where is the existing driveway?, what are the walls and floors made out of? where do you enter the house? describe your climate and which direction is north and is the upstairs hallway separated from downstairs by a full wall or a railing ?

Thanks so much for commenting. The existing driveway is to the left of the floor plan (or to the bottom of the site plan). The walls are brick, the floors are stumps & hardwood. Climate is in the Dandenong ranges, so quite chilly in winter. North is to the right of the site plan. The hallway you can see is mostly separating with a railing, apart from the kitchen is a plaster wall. Hopefully the separated floor plan and site plan I've now attached helps with seeing more, sorry they aren't the greatest quality!

Sorry, the front door is to the left of the floor plan also.

something like this might work if you were prepared to sacrifice bed 2 and create a new entry on the south side and adding the theatre on the western end with a new bed at the upper level and steal some space from the living area for the walk in pantry

Hi Bec, the existing house is clearly split into the upper bedroom wing on the south side and the lower north-facing living zone - great, work with this!

The very small bedrooms are an opportunity to expand into ensuites / walk-in-robes etc. and add a bedroom or two at the far end, keeping the larger bedrooms intact. I would also explore the option of keeping the entry at the front, perhaps adding /extending a small lobby if it is possible to encroach on the front setback - the existing corridor could then have a lovely light-filled end. This gives you a bit of flexibility when working out somewhere for the garage to go on the south side (taking into account what the setback requirements are - check with your local council. My instinct for the theatre room is to also build it on the south side (theatre rooms don't need direct sunlight!) with the garage to create an efficient new build linked to the house.

The kitchen is missing the classic large family island bench, and 4.2m wide is a little narrow these days compared to contemporary standards for living areas on such a large site, however I am assuming extending the width out by 1m or so is out of the question re budget!. All good though - length can be borrowed from the living/dining-room, extending the kitchen. You could reorientate the kitchen, pulling it back from the north facade and adding a walk-in pantry behind - will need to relocate of one set of stairs. Create a new east or west-facing island bench that you can walk around both ends! We did this for a narrow site for our skin-box house which was very successful and here you have much more room, although with yours I would want to maintain the view and new passage along the north edge - and add big double sliding doors out to the north verandah from the kitchen! This preserves the lovely north-west outlook for the meals area and deeper deck for afternoon BBQs.

Good Luck!

skin-box house - residential award 2014 and TIDA Kitchen Awards 2015 · More Info

Hi Bec, Don't be over whelmed by your Split level home, I have spent some great times in them.

Oklouise has given you some excellent ideas, they aren't difficult houses, as with every home you you need to be mindful of the character and origina lfeatures/ charm. These houses usually had racked timber ceilings on the lower living area with the upper level bedrooms using Gyprock. A couple of the bedrooms are small but sufficient.

That fireplace will certainly keep the house warm during those Dandenong winters, you might need to add a couple of reversible ceiling fans to help push some of that heat back down. I would love to work on a plan for you to add to what Oklouise has already suggested. Our current house is a 70's - 80's house which we love, open plan with a sunken lounge

oklouise – wow, thank you so much for putting that
together, that’s amazing. You’ve certainly given me lots to think about. I
absolutely love the kitchen. For some reason I never thought of stealing space
from the living room, it is a massive room, so thank you! I love the idea of
making the master bigger by removing part of the hallway there, I mentioned
that to my husband & he liked that idea very much. I’m just not entirely
sure about where the garage & entry is located. Where that is located there
is a retaining wall about a metre high, so there would be some heavy earthworks
there & a high possibility of council denying that. The location of the
house compared to where the road is, is a little unique. It has two street
frontages – one on the east side & one down the “mountain” on the north
side of the block which doesn’t have a driveway. Where the current driveway is
on the east of the property, is in the bowl of a court, I’ve attached the
street view so you can get a better idea of where the house is & where the end of the street is. To me I don’t see an issue with
putting the garage where the current front door is, but then that leaves me the
issue of where to have the entry to the house, I’d see it as being into the
current living dining!?

