Thoughts on ‘dream home’ floor plan
Hi!
I would love some thoughts on a floor plan I’ve been working on for some time.
Background: we have a narrow block of land (with exisiting house) in Brisbane. Our intention is to knock down and rebuild. There are ocean views across from the road, hence I’ve planned entertaining areas at the front of the house. The block/house is facing south, right is east, back is north and left is west facing.
Our plan is to have dual living. My parents would reside downstairs.
Is it worth seeing an architect? Or should I see a draftsman to do up plans and reduce costs?
Would appreciate any thoughts!
Many thanks,
Isabel
Comments (14)
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Floor plan advice please - acreage dream home
Comments (4)The following are all general, non-professional comments. I'm not sure how the occupant of Bed 2 will feel about their primary bathroom window facing the "front" of the house as other family members, guests and potentially even people driving past will be able to see into the bathroom. I would consider swapping the toilet and shower so that you can have a big window on the side or potentially even slotting that ensuite between Bed 2 and Bed 3 and having a big window on the side for Bed 2 and a "high" window along the front for Bed 2. It will depend upon how many people will be living in the house, but since the main bathroom appears intended to serve as both the powder room and the "ensuite" for Bed 3, I would consider separating the toilet into a dedicated powder room. That way, the occupant of Bed 3 has "privacy" from guests for their vanity and shower and if they're in the shower, guests can still use the toilet. I would widen the hallway by pushing the laundry and media room out a bit. I don't think it would cost too much extra to widen the hallway, but I think you would appreciate it as it is currently a little long and narrow and the "focal point" as you enter is simply the door to the main bedroom. I would consider furniture placement for Living 1. On the plans, it looks a little squished, especially if people were sitting and relaxing at the indoor dining table. It might be a good idea to pinch some space from the alfresco or to combine Living 1 and Living 2 to create a lovely, generously proportioned space. It strikes me as a little off that the fireplace will be "behind" the sofas in Living 1. I think most people like the fireplace to be the focal point, but the fireplace currently seems like a last minute addition. Do you want to be able to sit in front of the fire or are you happy for it to be at your back? I would ensure that the allocated space for the TV in Living 1 will fit your desired TV. TV sizes are getting bigger and bigger and if you're planning on having a big TV in Living 1 (in addition to the TV in the media room), then it would be good to ensure that it won't dominate the angled wall (and distract from the views). I don't understand the purpose of Living 2. With a separate media room and Living 1, it's unclear whether Living 2 is meant to serve as another living room or whether it is actually intended to function as a study. Do you have a collection which will be displayed in the nook opposite Living 2? If so, it seems that the "display" won't be easily visible to guests. If you have a particular collection which you want to proudly display, then you may wish to consider repositioning this nook. Everyone has a different point of view, but I would try to separate the toilet in the ensuite. I would have thought that the person using the dressing table in the main bedroom would appreciate some natural daylight, but there doesn't appear to be a window that will service that area. The same comment applies for the study nook opposite the kitchen. Good luck!...See MoreWhat do you think of our dream-home plans?
Comments (57)Hey Nik Star, I've had a PowerPoint play with oklouise's edits. This is what I meant about garage entry to the pantry and a laundry in the garage. The red arrows are to stipulate to the builder that level access is required. I added extra garage depth to allow for the garage, that would definitely impact your facade elevation. If you remove the wall between the butler's pantry and mudroom you would have a SUPER PANTRY! But a true butler's pantry in that it was supposed to be where you would land with the veg from the garden so you would kick your shoes off inside the door, so I've noted a little bench seat there, then head in and wash it before heading over to the actual cooking area. Then if you get rid of the sliders and reduce the storage to shallow shelving on the middle wall you would have plenty of space to manoeuvre with mobility devices. For the washing labour machines - washer, dryer, dishy - try getting those mounted on plinths so the load on your poor back is reduced. I have dodgy joints so I am researching all the ergonomic ways to design work spaces to help me when I get to the awesome stage you guys are at with getting to build!...See MoreReview my dream home renovation plans
Comments (21)Like others here, at first glance I assumed the view of the water was to the east, but then realised from the sun diagram that north is up the page, so I'm guessing this might be in Bundeena? I agree with most of the other suggestions and have a few of my own as well, will summarise here: - the pitched roof dominates too much, I would suggest the new master bedroom suite has a flat room, similar to the new entry; - the garage is too small and can easily be larger, especially wider and the stair could go down the side instead of at the end; - the foyer/entry is too small for a luxury property, really just a stair landing. I suggest widening it to the line of the new bedroom, and also pulling the entry doors out further to give more space there; - car turning space is questionable. Maybe the external stair could flip over to the other side of the entry to give better reversing room, if it is needed at all (3 stairs???); - give more space to the ensuite, less to the walk-in-robe; - give more space to study, taken from bed room; - angled wall (in line with deck edge) in bedroom instead of re-entrant corner would make it more spacious and allow the bed to move forward with better access; - door to laundry from pantry instead of bath room....See MorePeriod Home Floor Plan Improvements and Renovations..please help
Comments (25)Update on this. We have decided to keep upstairs unchanged in terms of layout. We will live in the house for a period before making any layout changes upstairs - 2 Bedrooms will be for our girls, while our son will sleep downstairs in the living room (now bedroom) as this was seldom going to be used. Now we are looking at the kitchen design - photos attached of current kitchen which will be completely refreshed along with the tiling in the kitchen / living area. Looking for any ideas on how to best update the kitchen - notice under the stair case is not currently being utilised but we would like to perhaps have the fridge or pantry under the stairs to include this dead space. From the kitchen window to the stair case is 4950mm x 3200mm approximately depth of the current kitchen. The stair case hangs into the kitchen around 750-800mm. Wondering if it would look silly to have perhaps the fridge built here and this cabinetry would sit proud of the bench space next to it, but we could also install deeper bench space to balance the look... We are planning to have the eye-saw built in fridge space currently in the kitchen removed altogether....See More- 7 years ago
7 years agoI couldn't find any blank squares on my PC, might be my browser.
The astro turf / courtyard area is quite large, so I'm wondering if it would end up dark, especially being close to the fence. I'm thinking maybe shift everything on the bottom floor towards the garage and have an alfresco area to the north instead? Is it about 1m to the fence on the rear as well?
Regarding the laundry in top floor, probably a dumb idea, but would it work if you shift the laundry to the east side (might have to move it back towards the bedrooms as well), and then have a little balcony next to it for drying clothes? Just a crazy idea, please take it with a grain of salt since I don't live in Brisbane and don't really know the climate there.Isabel thanked SP- 7 years ago
we can have offer lots of ideas but a professional designer would be able to identify the best line of site for views, privacy and solar orientation but there could be extra set backs for upstairs on a narrow building site and the local professional should have experience of local conditions and acceptable options...but, unable to read your dimensions, my suggestions include generous spaces that should be able to be reduced to suit the actual site
Isabel thanked oklouise - 7 years ago
- 7 years ago
oklouise