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bedrooms straight off a living area - yes or no?

Elisabeth Henderson
7 years ago
last modified: 7 years ago

Hello everyone - after having some wonderful help from houzzers on a renovation floor plan I now have a dilemma to decide on.

Does anyone have an opinion on having bedrooms coming straight off a living area? Master? Guest? Kids bedrooms?

My gut feeling is to go for halls instead. I like the privacy. Love the privacy!

However having halls for all the bedrooms in our compact floor-area is problematic.

Two bedrooms have them - two don't - well they have tiny 1mx1m alcoves that serve as a teeny 'hall'.

I won't go into all the details (because our overall house plan has been very helpfully discussed on another thread) - but we want to remove these alcoves. Because for a number of reasons, they make both the rooms too small & awkwardly shaped to comfortably accommodate more than 1 single bed each.

We could add a proper short hall but there'll be a considerable cost & fiddle to alter the layout to accommodate it, & the hallway will also take up valuable floor space.

So I'd love to know any thoughts on this issue of bedrooms coming off living areas.

Would this stop you buying a house for example?

Or would you not mind?

Or maybe you have bedrooms off living areas now - and you find it okay - or not???

TIA :) :)

Comments (49)

  • robandlyn
    7 years ago

    Bedrooms off a hallway are always preferable, but where there is a tight budget or limited space compromises are needed. With all you are wanting to do on an incredibly small budget I think this would be one of the best compromises you could make. The way furniture is arranged in the bedroom can go some way to solving privacy issues.

    Elisabeth Henderson thanked robandlyn
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  • siriuskey
    7 years ago

    We have a master off large open plan, but would love to see your floor plan to see just what it looks like

    Elisabeth Henderson thanked siriuskey
  • Elisabeth Henderson
    Original Author
    7 years ago

    Thanks for
    taking the time to respond siriuskey. How do you find your room? does the
    layout ever bother you or is it fine?

    My plan with the
    master off an open plan area (one of my many drafts, now) is still a work in
    progress. But I'll add it below for you to take a look - I have oklouise to
    thank for this plan, although I've made a few extra rough - and probably dodgy - tweaks! :) )

    all the other bedrooms come off a quiet hallway which is great.

    And I tried to create a
    mini-hallway thingy for the master!

    Our spaces are
    narrow - as our house is L shaped around a very large deck - so everything is
    fairly close together for us.

  • Elisabeth Henderson
    Original Author
    7 years ago
    last modified: 7 years ago

    Bigreader - thanks for the comment! I'd love to know how you're making your room quieter - eg what insulation you're planning to use. And with your furniture layout, is it putting the bed where you don't have direct sightline when you're lying in bed to any people who might be walking by ?


    Robandlyn - I appreciate your advice, and you are so right! compromise is definitely needed for us. It's just trying to weigh up whether its' worth it to us to save up enough to have a hallway (when almost the only thing we are gaining is the hallway itself - nothing else), or whether trying soundproofing and a more private room layout will be sufficient. I'm definitely leaning towards the latter but still battling against my prejudices!

  • siriuskey
    7 years ago

    my immediate thought was to swap the ensuite up to the other end of the
    master so that your entrance is beside the lounge and away from the
    kitchen area, attaching a couple of photos, our ensuite is the extension from the dining area. will continue to see what else is possible. 1st photo shows master B/R entrance with Bathroom showing via window





  • Elisabeth Henderson
    Original Author
    7 years ago
    last modified: 7 years ago

    That's a very intriguing idea - thank you. (your photos are beautiful by the way - what a lovely home ....i'm feasting my eyes on all that lovely open space )

    Your suggestion would definitely mean fewer people would wander by.

    Our plan has actually been organised to try to make use of existing plumbing and walls. But perhaps it could be rejigged, and space found to add an entry door there - with the ensuite still down that end too.

    In fact we already have a doorway at the very end of the house, which we could retain. will have to take a look & see if the space might possibly stretch to this.

