Coastal/golf course retirement home - floor plan suggestions?
albyrne
5 years ago
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oklouise
5 years agoKay
5 years agoRelated Discussions
Need help with deciding to go coastal paneling (white T&G panels)
Comments (43)Hi Tina, thanks for posting, it is all looking great. Shame about the panelling, but sometimes these things happen for a reason. It is great the armoire matches the doors so well when they are all on one wall, but I don't think you need to have the bed and side tables matching, especially when they are on another wall. My issue with painting furniture, while I love it, is the maintenance. It does chip over time and becomes one more thing to paint. I don't know what the timber is in your furniture but another possible option, especially to give you the coastal vibe is to lime it. To do this successfully, you will need to sand all the existing stain off it and go back to the raw timber. The darker the original timber, the less limed look you will get so bear that in mind too. I did an old bunk bed up that had seen better days, for my grands bedroom. It was a dark red wood, but with 4 coats of stain I got the look I was after which was that driftwood/coastal look. The whole thing looks totally new again. Sorry I can't post a photo as this function no longer works for me. Have a look at the Feast Watson range of liming stains, they have some gorgeous soft colours as well, but they let the timber show through rather than having the solid painted look. It is a very easy product to use, it dries quickly - I did the 4 coats over 2 days effortlessly. The hard work is in the sanding....See MoreNeed some thoughts on reno plans
Comments (101)If you "change" anything that involves a building approval then the floor area on the plans relevant will count towards the overall amount. If it amounts to beyond 50% of the existing conditions then the whole building becomes applicable to energy calculations and so you enter into up spec'ing existing areas. And yes it can often be a good thing to be doing anyway, but of course it costs money. If the total area being changes is below 50% then only the areas of new work are applicable. I'm honestly not a specialist in this area, but I have to deal with the issues naturally in the course of the design and resolution of project solutions I provide, and hence I use an energy consultant regularly and we have a way/system of working through together how best to achieve the requirements for permit. As far as I understand it's a case by case/project specific exercise and also there's various ways of negotiating/achieving the necessary performance requirements - e.g. you can play around with different levels of insulation together with a particular glazing/window spec, and depending upon circumstances you can save money one way or another. Sometimes I'll squeeze windows overall down to get it under a certain amount to not trigger requirement for expensive glass...also timber windows rate better, but if you are in a bushfire area you'll be caught out or require very expensive timber windows...it's a real juggling act in particular contexts...which is why you really need to be working collaboratively with an energy consultant/specialist to work out the best solution in this regard, as well as the other aspects of design, structure and bushfire etc. It's a true team effort ;) If you're really up for some technical reading you there is some further energy info here NCC Volume One Energy Efficiency Provisions 2016 - Australian ... but it may get confusing........Coming back to the core of it, my advice: 1. define your budget 2. list and prioritise your requirements 3. seek some preliminary advice/assistance from a seasoned designer doing this type of work to test whether or not the general concept of what your endeavouring to achieve is viable, and this depends upon the relevant context/existing conditions etc (and bushfire rating is yet another layer on top of all this), and then refine the concept from there. If you are just doing a bathroom or kitchen isolated then you can arguably do it yourself, but if you're re-jigging the whole house like it appears you are heading towards, and on a very tight budget then I'd highly recommend (to save yourself headaches and frustration going around in never-ending circles) to invest some of your available budget into front-end design, to get to a solution that works to your nominated priorities so you achieve a viable and professionally advised outcome. Trust me it will be money well spent. Have a great Christmas, and best of luck with continuing to work through it all :)...See MoreTerrible floor plan and limited budget
Comments (18)Thanks Paul - you make some great points. We've held off on doing anything major so far BC we wanted to live in the house, see how we use the space and try to anticipate how it might change as our kids get older. It's really the ensuite needing doing that's prompted us to start seriously considering what we want. We're not 'throwaway' people so we want to spend time getting it right before we start. Siriuskey - thank you for your plan! Utilising the two bedrooms would give us a great family space. And I would LOVE a walk in linen press. We just can't understand some of the decisions the original owners made. They commissioned the design from a local firm - and the owner was actually a retired builder! Just weird stuff, like at the moment, there's nowhere in the ensuite for towel racks to go. The vanity has drawers that only pull out 15cm so nothing really fits in them. You have to make sure someone isn't opening the shower door or standing at the basin before you open the ensuite door. We have a broom cupboard in our main living area.. not to mention the family bathroom and toilet entry being right next to the couch. The living room is a thoroughfare and difficult to furnish. The dishwasher has to be turned off at the wall BC it's constantly being accidentally started as it's so easy to lean against... and you can't have the cutlery drawers open at the same time as the dishwasher (the kitchen is slightly different to the plans). Needless to say, we won't be approaching the original design firm to help us with the renovations. Sooo many design faults - too many to list!...See MoreBlock of land, this plan?
Comments (52)Just a quick update... The guy never got back to me after I offered ( rude!) So the night we got an offer on our house... 2 weeks on market, I emailed 7 House building companies asking if they had homes being completed soon, but not yet on the market. The next morning one rang me at 8.30 and said we have one, a family just pulled out, foundation's have been consented, u can tweak inside a little, move kitchen, add bi folds etc choose colours.. Want to look? Yes if it's west facing backyard... It was but the plan was facing south with the living areas.. Asked if I could flip it.. Yes.. SEND IT OVER 501k Inc patio, drive and path. So we have paid a 3k holding deposit. Just going over plan with my tweaks, and my upgrade costs like ducted heating etc.. Eeek But at least we found one, as all blocks have now been sold in the estate Thank you for all your help. This new plan is only 150sq over brick. But the things we discussed above.. I got!!...See Morealbyrne
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