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Design Dilemma Kitchens Living Room

4 Bedroom Full Layout change and renovation

2 years ago

We have a 4 bedroom 1 bath & 1 ensuite wooden raised house on 3/4 acre with trees surrounding.

There is a beautiful back deck looking out onto rainforest trees. At the moment there are 2 bedrooms and 1 bathroom looking out onto the deck. Access the back deck by a long pokey hallway. The house is quite dark because of trees.

Need plenty of advice/criticism (don't be shy), will be a big job with lots of $$$.

1st photo original, 2nd is reno plan

We want to do the following:

Goals

Create more of an open flow from front to back of house

Remove dark bedroom in the middle of the house (small Velux)

Pros

Opens up house from front to back & removes the dark room in middle of house

Doesn't change too many walls or plumbing

Keeps the kitchen north facing for light reasons

Cons

4th Bedroom becomes a lot smaller (single bed only)

Laundry is moved outside the house

2 bedroom doors open up into the dining/living area (usually should open up onto hallways?)

Featured Answer

oklouise

2 years ago

last modified: 2 years ago

what a gorgeous location..my suggestions would be to include the western storage area to improve the bathroom with separate toilet, vanity and bathing areas with external views and ventilation, easy access to the bathroom through the laundry from outside and the rest of the house without opening directly off the living areas, moving the northern entry door makes a better sized bed 3 and kitchen and rotating the separate island allows seated diners to look out towards the views in three directions and more comfortable kitchen work areas, there's space taken off the kitchen for a proper laundry with sink, wm, dryer and tall storage and biw and private entry and alternate deck doors for bed 4, comfortable sitting and dining areas with heater and freestanding storage for tv, books, music, display, dinnerware etc ...bed 1 door opens backwards to increase privacy and there's a tiny hall, biw and linen storage for beds 2 and 3

Comments (9)

pottsy99
2 years ago
Others way cleverer than me will have some good ideas , but some possible snags and observations --

-- the kitchen is huge compared to the bedrooms

-- the whole 'living' spaces seem to take up too much area compared to the 'sleeping' parts .

-- a lot of plumbing will need to be moved . Ironically , things like the toilet at the bottom right , which looks a slightly strange design , isn't moved . Maybe theres a reason , but why is there a small balcony on 'that' side of the house which seems only accessible grom 1 bedroom -- wouldn't it have made more sense to move the WIW and ensuite back ?
Kate
2 years ago
Issues. Toilet needs space for basin. Store behind is inaccessible so use that space. laundry only big enough to stack washer dryer without required sink and storage. Where is front door?
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Thanks everyone, again, a lot to think about! With regards to changing the structure of the house to make it more open plan - making one large living/dining/kitchen room is not something I want to do, it means getting rid of the 50s styling (inbuilt shelving brickwork etc) which I love about the house in the first place. It would also not be very practical for Hobart living, with freezing winters heating such a large space comfortably (initial heatpumps plus ongoing winter bills, without or without the wood heater )- would be completely out of my budget to be honest. I'm also not a huge fan of open plan living in general. The sunroom is effectively a 'tacked on' room to the outside of the house (load bearing wall). It was the original concrete deck just enclosed with plastic sheeting roof and walls, again a very costly renovation that I wouldn't be able to afford without years of saving. I'm liking these suggestions though- its all stuff that hadn't even crossed my mind. I think I will go with turning the bedroom into the kitchen and opening up the house from that side, I think that because it's a one bathroom property, it makes sense to me having 3 bedrooms and a larger kitchen/dining space. Thank you again for all your help and detailed responses :) Laura
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I'm thinking of changing the name of my bedroom to the Activity Area too haha . . . . . . . . On a more serious note , the actual open space in bed 1 looks to be more than in bed 2 , plus there is already an ensuite and an 'average' sized WIR too . If you were to use Bed 2 as the Master , you'd probably need to put a door basically by the stairs , enclosing the Bed , Activity Area , Bathroom and Linen . Otherwise you are sharing the Bathroom with everyone . Mightn't be a huge problem if there's only 2 of you , but imagine family , or family staying , or other guests . Then there's the Bed 3 bathroom problem , and whilst inter-related , the WC 'problem' . So you spend $20k on doors and walls , plus paint and decor , to not achieve anything , and make some things worse . Or you spend $10k , but go from having an ensuite and a WIR with a door , to sharing a bath and having an 'open' Robe ? I can't see many upsides . . . . . . . . .
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siriuskey
2 years ago
are you able to post the floorplan with dimensions in the positive and not negative, so much easer to look at
me me
2 years ago
Personally, I think the new plans haven't really addressed the issues. The new living rooms in the middle of the house will still be as dark as the hallway was. I think the small bedroom off the kitchen area is strange. How many people live here that you need to plan for?
oklouise
2 years ago
from the forest outside we can assume that the house is in a hot area and the central living area, opening at both ends, will have a great cooling affect on the house and my favourite solar skylights will improve internal brightness and David asked for minimal wall and plumbing changes
David Campion
Original Author
2 years ago
WOW thank you Louise, that is so incredible, thank you for all your hard work doing this design, it makes a LOT more sense, the bathroom actually looks really good the way you have done it, and yes, i think it's best we sacrifice the large entry door for a bigger bedroom... I am very impressed
David Campion
Original Author
2 years ago
Hi OkLouise, would you have your drawings in a better resolution?
oklouise
2 years ago
does this help?
David Campion thanked oklouise

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