Kitchen

What are the walls in the house made of? Brick or stud walls?

This first idea, the cupboard next to the laundry becomes a drop zone mudroom space. Your visitors would usually come to the front door and then into the living room, family coming through the front door would use the drop zone before going upstairs or on into the kitchen familyroom. Not sure what access you have from the garage into the house apart from the front door, it seems that perhaps a door at the rear of the garage with a door into the family kitchen would work

Hi dreamer, the internal walls are plasterboard attached to a wooden frame.

I'd do what Kate has suggested.

I think realigning the stairs is not an option, the designers wanted to break up the straight lines and everything flowed from that. If they really twist your melon, maybe you need a different home. But I think Kate's two suggestions are really good, even if you don't touch the ensuite the WIR can be made more functional and "tidier" to the eye. Kate has also addressed the point about the kitchen - leaving the stairs as they are, is this where you could focus your energy? Also agree with siriluskey about the drop zone / use of the flow spaces.

Can u post some photos downstairs of staircase kitchen meals and entry to dining

Sad

Alyssa Cooper why are you sad?

I'm intrigued that you find the shape of the WIR and pantry a problem. Mine are similarly shaped, due to the house being the shape of a huge V to maximize the aspect and views. I find the unusual shape efficient, as it minimizes the waste of floor space that always results from a square or rectangle-shaped room. By cutting off a corner, you end up with more much more storage space in a smaller room, which I think is perfect for rooms that are designed for storage rather than habitation. I also think angled walls can add a lot of interest to a room. I don't see them as a problem generally, though in your house I agree the angled staircase makes the traffic flow downstairs somewhat awkward. In my house, an angled bathroom wall is a major issue because of the challenges of placing a bath against it. But had the designer put the shower on that side, it wouldn't have been an issue.

The upstairs of your house wouldn't bother me at all. Nor would the angled entry to the study. But I would not like the way the downstairs area is configured.

Apart from the fact that you lose the walk-in-pantry, I do like Kate's suggestion. It opens the entry up and makes for a much smoother traffic flow. With the kitchen plan modified as she suggests, it could be a great improvement. It makes for a very wide hallway, though. I hate inefficient use of space so extra-large or unnecessary hallways bug me. In a house that size, though, perhaps it wouldn't be an issue. Depending how you access the dining room, you could potentially put a walk-in pantry or linen cupboard on the kitchen side of the short dining room wall.

Despite my comments about angled walls generally, I would never have put the staircase in that position in that house. But I doubt relocating the staircase now would be practical or economically viable. So maybe you just have to compromise and learn to love angles!

I don't mind the sweep of the downstairs hallway, but the WIR, and particularly the interior bedroom wall, have such odd lines due to the position of the staircase. I think the bedroom wall would benefit from having longer straight lines without the V notches, even if it means losing a tiny bit of useless space.

I would like to get the WIR fitted out but the shape is proving an issue. Wardrobe companies just want to whack something in. They won't remove the built in shelf, or if they will they won't make good if there's damage to the wall etc. Kate's idea above squaring up the WIR is quite appealing.

I'd love to ditch the triangle shaped bath tub in the ensuite too and add a 'normal' bath that an adult can use.