  • Elisabeth Henderson
    Original Author
    7 years ago

    siriuskey Ive now adjusted the layout based on what you suggested, see pic below. I think it looks good & it's a good improvement except that the WIR/ensuite layout would need a bit of rejigging.

    we'd have to demolish walls that we were going to be able to keep & use for the ensuite and WIR; also we'd have to move the plumbing which we were hoping to avoid. But I'm thinking that for privacy, ultimately this might be better for us in the long term.... also thankfully plumbing changes are not prohibitive as we are on joists. thanks again for the idea!

  • siriuskey
    7 years ago
    last modified: 7 years ago

    Would this also give you a window view from your master, which would be lovely, I think it does

  • hagan_38
    7 years ago
    Hi Liz our main bedroom comes straight off the lounge. I originally had a passage but got rid of it to create an open area. All our internal walls are insulated so this helps with noise. It was a compromise we made and we have no regrets as we have a nice open plan kitchen, dining and lounge.
  • Elisabeth Henderson
    Original Author
    7 years ago
    hi hagan-38! so glad to hear it's working for you. do you mind me asking which insulation you used, is it in the walls, and do you think it makes a difference? I was thinking of a sound proof door as well, actually, at least with that soundproofing seal around the edges.
  • hagan_38
    7 years ago
    We have the pink bats for insulation in all walls and ceiling plus a roof blanket. The extra insulation does make a difference with noise. I have attached a photo of our plan so you can see the layout. We moved in late last year.
  • Elisabeth Henderson
    Original Author
    7 years ago
    thank you! and the plan looks amazing. hope you are enjoying living there. thanks for the info on insulation, I'll chk it out. right now our kids are little so they go to bed round 7 meaning it's peaceful for us after that. but it's the morning sounds we could sometimes do without at the moment. and those early nights won't last. down the track I don't know what to expect, whether the house will get pretty noisy or not!
  • hagan_38
    7 years ago
    Thanks Liz. My kids are almost 13 and 16. Noise still isn't an issue. I find we use the lounge all together or the kids hang out in the office on their computers or their bedrooms to watch tv or play Xbox. We have ducted reverse cycle a/c and our installer designed a plan that includes being able to shut our bedroom door at night if it is running. Plus the kids sleep in longer than my husband and I so mornings aren't an issue either :)
    Elisabeth Henderson thanked hagan_38
  • PRO
    MB Design & Drafting
    7 years ago

    Ours runs off the main living as well.

    Door placement is critical in any room but more so when a main runs of a living, not necessarily for privacy but the furniture layout's of both room's. Having a door in the middle of a wall is not ideal in this case as it waste's wall space and circulation is affected.


  • Elisabeth Henderson
    Original Author
    7 years ago

    Matt - thanks for your comment, how do you find your room, do you find any noise issues or privacy issues - or does everything work well?

    with the layout in our case, it looks like moving the master bedroom door to the very end of the house would greatly increase privacy (and cost too, but I think that might be worth it), it would also make furniture placement in our living area easier because you wouldn't need to allow a clear space between furniture for us to get into our bedroom - we could just float the lounge a little back from our end wall. The proposed plan's now below again, so you can see.

    Is that your impression of this layout too? I'd really appreciate your opinion on it TIA

    hagan-38 thanks for sharing how it is working for you & your kids. And very nice to hear that a stage is coming where they sleep in :)

    siriuskey - I'm very glad you love to help :) You've certainly been a big help to me!!

    you're absolutely right - moving the door to the opposite end of the master does open up a lovely view for us. One that - with the ensuite and WIW on that wall instead - would be less accessible. So that's another plus, although as said it does come with a considerable price tag

