If you're worried about the dining table being cramped what about extending the island bench to double as a dining table ?

where you've got the living and family room in the second drawing ? do you need both? or can that wall in between them be knocked down have a huge living area and then the dining suite can go a bit further down not blocking your thoroughfare?

I I like the floor plan with the dining table circled best. The other seems less flexible for furniture arrangement and a fair bit of wasted? space centrally. Given there is a separate formal lounge/theatre room you could possible do away with the 3x 3 seater couches in the family room and condense the space used there to move the dining table further away from the kitchen island to allow more space for a walk way. Even 500mm would make a difference.

Hi Chris,

It appears to be a very intelligent plan, like the mud room, especially if you could turn it into an airlock so that you can keep car exhaust fumes away from the internal of the house. (You might need to do a minor redesign in regards to the steps so that it becomes a proper airlock, but definitively achievable).

Also like how you have arranged the laundry and powder room (option2 - I'm assuming option 2 is the one with the dimensions) and the exit door, especially if your drying area is close to that exit door.

The lounge and family room proximity looks a bit odd as one does not seem to relate to the other.

However before I can make any comments on the arrangement of the living areas you would have to show where north is located, this would greatly help in deciding the arrangement layout.

Hope this is of some help

Michael Manias

Which way is North? That's the priority.

Tribbletrouble44152k7 Trek

Yes - you are right!

Michael Manias

Option 2 is the design with dimensions, very valid pickup Manias Associates Building Designers about the mud room i will discuss this with our designer this is the type of criticism i need to identify prior finalising the final design. Also we are not sure if the powder room is very tight, extend another 500m towards the laundry will make it easier for a vanity to fit and not so tight.

Also the clothesline not sure?

Also i have attached the first floor for some further criticism to provide further improvement

I

Kurt,

Your last suggestion was the original idea, wife didn't want pool guests entering through the laundry and constantly maintaining tidy.

Manias,

The Theatre room will be retreat/theatre room.

Some very functional ideas have been brought to life

• Pantry Heat
• Guest Room dual vanity
• Kitchen bench & NW SUN
• Walk thru ROBES in master room, we decided on this option to minimise noise and waking up partner as i am a shift worker.
• Mud Room car fumes.

But as we have been told by our designer you might have the issue with NW sun in the kitchen but relocating it to another location you will have very little sunlight during the day.....

Thanks so much will create some excellent discussion and design options with our designer.

We visited furniture shops today looking at different options and shapes and dimensions and your option was considered... Your reno looks amazing for a 32 yr old home...Thanks for your suggestions and ideas.

what about a walk in shower instead of cubicle? how wide is your bathroom? easier to just put in a pane of glass as a walk in ? our glass came out to 1.1m in our ensuite..

If you want to gain a bit extra for the powder room, I would pinch it from the butler's pantry (I'm reading it as approx 3x2.6) and maintain the laundry dimensions, as it is already the smaller space of the two (approx 2.1x2.6). I guess it depends on your family's lifestyle as to which is used more. Do you have a butler pantry at the moment to know how much you would use/need that additional space allocated on top of your generous kitchen?

I'm delighted to be of some help, I agree with your Building Designer, I don't think that your kitchen should change position, just provide very good quality Glass with High UV resistance, also very good quality insulation min R=5 in the walls and in the roof, or greater (very good double sided reflective foil + R=4.5 insulation will get you above R=5) and excellent shading for summer and your problem will be resolved. (Deciduous trees are also a good help)

Your plan looks good, and hopefully it will work well for you, glad to take part in the discussion.

If you have time I would greatly appreciated a positive review on Houzz, wish you and your family the best for the future.

Michael Manias Building Designer - mm407p@gmail.com

We don't have a butler pantry, but thats a good point something we need to consider.

I like option 2. I wouldn't have a sink in the island bench though. Put it under the window so you can see the kids/grandkids in the pool area. Love the idea of a butlers pantry. I would make the opening in to the theatre room larger and then have a folding door (you can add panels to make it as wide as you want. Showing you in timber look but available in white or glass paneled.. worth a think and would really open the area up.. open for extra living, closed for movies and warmth and comfort in winter.. https://www.masters.com.au/product/101144089/gearplus-vera-folding-door-light-oak.

Below picture is the opening I had in my rebuild from Christchurch.. you can see how the kitchen flowed to dining and then across to lounge area.. My media room was a decent size as well. The wall colour you can see is Resene "kangaroo" which i put inside my media room as well.

Have to agree with Lisa Imbruglia the sink would be better on the window facing the pool - extra level of "Pool Supervision" good thinking. The central kitchen bench has become more of a meet and greet area, while someone's cooking rather than a preparation and cooking area these days - and there is also the relationship between the sink and the stove in an emergency as I pointed out in my previous comments above.

