what is the length and width of the block of land, where is North on your plan and describe your climate and a rough copy of the original plans showing the position of existing plumbing will also help

Small footprint I would recommend keeping down to one bathroom with bath, shower, vanity and a separate toilet room with basin and outside this a 750-900 vanity so can be used for drying hair, makeup etc whilst Other areas in use. Yes that’s 3 basins, one in each area. Basin with the shower mainly for shaving.

Thanks for your comments guys.

The house is located on a 835sq mtr block. The front of the house looks to the south. Rear of the house is facing north.

We live in Australia so highs of 40+ degrees and lows of 5 degrees.

The plumbing does not exist on this house and is no issue as hubby is a plumber.

At the front of the house will be a veranda that will run the full 12metres across and 2 metres wide and out the back will be a deck that will also run 12 metres and will be 4 metres wide.

Jan, unfortunately no as this would require council planning permission which is an awful and costly process to go through.

Australia is a very big place so climate is variable from hot dry to hot wet and cold so ventilation and wall structures need to be different to suit and i don't understand how you can have an existing house without existing plumbing but major changes to use of rooms and plumbing often involve Council approval and i've found that they're usually the best place to obtain free advice before making any plans ...please post a sketch of the existing floorplan and your ideas and we can draw it to scale for you and how do you plan to use the big front and back verandahs

Thanks Louise, I completely agree Australia is a very big place! I will try to answer your questions as best I can.

We bought the house next door to my parents house for development purposes down the track. When we purchased the house it was partially guttered/renovated. We told the previous owner that we would buy as is, hence no plumbing internally. There is water from the street to the house. This is no issue as my partner is a plumber and will do all new. We then completely guttered the inside of the place and have been toying with ideas. As its an internal renovation, we don't need to go through our local council.

The back veranda will have several uses. Out door dining/lounge area. As well as bbq area with a bench that will have a sink in it as well as our washing machine under the bench which will have doors to hide it. The front veranda will be to give the house its cottage look that we are after.

Thanks for drawing up an idea for me. I loved it. However I would like the kitchen looking out to the backyard.

I received this plan back yesterday. Would love some feedback. :)

Hi shell, I have to agree and say that the bathroom across the living room from the bedrooms plus coming through the kitchen doesn't work. Ok's floor plan is far better, you can flip the kitchen next to the deck for indoor outdoor living cheers

Because the floor plan is small I would have all bedrooms and bathrooms to the west with the kitchen living taking up the east side from front to rear this would allow for more windows and a bigger open feeling, Juliet style sliding doors would work to open up the eastern wall cheers

Thanks guys! I am sooo glad that I posted here!!!!!!

We needed others vision to help create a working space for our family!

Can't thank you all enough for taking the time to help us.

I have just printed Ok's design off and turned it up side down to show me what you were all seeing. I love it! Cant wait to show it to Michael and see what he thinks.

Keep the fantastic suggestions coming ;)

Hi Shell... agree with awesomelouise, dreamer and Siri... another vote for ok's plan.... if you want the kitchen (with potentially a servery) facing the backyard, that could be a change she might be able to assist with but otherwise, her layout is really practical and flows so beautifully.

OP, OKL's plan is better from an energy efficiency point of view than your plan (your plan wastes the northern aspect with bathrooms). But DON'T just flip OKL's plan, as the orientation would then be all wrong! It's important to get the orientation right, this will greatly effect the comfort of your home & your heating/cooling requirements (& hence your bills).

Read this. It's all very useful, but maybe focus on the section about orientation first.

http://yourhome.gov.au/passive-design

Below are some generalisations. As has been requested, it would be nice to know your general location, as climates vary across our big country, so building requirements change. But generally, you want your living areas (& a large proportion of your glazing facing north). If possible, have a smaller portion of your glazing facing south & east, for cross ventilation, & try to eliminate western glazing. Bedrooms to the south & east (if they won't also fit in the north), & rarely used rooms, like garages, bathrooms & laundries to the west.

Your verandah is south facing, good, as it won't shade your home in winter. Hopefully you have north facing eaves & they aren't too large. If they are the right size you'll get sun through your northern windows in winter, but the eaves will shade the house in summer, when the sun is higher in the sky.

So can you knock out windows & doors wherever you want? Would be good to know where they are currently, the size of the verandah, the block dimensions & any other structures which will influence shading & privacy.

I'd also be looking at some tiny house blogs/websites. 72sqm isn't tiny, but you really want an efficient house that works well, & you'll find some ingenious storage solutions that are used in tiny houses. Well designed built in storage is definitely very important in a small home.

Can't see if it all fits now, while using the app on my phone. But I'd aim for something like this. The kitchen in the NE corner, running down the eastern wall (so you get good morning sun). An island bench for dining, separating the living area on the northern wall. Master in the NW corner, with the ensuite on the western wall (if it fits - important not to have the master bedroom window facing west). Minor bedrooms (& windows) on the south wall. Main bathroom or powder room somewhere on the southern wall, in the SW corner would be nice if it fits there.

No idea is that all fits, just some ideas.

If you're not fussed about an easy facing kitchen, you could flip this all, & have the kitchen in the NW corner, & the master in the NE corner.

If you're taking off external or internal cladding, this is a good time to insulate you're walls. Also up insulation levels in the roof cavity of they're inadequate. It will greatly effect comfort, is quite cheap & the walls are very hard to do at other times.

Edit: as I got the verandah location wrong, then added to my post.

having the kitchen at the rear suggests some alterations to lose the wip and enlarge the wiw and create better placement for stove, sink and fridge with generous pantry cabinets next to the fridge and, with all the outdoor living area, perhaps the back of the island would make a better position for TV than too many stools...with limited space the use of hinged doors and windows will be cheaper than sliding glass and better suit the cottage style and the biw are 600mm deep including frames and hanging space in wiw is 500mm plus 1m walkway and i've includeded a shower over bath for the family bathroom but a small shower and bath should still squeeze in if preferred

Hey all,

Some are probably wondering how the house is going!?

Frames for bedrooms etc are in!

Currently working on our raked ceiling look in kitchen/living room.