  • hagan_38
    7 years ago
    Door placement is critical and does decide how you can set your rooms up. We went with a central door for ease of access plus it divides the lounge and dining area.
    Work out the best access for you. Maybe 'practice' what it would be like to access the door in both locations and how you would arrange your furniture.
    I have attached a photo to show how ours looks in real life. I have walk ways around all our furniture and a larger walk way between lounge and dining where our bedroom door is.
  • Elisabeth Henderson
    Original Author
    7 years ago

    Thanks Hagan-38 - nice pix! your floor looks great. thanks for that tip.... I can see what you mean about the door giving you room division - in a positive way. That might be the same for us - a door in the middle would be in about the right spot to separate out living/dining. That's a good idea to experiment with furniture placement now. We have a wall currently blocking off the end section & a WC there too, so we might have to just do it on paper - or try to recreate a similar space somewhere else in the house to test it.

  • siriuskey
    7 years ago

    Hi Liz, I wonder why families would want to put the master suite coming off the family room and the children to the front of the house. (Ours is but luckily we have more space, but we also don't have children now living with us)

    We have 3 kids and our experience is that it's always better to have their BR's coming off the family area, it's for the family! and as they grow that's the perfect place for them to have friends over, you can over see what's happening in that total space of combined family and kids bedrooms. They have access to food in this area which is important.

    I personally in your house think it much better for the adults to be at the front of the house, for a quieter space to escape to , and your visitors coming and going won't disturb the kids

    Just to try and confuse you, I have drawn a rough, very rough drawing of possibilities.

    As you mention you don't use the garage, this is a great space for visitors to bunk down together and enjoy their beach holiday. Including a shower and toilet in the laundry would help with this over load.

    With having a such a small budget I would try to make as few changes as possible, the kitchen I would either paint or replace with a Bunnings modular one, if hubbie and friends could install apart from Elec & Plumbing, Online instructions and Bunnings do hold classes from time to time. Please don't rubbish Bunnings Kaboodle kitchens, they have several choices at different prices to suit your budget. You can save 50% or more by doing this. Happy to help with layout.

    Paint does wonders and is quite cheap especially Just White no tinting.

    Posting a couple more photos for you, loving what you have already done to your house, the front garden sounds wonderful.












  • Jessica Coverley
    7 years ago
    Our master bedroom comes straight off the lounge room whilst the other bedrooms are off the hallway. And that certainly didn't stop me from buying the house (never crossed my mind that it might be a problem). Although during renovations we have used sound blocking gyprock and sound blocking batts for the master bedroom. This was more for blocking outside noise, but worth considering if you're worried about noise.
    Elisabeth Henderson thanked Jessica Coverley
  • siriuskey
    7 years ago

    Master bedroom straight off family room is not a problem in itself we have this in our current house and certainly didn't stop us from buying it, my concern is for the best use of interactive space, you can certainly can block noise that's not the big concern for me.

  • Elisabeth Henderson
    Original Author
    7 years ago
    last modified: 7 years ago

    Jessica its great to know your experience! I'm glad to hear your layout works and it's not a resale deal-breaker. Have you found the batts and gyprock have helped with your outside noise? we have a tinybit of outside noise sometimes - because we're in a holiday area, you get jolly groups of people hanging out on the deck next door, or yelling to each other in the street, but it's quite a nice & happy sound to go to sleep to

    thank you siriuskey, thanks for the plan & the kitchen tips - good to have.

    love those pictures too, all of them. That kitchen looks just like the one I've imagined us having. and I'm always flicking through bunk pix. there's a kind of romance & excitement about the sight of rows of bunk beds. Guess its memories of fun school camps (if they were fun for you :) ) and family holidays.

    I'd thought that at some stage once we tidy up our garage, that we could have people stay in there sometimes although you're not allowed here unless you've first made it habitable according to council regulations (a step we're not planning to take, as a garage with internal access like ours is a good selling point) - although you're allowed to use it for other reasons like gym, playroom, study, just not for sleeping. And we could use the very end of the garage for laundry, WC, shower etc. as the garage is longer than standard.

