Advice please on where to extend our house
Hello Houzzers! We are a big family (7) living in a large home built over 2 levels, but we spend most of our time in the top level (which is ground level at the front of house and double storey at the back). The areas downstairs are used for storage/garage/workshop/gym etc. The front of the house faces due west. We are planning an extension, and have a lot of ideas, but don't really know where to put it, and/or how to rearrange the existing rooms we have. What we want.... 1. an extra bedroom (new baby has arrived) 2. a more spacious guest room (current one doesn't even have room for a dressing table) 3. a large separate dining room 4. more bench space in kitchen (and more cupboards would be handy too) Limitations....
- We are as close to the western (street frontage) and northern boundaries as we can go already, but have plenty of land to the south and east.
What we love about the existing house and don't want to lose.... 1. Gorgeous views to the north and east 2. laundry and kitchen situated beside each other
- enough bedrooms for all the kids to have their own, but all on the same level as mum and dad's
Our initial thoughts are that the best solution would be to build a wing on the southern side of the house, (so the house would form a sort of U) and put a new master bedroom/ensuite etc out there, turning the tiny study at the end of the hallway into more hallway, and also turn the current games room into the dining room (extending it out onto the deck a bit)... and maybe rearrange the kitchen to extend into the current dining space more. Don't know where to put a games room unless we just use some of the space in the family room (like to have the computers where I can see them). This doesn't solve the guest room dilemma tho, and the games room toilet would then open into the dining room.. unless we change the doorway to a different spot? Any ideas at all would be greatly appreciated!! Plan of existing top floor is attached.
Comments (19)
Herbert Malachi
7 years agoRelated Discussions
Just bought our first home, and need help with design please!
Comments (20)Congrats, great potential. I agree that a grey like limed white would be great on the walls. The ceilings look lower than some 60s houses and painting both ceiling and walls in the one colour or 1/4 strength can accentuate the height of the rooms. White trim on the skirts and door frames are not too bland but those windows may look better framed with a darker trim. This colour palate will be a great canvas for you to add colour and texture that you indicated you like in furniture, baskets, throws etc. Suggest sticking to painting pre move in and once you've lived there a while you will know what you/house needs. Enjoy...See MoreOur new home- advice for exterior
Comments (33)I detest rendering with a passion. If you go down this path, the whole period of the home will be lost forever. Rendering can be high maintenance after some years and it also affects the breathability of buildings. I assume it's solid brick? So why remove the natural insulation of brick by covering it with a product that is already losing its appeal? And the colour of the brick is beautiful and neutral. I would remove the garden blocking the view of the home. I would have a 1.5 metre hedge at the front with a taller one to hide the neighbours fence. Then consider a tree, off centre in a lawn (deciduous). For a first home and garden, this is simple and will be low maintenance after a few years....See MoreExtending design advice
Comments (20)We have a great view of the outlook from the pergola. The view is < way on the plan. This is the only copy I can find of the plan and it's been cut off a little bit so I apologise for that, but the block goes a bit further <way. The block does have a slope and the land leading to the garage is higher and slopes down to the house. Thank you so much for all your ideas so far. I really appreciate you taking the time to respond. I had never thought to access the shower separately Oklouise but I like how it makes it private from the hallway. Utilising the space of the laundry to add on an extra room makes sense too. It will just block a bit of the view for the pergola but it still is a good idea....See MoreAdvice on extending my living space
Comments (16)Ah yes, the perennial issue/question: how best to distribute/utilise budget over various project scope and in what format .....$150K it's arguably tight for this depending upon how you are intending on going about it - you'd have to be super super disciplined and there's no margin for any blow-outs/or pop-issues... reconfiguring wet areas & kitchen will stack costs up very quickly....even just doing the cosmetic/fit-out upgrades you've mentioned without changing any layout could nudge 100K.....what you need to do is prioritise your goals and then be prepared to start cutting out scope if you have a $150K limit...I'm with oklouise on this one....quite likely there's an alternative option that will arguably utilise your budget/investment better to add both more value and increased/desired living space to the home/set-up......I've seen time and time again people try and rearrange/shuffle layouts around with existing building envelopes and prove false economy with this strategy when considering what it ended up costing them...one way or another the number/cost will end up being what it will be and you'd be surprised what this could end up costing you in this format (think potentially high 200's ........more often than not I can demonstrate that a clean/clever building extension + minimal tweaks to existing will be a far better bang-for-buck option than the completely rip apart and put back together within existing footprint.....but to stack this up properly construction costs need ascertaining over various levels of trade breakdown..........See Moreoklouise
7 years agolast modified: 7 years agobased on your wish list my suggestions include moving the pantry from prime viewing position, rearranging the kitchen, moving the bar? from the side of the stairs into the enlarged games room, using the "empty space between kitchen and stairs for a grand family dining table with dining storage against the pantry, making the north east corner available for supervised play table, enlarged games room has bigger opening into the family dining room, the old powder room now has entry through the old store room? from the front hall for central access from all living areas and more wall space in the games room ..the alfresco has been reduced with an open deck extended across the eastern side to meet the new master bedroom...The bedroom wing has been rearranged to use the old master for guests, the old study and guest room used as bedrooms making five childrens' bedrooms. The new master suite includes study, walk in dressing rooms, ensuite and a north east facing bedroom with deck
dimensions are guestimates as the measurements on the plan are not clear but there should plenty of space for variations to make an even better family home
Herbert Malachi thanked oklouiseHerbert Malachi
7 years agooklouise
7 years agolast modified: 7 years agomaybe enlarge the original plan in sections and photocopy so that you can hand write over the measurements (just width and depth of main rooms should be enough) and then photograph..Consider internal shutters for privacy for the ensuite windows...changes to the kitchen and laundry will be dependent on the exact size so please list measurements as shown on rough plan and we can have another think...and please explain how you like the kitchen and pantry..exactly as you've described the use of the laundry
Herbert Malachi thanked oklouiseoklouise
7 years agoa new kitchen with more benches, more storage, better access to the view, play and dining areas and retains slightly enlarged laundry with extra storage
Herbert Malachi thanked oklouiseHerbert Malachi
7 years agoHerbert Malachi
7 years agoHerbert Malachi
7 years agoHerbert Malachi
7 years agoEnlarged pics of current house plan with main measurements written on (hope this makes it easier to read?)
Herbert Malachi
6 years agooklouise
6 years agonew master bedroom suite with three times the wardrobe space, north facing parents' retreat and the ensuite able to be opened to the view from the bath!!
and variations for existing bedrooms and study
Herbert Malachi thanked oklouiseasorbak
6 years ago
siriuskey
6 years ago
oklouise