I don't like the dining room that is circled because it appears to be just sitting in the middle of no where - like it is sitting in a hall way. It may look better if the table ran the other way e.g. if the kitchen was north and the living room south I would move the table closer to the outside wall and run it north to south not west to east. Otherwise I would go with the plan above it - where the table has a defined space.

Along with the suggestions listed above perhaps consider changing the door for the master bedroom so it opens the other way? I feel it would help break up any noise coming from the stairs if you were sleeping and someone came in. Plus give you a little more time for privacy if the door were opened unexpectedly ;)

Ditto to comments above. Prefer option 2. The walk through robe in the Master is a great idea. I have one and love it. I live in hot Qld and have no problem with clothes being affected. As a domestic cleaner I wouldn't recommend a cubicle shower as they are a heat/mould trap. Make sure the glass door is a good size to allow moisture to escape.

Not sure if i should be creating a new post or posting in this thread? We have given another challenge which we need to decide on. The designer has requested for a 1 step to rise from the foyer to the hallway from the powder room as per highlighted drawing we are not keen on this idea as we believe will create a trip hazard... Can we have some critique or better options to remove the step a smart workaround or design

I have attached some houzz photos showing some ideas if we add the extra step at the porch to eliminate the potential trip hazard and give the hall way a nice flow?

Calistoga Residence · More Info

Boulder Contemporary · More Info

We received our revised drawings after discussing some of the above concerns, we managed to remove the front steps from the foyer area and moved them to the back section of the home.

Also increased powder room and managed to gain some space where the nook area is but area was created due to compliance reasons possible make this into a cloak room.

We are not sure with the following issues with the first floor:-

2 points of concerns

1. The retreat area not functional and very awkward to furnish.

2. Also the master room with 2 Walk in robes ? we feel something isn't correct..... requires further work open for criticism and suggestion.

Finally received the first concept design of facade, very different the skillion roof which has raised some concern, not sure if hipped roof would be better suited for this design, or is it because we are so used to seen hipped roofs all round us? We feel the skillion is providing a real difference to our eye. Also the skillion roof could become a phased out fad over a period of time. We want it to look modern, but it's a bit tricky when your building custom and nothing to see before you build. Not sure on the colour scheme applied to this design as colours will play a important role on the look and feel of the home.

door opening to ensuite..once opened you've blocked your way into the WC..

I would move the bathroom to service the three other bedrooms better.

ie move the bathroom between bedroom 2 and 3 and bedroom 4 where bathroom is

? no window to bedroom 4? bathroom? tiny window to retreat..

with regard to the retreat you can build a room divider..posts put at an angle to give you a wall for placement of furniture or divider that will also be your storage ie a shelving unit..

also your WIRs you're blocking part of your wardrobe when you open the doors ..? why not have a part wall to obscure them and do away with the doors ?

I would also swap the WIR and ensuite over ..that way you've got a nice big window to look out of..

Use internal wall sliding doors for your robe and ensuite. Not a fan of internal toilets and cubicle showers which attract mould and hold smells. I agree with the comment above-swap them over so the bathroom can have a bigger window.

Hi Chris

Good plan revision there may be a couple of things that may help

1. You need 3Ds to make a decision on the front, its not to difficult to do if your Building Designer has the appropriate software, in all my design I give my clients 3Ds because it is difficult to understand spatial concepts from 2D's drawings - even fro people that do it every day.

2. Internal views are often more important than external - you spend more time inside the house than outside., your neighbours my spend more time outside looking at the house.

3. Upstairs I really like the master bedroom, but one of the robe has a window in it this would mean that the clothes would become decoloured. I would remove the window.

4. Also I would remove the window next to the TV in the recreation room - TV's will increase in size and the window might not add to better viewing. In my opinion the recreation area forces people to go around the sofa - children wont they will walk over them - more fun. I think the Tv should be on the Bathroom wall and the room squared of and the real furniture put in to scale - might help a bit with the final decision, some 3D's would help.

5. There seem to be no window in bedroom 4.

6. The downstairs works well, just that the kitchen bench still has a sink in it - not very practical, and a bit old fashioned because it really does not work - tend to spill between sink - stove and fridge - wet floors are not very helpful in work areas like kitchens.

Hope this is of some help

Regards Michael

3D visualisations is on the request list or possible a walk through entire home.

We request for a window in the WIR to have natural lighting up that space.

Not sure where to place the sink i will run it through my designer....

thanks

Listen to Michael. I'm surprised your designer didn't tell you. We get Houzzers complaining the window in their WIR has faded one side of their clothes. I just googled it, and so many the same on other sites too.

If you're going to have a window in the WIR, then make sure you get a blind for it that blocks sunlight. We had fading problems with clothes as well, until we got that blind. I did like having the filtered light in the closet once we got it, though.