Dr Retro – Thanks so much for your comment, yes you are
correct, the entire lower level does have cathedral ceilings. They are
beautiful & we wouldn’t want to lose those, so any design will have to work
in with those. We will definitely engage a professional, as you suggest, when
we take possession of the house later in the year. We also want to live in the
house as is for a little while to get a good feel for it & to work out how
we would like to live in it. Thank you again for your great suggestions.

mcmahon and nerlich – Yes, it sure is, which is what I
love about the split level design. We have two young kids – 3 & 1yr olds &
this is to be our forever home. So we wouldn’t be against them having their own
ensuites & walk in robes. An extra bedroom is certainly always handy to
have. But this leaves me wondering where the laundry would end up. I do prefer
a laundry to be away from the kids rooms, so I guess that opens up another
opportunity! Ha, yes, I imagine adding an extra 1m would end up being quite
costly! I am happy to lose a bit of space in the living/dining given we would
be adding a theatre though. I do like the sound of the kitchen orientation you’ve
described though. The stairs would be very easy to relocate. I love the sound of
the double doors!

3DA Design Drafting and 3D Visuals – I do actually think
that it would be possible, but I will need to check with council to be sure. Oh
yes, the hubby is in the theatre in our current house after the kids go to bed
almost every night watching movies & tv series he’s downloaded on the 120”
screen. So if we didn’t have a theatre setup again, I’d be in trouble! I do
enjoy the odd movie at home too.

siriuskey – I’m trying not to be, hahaha! Oklouise has certainly
provided an amazing floorplan, it has opened my eyes to even more possibilities
than I thought there would be. I’m looking forward to the fireplace, I suspect
that will be a favourite spot of mine! I will certainly keep you in mind, your
house is beautiful! So thank you for all the extra tips you’ve provided.

thankyou for such a thoughtful reply...your idea of living in the house before making any decisions is ideal as unless you've previously lived in a similar situation the larger block of land, exposed entry and coming home in cold wet weather with two small children and a pile of groceries is what suggested to me the set back garage at a higher level with guests' off street parking with covered walk and steps down across the courtyard so that entry is into the centre of the house rather than walking the length of the living areas and there's a sheltered front porch and separate entry foyer ...another idea would be to move the laundry with guest bathroom and bedroom or alternate new master suite downstairs next to the theatre and the old laundry space could be used to rearrange the kids' bedrooms and bath but very happy to explore ideas for your gorgeous new home btw in daylight hours i see that i have mistaken some of the dimensions and the house is more spacious than i've allowed so i'll post an updated version of the plans for you

Pleasing to hear that you are now enjoying playing with ideas, so many ways to do things. Having a house of a similar period in the bowl of a court. Our garage is on an angle and forms a coutryard between it and the house, might work for you. cheers

oklouise - You've definitely raised some good points there. I will definitely take those into consideration. I do have a long hallway in my current house that I have to carry the groceries from the car down to the kitchen & this is something that currently annoys me somewhat.

siriuskey - Wow, love your floorplan, it' so unique! I didn't consider the possibility of having the garage on an angle, so that's another thing to consider isn't it.

So many things to think about! Thank you all for your expertise. You've given me some amazing ideas to play with when the time comes.

Yes great reply Bec. We wish you well - what a beautiful site!

Bec, here's the thing......you shouldn't expect yourself to be able to "figure out the best way to do it" because simply put this is what a professional does in that it is their job to resolve a specific spatial solution for your home. Don't get caught up trying to work it out yourself, or also expecting to find a quick answer on a forum, particularly if you at this point in the process. The best advice I'd be able to offer is invest in a seasoned Pro to help you. Firstly however, clarify exactly what your project goals and priorities are, together with your budget - they MUST go hand in hand. The solution will come from working with those elements specific to your particular context/home to ultimately balance your needs/priorities within budget as ultimately in this game everything comes down to money being the overriding controller. You (or anyone else) can come up with the most interesting & exciting ideas but unless it's practically and financially viable then it's nothing more than a whole lot of dreaming. Don't get me wrong, our job involves achieving/creating home dreams for people, that's ultimately what we're in the business of, however to do this there needs to be some robust management of the project goals and the money upfront. Trust me, start with this as the fundamental. Moving on there could be numerous & interesting ways to achieve the additional aspects for your home spatially and I would see the existing split level set up as a creative opportunity to exploit and make the most of - far more interesting than a lot of bog ordinary standard stuff that you see around, so you have great potential here for an exciting and interesting project. Rather than add on the theatre room there could be a case for say extending a new living area and rejigging some existing spaces to accommodate the theatre, but ultimately until we've analysed the full home/context, understand how the whole house needs to work/flow/function/zoned and understand how much money we have to play with, then any idea is based on too many assumptions. The solutions I develop for people always are conscious of embracing the context and really connecting deeply with it and in your case I'd be thinking about how most effectively utilise what you have so that the any additions and/or changes are complimentary to the whole set-up and maximise both the living experience property/project value/investment for you and your family. A lot to think about Bec - good luck with it :) PD

