Hi. Hope you enjoy your house.
Some small comments.
Upstairs. Powder room is too small with nowhere to stand and close door. Move door out to hall and enter bathroom from hall as well. This will allow more space in powder for a bigger sink too.
In wir in master mover door out to entry. will increase wall space for mirror.or hooks
In bed 4 add a robe.
Downstairs
In kitchen the island should along with bench behind and doing so will give better access to external door. I would make island deeper and reduce width to bench behind to 1200 to make it easier to move between bench and island.
Check you fridge space. Is it big enough or do you have or need a second fridge elsewhere? Do you have a mini fridge upstairs with sink?

Consider flipping upstairs bath and toilet so entry is closer to bedrooms and add a door to retreat for sound control

how will you use all the separate living areas, how many will live in the house, what is the length and width of your block, are there any good or bad views, where is north, describe your local climate and is there a special reason for the lowered entry foyer?

Thanks a lot Kate for a quick feed back, those are very good observations. Let me work on those.

what's your view on below

1) Is the stairs too close to entry door, especially with garage entry door also there, will that look too tight.

2) The stairs are lined from below (as of now builder standard stairs without carpet) hence will create a triangle space underneath which we can use to put like a small table. We will be putting laminate on steps and riser will be painted white. Do u reckon that's better or do u suggest open flight stairs will look better?

3) The upstairs passage between master WIR and Bed2 is 1070mm wide, do u reckon is wide enough or will look too narrow.

thanks

shishir

@oklouise, thanks for your comment. The house is for 3 adults and two kids (5 YO and 3months as of now). Lot is 15x35 and there is a 1.8 mt rise from front to back of the lot hence the split slab in middle of house. Good views are from from where the balcony is at the moment (its facing west direction). Local climate is good, I am in Sydney north west region, doesnt get too cold or too hot.

With young children, even though they grow, lined stairs are better than open. Before you aim to make the island wider - check the standard width your builder offers.

It would be helpful to know what you're not satisfied with.

I'd build taking north into account, ie solar passive. As it is, the living room and two upstairs bedrooms will need additional thought to alleviate heat. Editing to ask, where is north? It is usually at the top but I noticed you said the balcony is west? So the lounge, retreat and master bedroom will get the afternoon sun. But of course you want the views.

I wouldn't waste so much floor space on walk-in robes, and especially if it creates a situation where one child has a walk-in and one does not.

If the guest room is for an older relative I would enlarge the doors and the ensuite and get rid of the split level to avoid mobility access problems in the future.

@macyjean thanks for your input. Direction is on the corners. So the master bedroom corner is north. Balcony corner is west. Entry door is northwest.
I can’t get rid of split level as I have been told.
I agree with the idea about not wasting Space on wir. Thx

Also I suggested above in comments my specific dislikes

as there is already a step up from entry hall there should be enough ceiling height to lose the awkward sideways steps on the upper floor and potentially allow more space for the front entry and why not have the entry from garage under the stairs with coat storage and a single big front door with side window would also make the entry more spacious ... my other suggestions include ideas that should make the house more comfortable for a family with small children, there's a bigger laundry with closer garden access, bigger pantry, separate play room, bigger media room, the powder room is closer for the kids, the guest room has a wardrobe and desk, the central hallway makes a study nook and swopping the bigger rooms allows for more northern light in the living areas and as always adding furniture helps to better understand how the spaces could be used... upstairs has a better location for the Pooja, the 1000 wide hallway to the bedrooms should be plenty as there's such generous open space in the central hallway... my favourite bathroom allows for easier sharing when the kids are older and the saved space adds extra space for the retreat with the extra sink in a more discreet location and there's some ideas for the ens and wiw but do you need/want the bath in the master bedroom? and what is the purpose of the sink in the retreat?

Thanks. The afternoon sun might not be too bad. Presumably the media room window won't be large? External shading is the way to reduce heat in summer.

For future-proofing I'd find out what the reason is for not being able to get rid of the split level. I can't think of a reason why it would not be physically possible. I mean I can think of a few reasons why there might be an assumption that it's not the best thing to do, but you should be given the information to enable you to decide that.

Is the guest room for the third adult? There's not a lot of storage for a permanent occupant. If it is an older person you have the opportunity in the planning stage to allow for wider doors and an accessible shower and wall studs in the right places to allow for future installation of grab rails.

