Redesign help needed for the back half of our house. Urgent!
Louise Cushing
6 years ago
We need to redo the back half of our house. We would like to open up the whole area but needs to include an ensuite to bedroom 3, family bathroom, 2 toilets, laundry and room for a couch. Across the back off the house we would like a deck. Happy to move out a little into the deck space, but on a budget so dont really want to extend living space. We have been trying to do this for years but cant find the right plan and now the house is dying. Please help!
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siriuskey
6 years agoRelated Discussions
Redesigning our house including kitchen, two bathrooms & laundry. Ideas?
Comments (53)Thanks Jayme, I get what you mean, it's just not really practical for our house & will make the renovation a lot more difficult & expensive if we start moving walls like the to gain an extra couple of feet. It's possibly a load bearing wall too. But that area which is currently our kitchen where we are thinking of putting the fire place isn't the main living area, it's basically the centre of our living area which is a long room from one end of the house to the other, so we were thinking having the fire there will warm the house better being that it will have the kitchen & dining table one side of it & the lounge the other side. I think we could it a couple of cozy arm chairs & a small coffee table or we could just put a love seat up against the section of wall opposite the fire?...See MoreNeed Help in our front yard! Please!
Comments (10)Start at the top! The roof looks old and needs re spraying, even a pressure wash with a good shiny finish would enhance. I agree with the above advice, but most of all painting the bricks, even though some see this as a sin, I would paint them bright and white. A georgous bright blue Aqua front door would help with some matching pots either side. I would put in a circular driveway with a wide front entrance. Also I suggest some form of down posts across the front, again painted in Aqua and white. If you have room for a carport match the colours again. If this house is dark inside I would install some form of automatic ceiling windows to create light and brightness throughout. Your garden, well I would give those balls some serious trimming and remove anything too obtrusive. You could always create mounds around the circular driveway and replant using an landscaping expert. Ñot only would this totally transform your home, bring it up to date and add several hundred thousands of dollars, it's worth the time effort and expense! Kind regards, Jo-Anne Aherne of Woollahra omenpeak@msn.com...See MoreNeed help to pass energy rating urgently
Comments (26)Does using 19mm high performance glass make enough difference? What about using a system with frames to use double glazing? Sure it's not frameless but it'll make life a lot easier. What about a combination of different glazing systems from south to north? Or as noted before reduce the glazed area. Rather than full height drop the height down to reduce the area. I'd still change designers though because if this hasn't been considered until now what other hidden 'land mines' are there around to trip you up and lighten your wallet even further. A new (good) designer will go through the plans and assess what needs amending. Designing is complicated and complex and needs a lot of thought, planning and forward thinking....See MoreNeed help redesigning internal layout
Comments (12)You are amazing! This is exactly what I was hoping for with my post - some really creative people to play it forward and throw ideas at me that I could take to an architect. Or even better, find one on here that I liked, based on the ideas they were putting forward! Yes, for your curiosity sake, the house is in a hot climate (Brisbane). My hubby would say sweltering climate (but he grew up in a place where the hottest day in summer was 18 degrees C) - so he is already suffering and we are only in Spring. The house is on a sloping block. the front of the house is 4 steps up from street level. And rear falls away by 5 mtrs at the fence. The back half of the house has already been excavated to 2.6 mtr underneath. The plan will be to create a 6 bed, 3 bath, 2 living spaces, double garage house (but we can't afford to do that right now) so need to work the upstairs initially but keeping in mind the downstairs so as not to waste money. The garage currently slops with the block. So you can get to under the house internally. But not upstairs. It's roofline sits at the window hight. In about 5 years, we will renovate underneath to create a further 2 bed and main bathroom and living space. It will need a main bathroom downstairs as we are likely to put in a pool. The roofline is Apex with a double gable. really pretty and spans the whole house from east to west (minus the garage). The only other thought I was mucking around with was putting the main where you put the lounge and putting the lounge / kitchen on the north east corner. This allows for the main to have french doors onto the deck and the lounge to have big bifolds onto the deck. The deck would then span the entire back of the house (doesn't include garage). What do you think?...See Moresiriuskey
6 years agoas ddarroch suggests, keeping both bathrooms together and kitchen in same area all helps with costs. It appears that you have two fire places, so until we see which way is north I'am suggesting something like the following, for orientation sake maybe the kitchen and laundry on the same wall as the bathroom cheers
oklouise
6 years agoLouise Cushing
6 years agosiriuskey
6 years agoLouise Cushing
6 years agooklouise
6 years agooklouise
6 years agosubject to correct measurements, may as well check prices for a new master bedroom with the new ensuite
siriuskey
6 years agosome more ideas, do you have attic space that could be used for extra bed/study this an economical way to get extra space and using Velux windows it work s well. Don't know what style of house you have but would you consider taking the front verandah for ensuite which could have slopping glass roof or better still opening Velux window to let air in and out, you could look at the stars.
You mentioned the Lounge/living room to be kept to double as a study area, with the fireplace working that would be a lovely room, I'am suggesting large sliding door/s for when you want to close it off. An outdoor kitchen/BBQ for the blokes in the family would also work well cheers
ddarroch