    I'm glad & thankful to you for sharing your views. I can't get more confused than I already am! but no - seriously, its very helpful to get so many ideas, and it's much better to think it all through thoroughly before walls start getting knocked down.

    You're right, a good option is keeping adults in a quiet area, kids in the noisier part. That's probably been my aim through all of my planning - but just this week, I've started to question it, seeing recommendations that different people have suggested, which looked like they could work brilliantly.

    Also at the moment having small kids in the centre of the action doesn't always work well - especially when we have a crowd of guests, the kids are in bed, and all the adults are settling down to watch a horror movie. Bleary worried little faces pop out from behind bedroom doors.

    Currently noise carries very easily round our small house . Not just because it's small - because all the living spaces are open. But closing off one living area & sound-proofing the kids bedrooms or just their doors might help that.

    Below I'm pasting one of my many plan versions where their bedrooms come straight off the living area. What I most like about this option is that it makes fewer expensive changes than some other alternatives. I'm sure I could tweak it so it made even less changes.

    FOR EG We currently have our bathroom at the end of the house - where the master ensuite and WIW were placed in the original plan I posted on this thread. But obviously the cheapest change would be to just leave it there & redo it (which we have to do as it's water damaged). So that's yet another possibility!

    I guess one big question in my mind is - do we make the fewest changes possible to achieve as many of our goals as we can, and go for it right now?

    Or do we wait, save & when we have enough, spend quite a bit more to get a long-term 'forever' layout - which might be well worth it, since we hope to only renovate once & are planning for this to be our forever home.

    And maybe, this would be end up being more 'pound wise' (as my MIL always says)

    Ahhh so much to think about!

  • PRO
    MB Design & Drafting
    7 years ago

    LIZ - Our bedroom layout is very similar to yours, including door, bed, ENS & WIR surprisingly enough. Our bedroom goes onto a balcony that runs across the rear of the house. Living area also goes onto same balcony.

    It isn't really that noisy as when we go to bed so does everyone else. We did insulate the wall but we should've used solid core doors instead of the cheapy hollow core as this is where the noise now comes from. The living room TV is also against that wall as well but all in all it's acceptable.

    Do people really have the TV up loud when others go to bed? I wouldn't think so but every family is different.... The only issue we have is that we made the new kitchen/meals/living area open plan onto another smaller existing sitting area space (basically two living spaces in one open plan space...!) which is right at the front of the house.... we should've added a wall with cavity sliding doors to separate it all a bit more....

  • Elisabeth Henderson
    Original Author
    7 years ago
    last modified: 7 years ago

    Thanks Matt for that - your room must be nice, looking out over a balcony; interesting to know the door/TV issue.

    Sometimes my husband stays up late watching action movies and I go to sleep to the whine of gunfire. well - me and the kids all do I guess! He's a bit hard of hearing, turns the telly up loud & is not keen on headphones. But as you say its not really all that bad.

    I guess I was more thinking about noise changes down the track when kids become tweens & teens & young adults. Although TBH we'd probably just be glad if as tweens and teens and young adults, they still wanted to be anywhere near where we are! :)

    When you say you'd like sliding doors for your kitchen area - which sections would you like to close off from each other?

    Your overall layout sounds a little like ours, 1 big living space - but still 2 separate living areas. We have a long wall separating front from back of house - but no doors, only big wide doorways. so you can't see people when they're somewhere else. But you can definitely hear them

  • siriuskey
    7 years ago

    Hi Liz, Poor you, print out and paste up the layouts you like the best, keeping cost at the top of the list, then make a list beside them of plus and minus ideas.

    Not sure that I would move the kitchen into that position, for resale it would be best keeping it closer to the garage.,

    Re children and noise while you watch your favourite TV shows, once the little ones are in bed, your TV watching should be done in the Parents retreat/guest room also at the front of the house away from the kids.