I don't see an answer to "how will you use all the separate living areas"?

You said the Pooja is "kind of out of place". Where would it ideally be located?

Pooja Puja, Best position is North East

if I'm getting the orientation correct, does this mean the garage is in the best part of the home for your winter sun? On the north corner?

This home will get minimal north winter sun into it. The guest bedroom will be a wonderful room.

The other rooms will be cold and maybe dark.

If you use the space behind the stairs as part of the ensuite to the guest room you will be able to add a robe and give back the robe space taken from the kitchen WIP, this will also make the kitchen wall space longer so you could turn the kitchen. I was also hoping to find a space for the pooja downstairs

@oklouise Thanks a lot, Really can't believe u did all that for me. That's an amazing version of what I have, really appreciate your effort. I am getting both the baths just for the wow factor (per wife) and because the builder was already had them in his plans. Retreat sink is just to fill up water bottles etc when needed, not really accustomed to drinking from the bathroom basin though I know it's the same water.

In your current version FF, I dont particularly like the tunnel ensuite Shower, will be dark as I can imagine.

Also, do u see a variation where the master bedroom can be where Bed 3 is right now? and I can get Pooja where the Master bedroom Bed is as of now.

Please do not invest alot of your time, only if you can think of something easy. thx

@macyjean, thanks all your comments and questions

1) Split level: I discussed with couple of builders and all came with Split level. the fall from back of the lot to front is over 2M, building area is around 1.8 mt. They say if they cut too much at the back, then back yard will be too much raised and can be storm water issues as well and may not look very good having the house sitting lower then back yard. Also though they can cut, but cannot fill more then 500mm, hence the split.

2) Guest room will be used very occasionally, do not intend much use of it anyways, only a backup for someone who is not able to get upstairs like when parents get older or some situation.

3) front Lounge will be a formal space/study/to have people we don't want to bring to the back living areas. Rear two living areas will be used as Dining (Family) and Living will be where we have our Sofa etc. Retreat upstairs will be an extension to our balcony, open the stacker door, and sit, haven't thought it through.

4) Pooja is out of place, because it's part of a room and not separate. I excepted it because even if we do not use it as Pooja, it can be converted to a WIR easily. Also like @siriuskey suggested that it should ideally be in north east, North east is where master bedroom bed head is now.

hope it clarifies.

thanks

shishir

Thanks, @siriuskey I agree about Pooja being in the northeast, also having that room downstairs. But not sure how to achieve that.

1) That's good that it has been discussed and explained. I hope you've been shown the elevations too.

2) You said 3 adults?

3) and 4) I'm sorry I don't have any ideas, but I still think WIR's can be a waste of space, and the retreat doesn't even have a purpose yet, and you're including things merely for wow factor, so I feel it's an uncomfortable mix of excess of what you don't need and lacking in what you do need.

the pooja could be northeast but depends on precise location of amended stairs, as previously suggested, but means moving the retreat and losing the balcony and there's enough space for a separate master suite toilet or extra storage and wiw ...the location of the extra sink for the retreat should be determined by how you want to arrange furniture and windows

Thanks @oklouise and all for your valuable feedback let me discuss this with builder to see what we can end up with. Really appreciate everyone’s help.

I agree with you, it has been more about bling and less functionality, probably that’s why I started this thread.
Below is our thought so far.
2 adults are me and wife who will live in master bedroom and 1 adult is my mom who will probably take one of the room above. Kids can share a room or use 1 each.

I'd consider jettisoning the whole thing of you haven't already financially committed. I believe you could build a cheaper home to better serve your purpose rather than tinkering around with trying to make this plan fit.
You have so many living spaces but I think haven't really considered your mother's room. Your downstairs spare room looks cramped and the front lounge would be a better option.
Do you have to have driveway on left side of property??? If not then definitely place garage on the other side.
I haven't looked at all the other suggestions but at first glance I don't think this house is giving you what you need.
Remember it's not about putting as many rooms as you can into a space. This is feeling like a game of tetris!!

"2 adults are me and wife who will live in master bedroom and 1 adult is my mom who will probably take one of the room above. Kids can share a room or use 1 each."

but earlier you said

"Guest room will be used very occasionally, do not intend much use of it anyways, only a backup for someone who is not able to get upstairs like when parents get older or some situation."

so give mom a nice room with her own ensuite and more storage on the main level now.

And give the 5yo and the baby their own rooms.