Does the guest suite need to be on the ground floor?

Yes need the guest suite as I have parents who come often and they cant climb upstairs.

You need to make some choices. Do you want a living area downstairs or can that be theatre. Or can prayer and study move upstairs. Something has to give.

The void over entry could be floor space

rearranging rooms reduces total size and allows enough space for the downstairs theatre but the entry void, porch and balcony need review as your original plan has no access to the balcony except through bed 3 unless you omit the entry void and have access to the balcony above the front door which would also make a more generous shelter for the front porch but i have made no allowance for extra wall thickness, porch and balcony and all window locations but total floor area should still be well below the original size

Well done okl. That looks way better than the original. Just need an accessible toilet downstairs for NCC requirements if in Australia. 1200 in front of toilet pan clear of door swing. Perhaps make ensuite wider

OKL powder room is legal as it's wider and allows the door to swing open with space to spare, the 1200 applies in a 1800 x 900 toilet. Well done OKL

diviadhl what aspect does your block have, ie: North which way., also what are requirements for the prayer room, position etc. Do you work from home.

@oklouise Thank you so much. You made the best arrangment out of the plan.

@siriuskey north is towards rhis way as below. I work from home and prayer towards north east is better. if it doesnt I am ok with it too.

is that a pool in your backyard?? if so consider moving the pwder room to the space between scullery and laundry for easier access from outside and add an outdoor shower

Yes Louise, pool in the backyard to the left is tentative atm but wants to leave the provision to do it in future. We are thinking to make laundry and scullery one big, long area and have the door to the right rather than to alfresco and we are planning to get an outdoor kitchen which was not drawn in the plan.

The balcony you added to the master bedroom may not work for us as its aligning to the ground floor garage. As per council requirements, we need to have set back 4.5 sqmt only.

Another question with staircase, I heard from few people that staircase to the living is not ideal as in terms of energy efficiency (running an aircon). Is it good to move staircase towards the entry like study, stairs, guest ensuite and prayer which aligns on top with leisure/balcony, stairs, kids bedroom 1 ensuite and to the right master bedroom with kids bedroom 2 along with ensuite at the back.

Our initial idea to keep stairs in living is because we liked the look of stairs next to living.

Your void will also be involved in any aircon, and agree with staircase opening to kitchen family as a connection between the two floors

@oklouise I want to confirm if these measurements on the plan are including walls?

After having some though process, If I realign study, stairs etc, I think we might not get void? I feel it's better to stick to your plan and make below adjustments:

1. reduce garage size to 6*5.8 and increase theatre to 6*3.5 as we want to have longer theatre to get step down seats with a big screen onto the wall.

2. Increase 0.7 sqmt to the left side of family upto the staircase only.

3. Increase the alfresco to 11.7*3 all the way to family and have a bifold door to make it look nicer.

4. Close the laundry door to alfresco and have an outdoor kitchen, move the laundry door to the side of the house.

5. Top floor - Make Master suite to 5*4.4 and reduce the leisure to 5*3.3 and get extra BIW in the master room by removing the seating chairs.

6. Can we make top floor 1.2 width and move that space to increase minor bedrooms to left. Is this achievable?

Thank you all for all the amazing work you did with our plans. You made my dream come true :)

PS: what are the measurements for laundry and scullery here. Its not very clear.

laundry and scullery are 1.8 wide and there is enough space to keep the door to the laundry off the alfresco for easier access in wet weather, use the laundry for washing up barbq equipment, access to extra powder and more privacy from neighbours?? but will try all your extra ideas but can you share a site plan showing the required distances (set backs) from the side boundaries to the house both upstairs and down ...ie the required setback not what you would like to have

@oklouise

can I have your email address so that I can send you the LDP plan?

You do not need the balcony! They are never used and can create lots of leakage with endemic problems in the building if not built perfectly first time. Have you got a laundry chute? I do not think you need two toilets down stairs... one to share is plenty! Same IMO with bedrooms upstairs one family bathroom and the ensuite is plenty: glad I will not have to clean all the rooms! I do not know which way is north but need to make sure the living rooms are to the north and bedrooms east if possible for morning sun light. No void needed at entry either. Keep it simple. Cheers Margot

some more ideas to consider with bigger beds 3 and 4, stepped floor in the theatre, external garden storage, bigger scullery, kitchenette in the leisure room and a verandah overlooking the pool instead of the upstairs balcony

I was wondering what is being considered for bathroom/toilet access for the future pool as anyone who has had a pool knows how important this is.

The request for larger bedrooms 3 & 4, dictates the size of bathrooms but if possible I would like to see these bathrooms running across so that they both have access to fresh air and natural light, I even wondered if the master ensuite and robe could do the same giving them his and her robes, that's just my quick thought but it's what the client wants that matters

@siriuskey thanks for your suggestion. i earlier removed powder as my husband not keen with toilet in living. I requested @oklouise to extend my kitchen upto the scullery and scullery moving to laundry spot and laundry is outside next to the alfresco and adding powder room at the end of the laundry accessible from backyard and out of the living.

minor bedrooms, I am particular with the size and not sure how we can achieve toilets next to o each other.

with Master robes, I am happy with the current way as his robes are mine and my robes are mine too 😂

I,am sure OKL can figure it all out and agree we females do tend to take over our other half's wardrobe space, perhaps you have room for a robe for him. I personally don't like turning over and looking into the bathroom at close range., doors are rarely closed. except when the bathroom is being used

@siriuskey You make sense. is it worth closing the bathroom from the master suite and have a door opening to walk in robe from ensuite?

good ideas siriuskey so i have rearranged the alfresco to include an outdoor toilet and keep the powder room near the guest suite, changed the master ensuite for more privacy and extra space in the bedrooms for more chests of drawers or BIW but, allowing for external windows for the kids' ensuites, makes beds 3 and 4 smaller than required

Thanks @oklouise. very interesting layout!!

Hubby said ” lets keep alfresco from the living rather than dining that way we got more living and alfresco area for movement and decking towards the dining overseeing the pool from dining window rather than stacking door all the way to the end. I am unsure which way is functional and economical!

This is what I was thinking could work for the master, there is plenty of space available in the master to share some of that space with the ensuite if you needed more depth. The wall in the ensuite enabling you to close off the WC and bath can be removed but my men need more privacy

@Houzz I attached the latest plans. please review and share your thoughts with the below layouts. @oklouise Cant thank you enough for your efforts!!

and a laundry chute accessed from the hall upstairs and under the stairs downstairs