    As the kids get older/bigger, and they will, one of our sons is 6'4, IN YOUR FOREVER HOME they will take over the TV etc and the family space

    My idea would be to keep the family kitchen area as big and simple as possible, keeping both bathrooms back to back on the outside wall and blocking out the ugly neighbours house

    Your garage is extra long and suits a laundry/toilet etc and internal access for re sale purpose.

    Once the garage is cleared out, you should see ours OMG, I would plan on making this a camping space for family members holidaying with you, camp stretchers come to mind, paint the floor and make sure there's a window for ventilation. Just like school camping trips, great fun. as long as you're not renting it out via air bnb don't worry about council, have fun, also need a well placed outside hot & cold shower saves a lot of sand being tramped inside, perhaps outdoor access to the possible one in the Laundry

    We also live in a holiday area so understand your situation, thankfully it's not all year round so you can tolerate it to be able to live in such a special place.

    Understand how you must be feeling, we have done large renovations over the years ending with great success.

  • siriuskey
    7 years ago

    Sorry Liz, forgot to mention another reason for not placing the kitchen where your new plan suggests, the family room becomes a thoroughfare, gosh we could drink a whole lot of coffee discussing this cheers

    Elisabeth Henderson thanked siriuskey
  • siriuskey
    7 years ago

    Doors to close off the front from the back area are needed as the passage way acts like funnel, once you do that it will greatly improve, Pocket doors could be handy in a small space. we had to do this in our last house cheers

  • Elisabeth Henderson
    Original Author
    7 years ago
    last modified: 7 years ago

    Hi Siriuskey - I'm picturing your huge son taking over - ha. That is what I was wondering about actually. Where would end up being 'their' area and where would 'ours' be.

    I was definitely thinking of an outdoor shower or even potentially a garage one, to get rid of the sand before it comes inside, that's also why the laundry in the garage (where we come into the house) would be so handy to drop all the sandy stuff.

    I thought that tucked away isolated kitchen may not work too well.

    I took your advice and put all my favourite plans into a PDF which I'll try to attach in case you're interested in taking a look! They are very dodgy looking as I've inexpertly moved bits of the plans around so much in paint.net.

    2 options have pocket doors instead of walls dividing off areas - so noise can be stopped but they can be opened up too, if we want.

    I think my current favourites are Plans #1 and #3 - what would be the cheapest and (probably) the most expensive.

  • siriuskey
    7 years ago

    Wow you did well, If you like I will do another rough drawing, I use paint, not as good as most but it's just to give ideas.

    I would like to see the dining kitchen swapped so that the kitchen is next to the laundry/garage

    I also have a problem with the occasional bunk room entering from the kitchen and study. better to work this to enter both from passage way.

    I was thinking that the kids space is the family room, that and their bedrooms was where our kids spent their time, also close to all important food also close to the back yard?

    Parents space for quiet time the living /occasional bunk/media room, with their bedroom in that space, must have a door to shut off the parents space from the family kitchen room

    The family bathroom at the end of the family seems a waste of a lovely for either a kids bedroom or a small study room desk looking out.

    It's wine time now so will try again tomorrow cheers to you Liz

  • Jessica Coverley
    7 years ago
    Hi Liz, batts and gyprock certainly helped. We have also replaced the external door and window in the master with a sound blocking option. Most of the noise we hear now comes from the ensuite window when we leave it down. Highly recommend it if you are worried about noisy neighbours.
    Elisabeth Henderson thanked Jessica Coverley
  • Elisabeth Henderson
    Original Author
    7 years ago
    last modified: 7 years ago

    That sounds great Jessica. What was your sound blocking option for your window if you don't mind me asking?

    siriuskey - hope you're enjoying the wine? No wine for me. I've had another crack at my plans - I'm completely obsessed and have been glued to the computer for the last 2.5 hours doing them. But enjoying it, too, mind you :)

    I'm working with some plans that oklouise very very kindly created for me, I'm using paint, cutting & pasting and moving things around, dodgy as anything but quicker than trying to learn to use proper software!

