Thanks for the comment. To be clear, I think it’s a good design, but just hoping to get some differing opinions regarding the layout and potential changes regarding functionality and maximisation of the space.

Firstly , I have never seen a WC/laundry combined , as you have at present ! I guess it works from a functional point of view , just different !

As far as the proposed plan , and no I don't have aa fixation with loos haha , but you now will have 2 toilets -- 1 in the bathroom , one in the en-suite . In a 4 bedroom house . Not a good idea IMO .

Personally , I'd swap the bathroom and Bed 4 around , AND try and have a seperate toilet . Yes , it will need an additional door , a hole cut in a wall , so it may not be possible , although just about anything is possible with enough $$$ . So I should have said maybe not great value , only you can decide , but for ease of use and also resale , that's what I'd aim for . PLUS I'd try and have a 3rd WC , even if you have to re-jig the kitchen area -- as it's an addition , maybe make the floorplan a bit bigger ( leftwards on your plan ) .

the other slight point is that your kitchen only has one window , and that looks out ( sideways from the kitchens natural flow ) onto the terrace . Nothing wrong there , but if you have the proposed 3rd toilet , and the laundry , moved 'right' ( on the orientation of the plan ) and not in an outside corner , you can have more windows and more light in the kitchen .

Just some thoughts .

I would shift or add a second door in hall between bathroom door and steps to living. This will allow some privacy for those getting ready for bed whilst you are entertaining. If you could private a separate toilet with basin, even if it means taking toilet from main bath that would be better functionally. But you have to trade some things off. Otherwise great plan.

i think the kitchen, pantry and laundry looks excellent but i'd have a separate toilet and my suggestion includes a bathroom suitable for several people to use at once with the separate toilet, extra storage for towels in the generous vanity, more wall space for hanging towels handy to bath and shower and no doors close to the new steps... the new plan shows the opening between new and old is full width and i would prefer a doorway to emphasise the entry to downstairs and keep the separate different height ceilings easier and cheaper to construct

Thanks to everyone for their great ideas and comments, it is greatly appreciated.

OK, a few issue here. General comment : It could be heaps better - there's nothing much exciting here.

What do you see when you walk in the front door? The back of the garage door beyond the window. There is a disconnect of flow from the kitchen and the living/dining zone. To start with The plan is missing furniture (big designer fail). You'll see once that is put in whether it's working appropriately for what you want or not. I'd guess if you got a lounge onto the plan immediately you'd see that you'd be squeezed walking into the end of it trying to access the dining table and depending on the dining table proportion's likely that area is squeezed. The relationship between the dining and kitchen area could be improved. I'd suggest there is an alternative that avoids such an exaggerated doglegged end to the space that renders some precious unusable outdoor space and is a clunky resolution. You'd be better off building hard up to the end and enlarging the main outdoor areas so it's a single space, or potentially getting some external storage into it. The living/kitchen dining could be a lot cleaner and more spacious feeling. Would be good to understand where north is. On something like this you're better to exploit the site length rather than try and compromise the width. If north is up the page my instinct would be to flip the whole thing entirely having the kitchen running along the south. Also for a house this smallish scale arguably it would be more efficient to combine pantry and laundry for a more spacious outcome. Also I'd suggest that the outdoor kitchen is oversized and out of proportion for the site.

It's always about balancing and prioritising elements, and in tight sites you have to work harder and make robust decisions about where you give & take. You can't afford to waste a square inch here, and if you want it to be awesome the design needs to be super efficient and to achieve a reasonable amenity that doesn't feel squeezed in the main spaces. It takes experience and skill to get this stuff right.

Sorry if am seeming overly critical, but when engaged in resolving spaces for people I consider it a responsibility as a professional to ensure a client gets the absolute most out of the opportunity. There is so much underwhelming "vanilla" design work that people pay good money for, thinking that it's "good" when they are no idea how much better it can be. It doesn't have to necessarily be more expensive, but it does have to be throughly considered and properly managed, and opportunities identified and harnessed. Typically this involves considering a number of various broad options and then fine-tuning towards an outcome that is properly aligned to budget and project brief.

Budget of course is the biggest factor to get a proper handle of, think here at least $500K+. If that's pushing it, then you'll have some hard decisions to make and need to be consolidating the extent of the expensive fit-out areas in conjunction with a more efficient design that achieves something in a smaller extension......if that's so then possibly one of the front rooms may have to be repurposed for bathroom.......again this comes back to starting the process by considering various options in broad form together with properly applied costings to each option so you can be making informed decisions on what's possible, rather than nitpicking detail on options that are likely beyond budget.

Hope this provides some food for thought from a professional perspective

Good luck with it PD :)

www.pauldistefanodesign.com

Thanks Paul, greatly appreciate your comments and feedback. North is to the left of the page looking out to the backyard. The wall you see between the kitchen/bathroom and en-suite/living area is a foundation wall and roof line.