angel - I love the idea of turning the WIR into an ensuite and it makes sense to extend the bathroom wall to the hallway to be level with the bedrooms, wasted space as it is now. Both builders said that living room wall is load bearing, so I suspect these changes will go on the wish list rather than the "do immediately" list, as I think most of our budget will be eaten up by the floors, heating & cooling, packing, plastering. If we can afford it, I would love to take out the wall between the kitchen and dining room, that space really feels cramped, and that would be the first room rearranging thing that I would like to tackle.

Yes I expected the beam would be a long-term wish rather than an immediate consideration. You have a lovely home.
 
Keep investigating the floors! Get a floor sander bloke out, a local guy that has done old places like yours.it will look great! Make the kitchen dining a feature, perhaps look at modern kitchen with modern tiles. There will be a very slight step, tile thickness plus adhesive. I think floor tiles are 8-10mm so say max 13mm. As long as chipboard is but in.
Strange there would be chipboard, didn't think that was around back then?? Or they would have done one or the other throughout. Is chipboard over original Floor to match carpet level like the issue the builders raised??
 
Hi Bob, will do! I have a bloke coming tomorrow that was recommended for floor sanding and polishing. Regarding the chipboard, it's part of an extension. The ceiling height of the 4 bedrooms and halfway is 3m, whereas the dining room and living room is 2.7m, so presumably a previous owner was saving money on the chipboard floors and lower ceiling height.
 
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