Thanks for your comment Trek. The lounge room will only be
used occasionally for greeting guests at the entry or as a quiet room for
reading. The main living are is at the rear with the northerly aspect, this is the day to day living space.

I would still swap them over. How many in the family and what age groups?

There is the two of us in the house, and the guest bedroom will be used for visiting family and friends.

I agree that having the lounge at the front, facing south, is not the best aspect. Neither of these rooms can get a north aspect as these rooms are on the lower level and with the block slopes up from the front with the upper level extends to the north. The current position of the lounge means it is slightly above natural ground level (NGL) and the guest bedroom has a small cut and is slightly below NGL. Having the lounge at the front allows windows on both the east and south sides of the room and there is a decent view from both these sides. Thanks for the suggestion.

We were considering swapping the multi-purpose room (MPR) and bedroom 2 on the upper level. We thought this arrangement could make the bedroom larger (it's 3 x 3.3m now) by making better use of the hallway which could be a shared space with the MPR.

We were also considering re-arranging the family and dining area at the rear into a more conventional 'L' shaped arrangement. We feel this could make better use of the available space and provide better connection to the family area. Only problem is we can't see how to make this work, particularly maintaining the northerly windows to the dining and family rooms.

I agree with CP. 32 squares is a big house for two people. Do you really need all those bedrooms, or would a master, a guest, and a third plus an MPR that could be converted into a spare if needed, be sufficient?

I don't really understand the lower level. Why does a guest bedroom need a WIR? Are your guests going to be staying for months? I would put the ensuite where the WIR and cupboard is - you might even be able to tuck some of it under the stairs, and increase the size of the lounge and the spare room. Having a chair to sit on to put your shoes on, and a place to put your suitcase is more useful than lots of storage in a guest room.

Another consideration, the whole lower level would be perfect as a separate apartment for rent or a relative to live in for awhile. If this is something you would consider, I'd ask the builder about putting in provision for a kitchenette into the lounge room (though if you don't move the ensuite, this would be pretty easy, it just might make the lounge really small), and making it easy to enclose the doorway. Depending on the area, this would be a pretty large resale bonus too.

Do you have eaves? You should have eaves (unless you're in Tasmania, maybe).

I think you've done a great job so far, but I would think about relocating the stairs so you can create a bit more of a grand hallway and a clear run through to the living room and dining - making the window to the backyard a central focal point of the entryway. Similar to the below

Thanks everyone for the feedback.

@kjs we had considered putting the ensuite where the WIR is, but this would mean it would have no windows and ventilation could be a problem.

The kitchenette is a great idea. Maybe this could go where the cupboard currently is and this would then not impact on the size of the lounge. Turning the lower level into an apartment in the future would also be possible. We could include a door in one of the windows at the front or side of the lounge to provide a separate entry to the apartment. A partition wall could be added to the opening between the lounge and main entry to make the apartment completely separate from the main house.

The niche at the entry is proposed as a seat with shoe storage below similar to this but without the cupboard.

Tangletown · More Info

@CP, @jmm1837, @10anp, @Najeebah. The location of the MPR is a great dilemma. Its location at the front with the handrail look down into the entry and lower level should add greatly to the open feel of the house, particularly at the entry with the void and MPR open above. Moving the MPR may have some practical advantage but may lose out on the architectural feel. Having the MPR far away from the other living space (in its current location) may also have some practical advantage. Many considerations, but on balance we are still leaning towards the current arrangement.

Considerations are efficiency and practicality of the space while maintaining the architectural feel. We also want to maximise the potential future resale value. Maybe the wow factor is more important?

@Architest, thanks for the encouraging words that we are on the right track. With the split level design it has been difficult to locate the stairs and maintaining the entry width (2.2m) as you rise to the upper level is what we have tried to do.

OP - I for one wasn't suggesting moving the MPR. I was asking whether you need all those bedrooms, or whether your space might be better utilised with fewer, larger rooms.

Great idea to put the kitchenette in the cupboard. Have a chat to the builder about putting plumbing in there now - much easier than ripping out the floors to put in drainage.

I'm a bit worried about that door out of the garage into the entryway - it would be easy to open it into someone coming down the stairs too quickly.

@girlguides good feedback. We will see if we can make the lounge / dining area a bit bigger.

@kjs agree. We will see if other options work for the garage door. Maybe a sliding door?