I totally understand where you're coming from Paul. I absolutely would not expect a quick answer from a forum. But it's always nice to have other peoples ideas to think about as well as your own. I've been given some awesome ideas that I am really excited to explore now. So after we live in the home for a little & work out what we would like to achieve, we will definitely engage an expert to design something that works for us & of course is in budget. Thank you, yes there most definitely is a lot to think about here with so much potential. That's why we love the house!

i have to say that the beauty of HOUZZ is that it's a place for us to share experiences and dream of possibilities before the professionals, quite correctly, need to charge for their time...a prospective home builder or renovator may have only a very few opportunities in a lifetime to try different options and, if they've never or rarely done it before, how will they quickly learn about the range of choices available?....despite a suitable professional having the necessary skills and qualifications to help a client make a choice to suit their site and budget, it's still the home owners' final decision and HOUZZ contributors aim to share ideas so that we can be better prepared to answer the questions that a professional should ask to achieve a successful collaboration...we could also talk about the Development Control Plans and the Complying Development Certificates and BASIX and Soil Testing and especially Fire safety requirements for this situations etc etc etc but that's beyond the scope of a general conversation and perhaps one of the professionals would be kind enough to explain what that all means, how and why it needs to be considered, at what stage in the process documentations is required and who is usually responsible (vital tasks in addition to an appealing floor plan for which the professional earns his fees) in the meantime, we'll encourage Bec and her husband to keep collecting ideas so that they'll be better prepared to make informed decisions when the time comes

Thank you oklouise & siriuskey, your input is most definitely highly valued & appreciated. It's always nice to see other people get excited about your floor plan possibilities too :)

Any project will have this 4 major things

- the site and its problems / potentials

- the brief (what you want)

- the rules (what council wants)

- the budget

THE SITE. each is unique, each has its own solution, but to start, you need a survey, to document what is there. that is why the first correct step is to get a survey done.

THE BRIEF is a conversation of ideas, this is the fun part, we all know about this.

THE RULES is what we all hate. council has a development control plan for every zone of their land, it lists all things they can think of to put rules on. every council is different, so for every project, download and read.

complying development is a way to fast track approval using private certifiers instead of council. its easier, but lots of can't do here. no doing over 2 storeys, no breaching setbacks, no big balconies and decks. they refer to the state regulations, not councils. anything that is non-complying, certifier will just ask you to go to council instead. its limited what they can do.

basix is another hate, its a rule to make all new works (reno or new built) more environmentally friendly using an automated fill-it-yourself stupid thing. I wonder if basix is a grand scam made by glass companies to sell more low-e glass.... anyway...

THE BUDGET is what everything above comes down to. No budget - no project. Less budget - more compromise to the idea.

in short, its all fun, and draining, and stressful in the same time, but very rewarding.

With all of that we still love the challenges and results cheers

This is certainly getting very deep for a houzz thread!! Great stuff. And yes I totally agree with the sentiments expressed above. I feel a Pro can add benefit with opinions and suggestions but at the end of the day the forum belongs to you guys - the houzz users - with all your hopes, ideas and dreams - and we are just a small part of that! Cheers, Kate.

