OMG - Thanks so much Louise. I would never have thought to put the bedrooms on the eastern side! The stairs on the back of the bathroom would work really well! And your design re the lounge would really save on money re the future deck! Any chance you are an architect looking for some work? ;-)

the placement of the rooms was based on aiming to maintain some of the original walls .. the house looks like it's in a hot climate and this layout should help keep it cooler...please satisfy my curiousity and advise the climate where you live? and placement of stairs depend on what's downstairs so what do you plan for the lower levels (and is it lower at the back than the front and how much?) and what's the shape of the roof?? NB measurements on the original plan are not consistent (ie the family room 2.2m???) so you should check all wall measurements with a tape measure and i could make a more accurate plan for you... this helps understand the available spaces, suggest other options , makes it easier to compare ideas and also helps other HOUZZERS to make more suggestions so that you can have an informed idea before you need to pay for plans and, an architect or building designer should always make a careful sight inspection to make certain that all the most important features of the proposal are considered

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?

pleased i was correct about the hot climate and sympathise with your husband so will aim to find a cool place for him but suggest that rather than thinking about the two levels separately it is much more efficient to design a whole house plan and then make the changes in carefully planned stages eg do all the on site plumbing at the same time but depending on how many living in the house add the finished main and downstairs bathroom later...in the meantime if you can check the measurements i will have a think about your other ideas NB retaining some internal walls will be much cheaper and save time needed elsewhere and how high is the roof space..what a bout a loft with a window facing north...the extra stairs in the entry foyer in my plan could go upstairs!!

You are so generous. Thank you a million times over. I see your NSW, we are Qld (just moved from Sydney).

The house is pre 1946 so we can't change the roof line or external walls. Ceilings are 3 mtrs on main level. We are permitted to raise the house. And may or may not do this. Given it is already 2.6mtr high underneath for over half of the rear of the property, it may not make sense cost wise to raise by say only half a mtr. I'm happy to sink some $$ into the house, but don't want to drop cash that is just going to be torn out in 5 years so your right, having a good idea of the downstiars layout is now smart. And I feel I have to live in her to really get a feel for the character and personality of the home before we really tear her apart. We are a family of 4 in this big place (just young kids at the mo). Funny, because in Syd, we were in a 70m2 place!

We don't settle for another 4 weeks so can't get into measure more correctly. From south to north we have about 11.1m of space to work with, internally.

Rough and ready scribble, but gives you and idea of what you can do within existing structure - it will be a bit of a squeeze but if you're willing to give and take on some of the layout options (kitchen/dining) you'll be able to get something working........be mindful with any designated stair location, ideally it's strategically positioned to the side/away in order to maximise flexibility of lower level layout - try to avoid putting it in the middle of the structure......

What I'm always conscious of is flow and light, and also zoning and privacy....this is demonstrated in this layout where the bedroom/bathroom is not exposed to the living and the flow is simplified. Laundry in a Euro config, separate WC bonus.

Again like I always say, there's always a solution but it ultimately comes down to your particular budget and your priorities :)

Hi Paul. Thanks for the idea. Now that I see the master come off the north - eastern side of the property, the more that makes sense. It means that the parent retreat is away from the Western side of the property, which will eventually be the viewing platform for the pool. Better that is not right outside my bedroom for when we have guests!

pleased to learn that you're planning to live in the house and get the feel of her personality..first ideas are often not ideal, especially when you will be living in a challenging new environment (new climate, new schools and new jobs?) i've been thinking about a mancave in the shade under the house for your husband so look forward to more details and will be happy to draw up any new ideas whenever

i've attempted a scale drawing of your plans and you'll see that the measurements on the real estate plans are inconsistent or i've made incorrect guestimates so i've attached this rough draft ready for you to add the corrected measurements (ignore all cabinets) but you should include distances from house walls to all four boundaries...

Thanks Louise- we are going in next Friday and will get proper measurements then. I'll come back to you after that. We really like your original design but are thinking the the kitchen can be flipped to the western end.

look forward to testing some other ideas!