Who loves a floorplan?

[Elke]

Hi all
This is the floorplan of the house we just bought and will be a PPOR.
I love looking at floorplans and thinking of better ways to do it, so I thought I'd put it on SS as there may be others like me who really enjoy it too!

Wish list:
1. Move kitchen so it overlooks north facing backyard (ie where laundry now is). And what layout of kitchen, we want a B/bar or an island somewhere
2. Put a bath and a loo into bathroom
3. Open loungeroom to the north lawn
4. Relocate B4 (study)
6. Where to put tons of cupboards

* If we do all that, where do we put a laundry and guest loo?
* The kitchen/laundry wall is a supporting wall and it also supports the skillion roof. How to make a 3m+ wide kitchen underneath. ie beam it so it's an open space? The laundry/skillion is only 2.1m that's too narrow for a family kitchen.

 

[Elke]

I meant to add, that altho it is PPOR we are still thinking like it's an IP (which it will be in future), so we don't want to overcapitalise.

 

[moyjos]

Quick sketch for a Sunday morning

I have tried to not move walls as I don't know what is load bearing

Adding a bath and WC to the existing bathroom is ok but you will possibly have to have a shower over the bath which is not my preferred choice
Can you add a second shower and w/c downstairs.. If so do this first so you have a functionsing bathroom when you rip out the existing one


Added a big storage built-in on the back wall of the dining room (think walk in wardrobe type thing)

Made a nice big walk in pantry .. Just because I really want one

Sacrifice a bit of Bed 2 to make a nook in the lounge.. Although I don't think you need more here, that room is probably big enough.. In which case. Turn that space around and use as built in robe for the bedroom

Stick the laundry on the patio, I will post a picture of my laundry, we are in a unit and I love my "cupboard laundry". It would word fine in this situation.

 

[moyjos]

this is my laundry It is 2165mm wide x 600mm deep (interior mesurements)

 

[Elke]

Where do you store your shoes? and baskets of Clean washing??

Hiya Moyjos
thank you so much for your ideas!! Love the idea of the bedroom 3 in that corner. It is actually the nicest room in the house in that it's got two window vistas, and it's elevated with valley/tree views. It gave me the idea that we might use it not yet as another bedroom as the kids are still small but maybe that could be our Study, ie put our books and computers in there. Also like the idea of the massive storage BIR and 'nooks'.

So...you think no walkway via kitchen to the outside? That's very interesting, and why I absolutely love getting others input because everyone sees a floor plan's potential differently, and the person that knows the existing layout often struggle to see a different veiw. What a great idea to have a (dream) walkin pantry instead, and then walk thru lounge to access outside, rather than TWO outside access points. That would save alot of wasted space.

LOVE the idea of the cupd is a laundry. I saw it in another house and loved it. The only issue is that, the 'patio' is actually inside the house, so if we open up that lounge wall to the north, then you'd be listening to the spin cycle while trying to read a novel...perhaps too close for comfort. Other idea was to build a small shed in back yard on west side for laundry - as small as your cpd, so get privacy from neighbours and a laundry. But no night time access, and plumbing costs. If you have any other ideas for where the laundry could go, let me know.

What I need to factor into the floor plan is...where do I store up to five baskets of CLEAN washing that is not yet put away??? I mean, that is for real.

And another thing, where to store your SHOES? I know it sounds weird, but really, we have piles of shoes at our front door, a shoe rack in the laundry, stored shoes in boxes...and still they come. What I plan is that at the top of the entrance stairs will be a full height cupd with doors, just for shoes, ventilation holes drilled in, but so all can be tidy and organised - and out of sight!!

Downstairs, a guest loo and shower, great idea. The 'big' idea for downstairs if it's possible, will be to excavate and build a self contained unit downstairs (n/incl the garage), so we can rent it. However, having a small area that we keep for loo and shower is a fantastic idea and one we hadn't thought of.

Thanks again!

 

[Elke]

Are there 'standard' sizes for BIR?

I wonder if there are standard depths/lengths for BIR? In B2 we want to put a BIR..we wanted it on the same wall that the door opens onto, as per Moyjos's drawing of the 'nook'. Nowhere else is really practical. We need bunks on the long side and want to keep the other wall free.

 

[moyjos]

Hey Elke

No I don't think it is an issue not having access to outside from the kitchen....personally I HATE walk through kitchens, especially with kids. One of our PPOR's had a walk through kitchen and I rejigged things so the kids did not have to walk (run....STOP RUNNING,!!!!). Through the kitchen.

Laundry..... We now live in a 70m2 1bed unit and honestly..we don't hear the washing machine at all. Admittedly we rarely use the dryer (we are in qld so clothes tend to dry pretty quickly on a clothes horse on the balcony.)

Where to put the 5 baskets of clean washing? Sorry to be harsh.... Get however many people are in your family and sort clothes into each persons basket (hubby included). Dump each basket on top of the corresponding bed. Tell them to put it away....if they are more than about 6 they CAN do it themselves ....Delegate.


Shoes.....again...make everybody put them away in their room. MY shoes however live on a 1800 wide x 1200 high bookcase in clear plastic shoe boxes ...yes I have a few . Hubby's shoes are on a small set of shelves in the wardrobe under his shirts.

"standard " size for a BIR is no particular width (probably no shorter than around 1500mm ) depth is a coat hangers width plus a few cm for the doors to fit.

Downstairs... If your grand plan is to build down there... Work out a "one day" plan" and build the new bathroom around that

Have fun. Love this stuff

 

[MRCCON]

I wonder if there are standard depths/lengths for BIR? In B2 we want to put a BIR..we wanted it on the same wall that the door opens onto, as per Moyjos's drawing of the 'nook'. Nowhere else is really practical. We need bunks on the long side and want to keep the other wall free.

600mm internal depth is a standard BIR.

 

[Elke]

Hi Moyjos
Yes, I agree about the walk thru kitchen. It creates extra traffic. That's another issue I foresee about this new house, is that the loungeroom could end up being one big criss-cross traffic zone. My ideal lounge is one with no thoroughfare - one door only. But we may turn the B3 (on your floorplan) into a second lounge/library/study/slow room, one with no thru traffic.

I like with your floor plan that it's reduced the number of possible thoroughfares a bit on the big lounge room.

Thanks again, and thanks MrRCon too.

 

[moyjos]

How enclosed is the front verandah? Can you make it into a more "adult" space and the large living room more as a general family room.