There are a few problems/issues I see with all this generally. Firstly, it's a completely different kettle of fish so to speak discussing options and sharing ideas on say in regards to a bathroom upgrade or living room remodel, in comparison to getting your head around and understanding the sheer complexity involved with a full project scope (such as this one), particular renovations/extensions that requires deft (& creative) management of emotional, functional and financial elements, against the backdrop of regulatory, practical and contextual aspects. Secondly, what works as an idea in one situation, is not necessarily appropriate or even relevant for the next and distilling advice and options/suggestions can be very confusing to people, particularly without prior experience and hence limited capacity to really understand the differences/issues/subtleties and what they should be focusing or not focusing on at different points in the process. This is the nitty gritty of what we (Design Professionals) do in helping people. The issue with Houzz is that it assumes that by just compiling a massive database of categorised pretty images (which as an aside they don't pay anything for & a whole other conversion/debate) that the User in conjunction with an online community will be able to consume the content, create idea books that are a perfect match to their dreams and make a reasonable and effective head start as to working it all out as to what they want and how to do it...all for FREE - wow it's like a dreamworld! Which brings me to my third point in that the premise that the ideas and the community input is there for the taking without paying...long term, this is not sustainable nor viable for the industry and arguably inadvertently undermines the value & benefit of particularly the front end design processes and creative/interior consultants. So the result? One ginormous fat "pot" of fragmented visually focused ideas & snapshots combined with various mix of Pro's and amateur opinions with no real clear structure or guidance of the logical and practical sequencing of the actual process involved with a project. So is this overall a good thing? Is this really a sensible and effective way to establish critical thinking for (arguably) the most significant financial investments people ever make, and (as oklouise pointed out) generally do in limited frequency within a lifetime? Is it truly achieving best long term value for people and their projects? Well, no, not if professional input is bypassed at critical points & false economy mentality in this regard (by means of "A New Way To Design Your Home") creeps in. Surely this has to all come back to promoting good decision making for people and their projects. Houzz has a place in all this, but it's not a replacement for certain aspects of the process, which is unfortunately by it's very existence and structure/terms of engagement, inexperienced people are inadvertently being led to believe it can be.

i think we all need to keep our comments more concise and the professionals need to open their own post to encourage potential clients to see the value of their work and not impose on individual HOUZZERS' dilemmas...enough!!

well, possibly yes & no ;).. this is not about "potential clients"....ultimately (my) comments/advice here are offered in the endeavour for Bec & anyone else in similar position to better understand and focus most effectively on the aspects required to deal with a project like this at this point, and hopefully steer them in the right direction, which is at this stage is away from the isolated floor plan specifics and clarifying fundamental components....was not at all meaning to "impose" on your dilemma Bec, & sincere apologies if anything I here has inappropriately digressed and not considered helpful as my advice, along with other Pro's here, is offered with the best intentions for you and your project/investment outcome....best of luck working through it all :)

I can see you are passionate about what you do Paul, which is really great. It certainly is a profession of which some can't see the value in. But I do think everyone needs to start with dreams for their project - even if they may be far fetched in the real world. I have employed the services of an architect in the past on multiple occasions & have paid for those services gladly, they are invaluable - especially in a location like mine. I wouldn't dream of going forward with such a huge project without engaging a professional, such as yourself. This thread is purely for me to see the potential in my project, through the eyes of others who have seen a lot more than me :) Thanks again Paul for all your information.

That certainly sounds like you've hit the nail on the head for my hubby's dream theatre!

I draw the line at the dream theatre, hahaha!

Hahaha, not even that actually - although he wouldn't say no to a 69 Monaro, he's more about his Landcruiser 70, that's his pride & joy!

That's quite a good idea me me! Then we wouldn't need to add an extension on that end. I don't think I thought about that purely because when standing in the kitchen, I couldn't see the possibility of taking some space from the living room for the kitchen. Which is entirely possible! Thanks :)

I think you've also helped me work out a kitchen I would absolutely love to have with the theatre being where the family/meals is too me me. This was my effort in paint playing with a plan I found online (not anything like your awesome work oklouise!). Not to scale or anything...but you get the general idea. That pantry would be my absolute ultimate!

Hi Bec, I said it was coming, My idea is to open up the kitchen against the back wall with large Island and access to the verandah. This would need a full height wall or one the same height as the cabinets which could allow light in to the hallway and not interfere with the ceiling, I think there's already a wall included with the existing kitchen.

Meme suggested using the family room which would save on adding more rooms, this would work really well with full height pocket doors between it and the kitchen, great for theater snaks.

If you were to use this space you would have to go to the ceiling on the walkway end of the room as well as between the kitchen and new media room cheers

Thanks so much siriuskey! Yes, you are correct, there is a wall already in the current kitchen. I'm loving the media room being there. Now that I know I can open up the kitchen to the lounge area, it makes me see the potential there for sure.

Because you are now considering closing off the meals and making that the Media, and then wanting a WIP I suggest that this could work to keep the kitchen dining living open plan otherwise you will effectively have 3 different rooms

Oooh, yes, I do like that! It makes the view & deck out the front the main focus too. Thanks so much siriuskey, that's fantastic!