    I've come up with some new options - taking into account what you said before. Actually I think both these plans are pretty decent.

    Here they are:

    Both make fairly few changes, considering all they goals they are trying to achieve - and they both tick a good many of my boxes.

    So thanks for all the challenging suggestions, it does help to get my thoughts flowing.

    And I'm really glad to have so many of you say that bedrooms off living areas are workable - and giving me ideas for soundproofing - that is just so awesome, it gives me a lot more confidence in going on with planning knowing this is a really solid option.

    I'm just finding this whole planning thing to be such a puzzle - a very tricky one - but I keep feeling certain that the perfect plan (or, rather, the least-imperfect plan ) is out there - that there will be this one silver-bullet move that will solve everything. That thought keeps me going :) :)

  • siriuskey
    7 years ago

    I know what you mean about being obsessed, I love it, for me I think 5 is looking great, the kitchen plan can be improved and the dining table moved down the room which could allow for a longer Island bench for the summer crowd. Thinking

    Love the parents part of the house, the study with a view, kids rooms, bath rooms together and the new laundry.

    While the kids are small bunks are always fun and allow for friends to stay over (I was watching the Grahame Norton show last night when a comedian guest said that his parents thought a bunk bed was a good idea but they bough the one with a desk where the bottom bed should have been, He said he gathered from that, that they expected that he had more chance of writing a letter than having any friends over, sad but funny) Mind you when they become teenagers it's a big bed.

    Can't wait to have another look at your plan, some more photos for you, this kitchen pantry laundry by a Sydney Interior designer, shaker style doors are lovely, you can get paintable ones from Bunnings so that you can have any colour you want, cheers Liz

    Tailored Interior · More Info


    Tailored Spaces, Clever Layout · More Info

    A contemporary shaker style kitchen · More Info

    Contemporary Shaker Kitchen · More Info

  • siriuskey
    7 years ago
    last modified: 7 years ago

    Hi Liz, I have just played around with 5 which I really like, didn't do anything in Master suite, this is very rough but I 'am sure you will get the ideas I'am throwing at you.Poor you Ha!

    The sliding door outside the kids bedroom could become a feature by using a Barn door that you like, would add to the living space

    Also a couple of photos of two lovely beach front houses that would have been built 20 odd yrs ago, the garage with the attic bedroom is a very pale lemon and the other is white, the garage doors match in with the external walls of the houses, classic cheers



    Elisabeth Henderson thanked siriuskey
  • siriuskey
    7 years ago

    Sliding doors for parents retreat etc to be full height as per photo this makes that spaces look bigger and simpler

  • siriuskey
    7 years ago
    last modified: 7 years ago

    It's me again, I'am worse than you Ha!, looking back over the conversations on The Big Reno and notice that you did have a step back for two of the kids bedrooms, I'am hoping that this still might fit with your plan, As far as the back to back robes, they can be made shallower ie: 40 cm with narrower shelving and hanging would be horizontal as in stores, this would allow more floor space. Speaking of floors you mentioned smelly old carpet, are there floor boards under this that could be sanded? I also noticed in previous conversations that you have already replaced the garage door, sorry.

    cheers

  • Elisabeth Henderson
    Original Author
    7 years ago
    last modified: 7 years ago

    Hi Siriuskey thanks so much for your thoughts & photos & the amended plan!!! that's very kind of you. I'm glad you liked one of the plans. Sadly under our horrible carpet there are no boards. 90s house so only yellow tongue subfloor. Our dream is polished timber floor boards though.

    I love shaker doors - do they have them and bunnings? and you mentioned earlier that Kaboodle kitchens are ok, have you had experience with them yourself or have your friends, if you have any experiences to share I'd be glad to know because they are budget friendly and I've been checking them out but feeling a bit unsure as you find mixed feedback online.

    Beautiful garage doors! Our door is the B&D panel lift one that looks like our wood cladding (although its still colourbond). I was so keen for a timber garage door, there's a gorgeous one in a street near us. I asked the garage guy and he said he'd just been there earlier that day repairing it cos they dont last very long apparently, they are heavier, can warp etc. Also it was about $5k! I probably would have gone for it because it looked so beautiful but the garage man (thankfully) talked sense into me.

    At the moment our kids room do have a sort of alcove thing to accommodate the built ins. But the rooms are very awkward with that left there-- when the doors are open, there is only 1.5 m to the opposite wall - and one other walls is entirely taken up with a big window the full length of the room, with the other wall being built in. So just not many places to put your actual bed!. It's a real shame, because the built ins are of course useful and the alcove is good for helping to stop some sound getting in, and also to give a little privacy. But due to the space limits that the alcove imposes, we are pretty determined in our plan to get rid of it and the built ins as well.

    gosh there is a lot to think about isn't there! didn't get to bed to about 2am this morning mulling it all over. didn't help that i watched The House that $100k Built before bed and my head was whirling with ideas.

    anyways - thanks again Siriuskey you've been a great help!!! :)

  • siriuskey
    7 years ago

    Hi Liz, hoping you managed to get some sleep!, I hadn't seen your "Big Reno" post prior to posting the garage door photos and to see that you had already installed your new door. Yes the pictured ones would have been expensive as both these garages are side by side on a beach front. Both houses are well maintained and need to be because of their position.

    Just a thought when our kids were little/young (Girl & Boy) they loved sharing a bedroom, bunk bed, the other was made into the toy room which they also loved. But once they become teenagers forget about that.

    Bunnings/Ikea kitchens, Bunnings/Kaboodle has been our choice for several kitchens as Bunnings can be found just about everywhere.

    These modular kitchens are good value, have great add on's and if later on you want to extend or add to your existing cabinets you can easily. They have a great off the shelf range and you can even purchase a Shaker profile which you can paint any colour, paint yourself or perhaps a a panel beater shop.

    We only had one problem where our white drawers & doors yellowed, Bunnings/Kaboodle had these plus all panels removed and replaced at no cost to us, great service.

    As with anything you will find those for and against, you just have to do what you have to do, our next kitchen will also be Kaboodle.

    I thought your plan 5 was my choice of the 3 you last posted, but I did like the idea of taking the Line cupboard out of the passage way to open up this space and make the entrance appear larger and lighter. The linen cupboard could still be recessed back into that wall, ie into the parents retreat if you still wanted.

    Have you thought to paint your floors and seal them to make them hard wearing, would save money and would be very beachy, save the dream for another stage.

    One other thing is that by having the parents area to the front of the house if YOU have more children or someone who buys the house has a baby etc the parents retreat is in a great position to become a nursery, strange things happen. Like us, we had two kids and ten years after the second we had a 3rd!!!, we were lucky to have a small space next to our room to use as a nursery. Keep the ideas coming.

  • Elisabeth Henderson
    Original Author
    7 years ago

    Siriuskey thanks heaps for your info re Kaboodle and Bunnings! I'd been looking at them, feeling a bit suss about them, and it's good to know - from someone's experience - that they can be ok!!!

    I'm a bit intrigued by your comment that a panel beater place can paint cupboard doors. I'd also been wondering about that & I'd found some awesome pictures online of furniture painted with car paint. Except I wondered if car paint in a kitchen might be a bit toxic?

    Yes it's good to have room for a baby tucked away near the master, definitely - although not for us, no more babies are in the offing :) :)

  • siriuskey
    7 years ago

    Hi Liz, sorry, as with everything it's in the detail, I didn't mean for you to paint the cabinets with car paint!!, just use what ever is recommended from normal paints Dulux comes to mind, just make sure it's low sheen for the Shaker profile.

    A family member did their own paint job on old kitchen cupboard doors by stringing up a rope outside (they lived on acres) and hanging the doors, from memory I think this was done by putting a longer narrow screw through the existing hole made for the old handle, make sure it's not a windy day, the cupboards had to be painted by hand, several coats with sanding between each coat, same as doors.

    Kaboodle has a great product, they also have Shaker profile doors in their range in finished colours, can find no problem with using them, they and likewise Bunnings stand by their product, as I have experienced this.

    I can see your second stage will be to put 2 larger bedrooms above the existing kids rooms. Our lovely old Federation House had a lot of space in the ceiling which we converted into two bedrooms with an open study area outside both rooms, the big kids moved up there with encased stairs down to the bathroom and from there had a door into the family room and and exterior door out to a verandah and separate toilet. exciting times

    Elisabeth Henderson thanked siriuskey
  • Elisabeth Henderson
    Original Author
    7 years ago

    Wow your house sounds completely amazing!!!!! that certainly would have been exciting times for your kids :) and for you as well.

    thanks for that extra info re the kaboodle kitchens.

  • Jen Osborne
    6 years ago
    last modified: 6 years ago

    Hi Liz, how are yo getting on with your project?

    I am coming late in the conversation, and I haven't read everything in details, but I was wondering why you don't use the room at the front for your master? That way all the living/ study are at the back, and bedrooms near the front.

    Like my quick mockup, but obviously, you will need to finesse it to accommodate the window etc

  • siriuskey
    6 years ago

    love the new master Jen, the original master could have the ensuite removed this would allow more space for the bedrooms still think the kitchen needs a bigger island so would move the dining table down the room.

  • Elisabeth Henderson
    Original Author
    6 years ago

    Thanks siriuskey and Jen! I have been toying with this idea already.... also with making the current main bedroom into a living area (as it would make a nice sitting room, it has a great garden view).

    Actually, since I originally asked for help on here we have booked the job in with a builder & plumber.... still have to line up other trades but it's not happening until June next year. Below is the plan I ended up giving to the builder for his quote... but of course I am likely to change my mind about 50 times before we go ahead! Especially since as you'll see, the planned ensuite is too narrow, we will have to make it wider.

    RE having a WIR for the maswter, we decided a BI would be ok instead since we dont have many clothes and we'd rather use the limited space for bigger bedrooms.

    Also we had to double our budget to $100k as $50k (our original) wasn't going to cut it!!!! ( & we'll still have to be very careful with our spending).


  • Elisabeth Henderson
    Original Author
    6 years ago

    By the way I should mention where I have grey lines separating rooms (that look like walls) they are ceiling mounted pocket doors... to let different areas of the house be opened or closed depending how rooms are being used. I just love the idea of a house being flexible like that... although we might never end up actually doing it!!!

  • siriuskey
    6 years ago

    Hi there Liz, I still prefer Jens idea and think it would most likely be more cost effective, less walls etc, agree that the old master could be a bedroom media bunk what ever across from from the new Master suggested by Jen good luck

  • siriuskey
    6 years ago

    Hi Liz this is a good space saving bathroom idea


    , Bath with shower next to it with a single glass screen cheers

  • Elisabeth Henderson
    Original Author
    6 years ago
    thanks for the pic! love that bathroom layout. so space saving and I'm definitely hoping we can do our bathroom like that
  • Megan N
    6 years ago

    We have two bedrooms off the main living area (master and one that the two youngest share) and have no issues with it. The kids go to bed/sleep easily and don't seem to be disturbed by tv noise etc. They both like the feeling that they are still close by as they drift off to sleep. It is a good idea to have good soundproofing though. The other two bedrooms are on the opposite side of the house off a little hall from the dining room and this works well too.

    Elisabeth Henderson thanked Megan N
  • HU-76919510
    2 years ago

    No privacy! Whoever visiting gets a full view of the bedroom every time my husband or I go in or out. I hate it. I'm imagining a second door or bookcase to hide entrance.