Raising our cottage & building under: floor plan ideas please
We have a renovated cottage in Brisbane which we are raising and building under. We're going to (mostly) keep the existing floor plan, raise it up and make the new downstairs area our kitchen, living, dining, laundry, small bath and study/spare bed.
Here's the existing floor plan:
with dimensions:
This will be raised up and changed to add a master + ensuite + walk in (nb where it says dining/living is incorrect, it will just be a small living space/couch). We're pretty happy with upstairs and won't be changing the structure much.
This is our proposed new floor plan for the downstairs:
Would love some advice on the following:
- the stairs kind of need to stay where they are to enter in right place upstairs but is there a better way of fitting in the main rooms we need downstairs (laundry, kitchen, living, dining, bath + spare).
- e.g. cut out the play room and make the living/dining space larger for a better layout
- concerned about lack of sunlight filtering into the kitchen (entry is north facing) so the laundry/play rooms will cut out the light coming from the front, some light will come through the living room window in the afternoon but the kitchen won't see much.
- is there a better way of arranging the bathroom (it's small but is more of a powder room/small bath as bedroom is just a spare)
- do we really need a sink in the island bench if there's a large sink in butler's? Or move sink to side bench?
Thanks so much for taking the time to give some advice, it's much appreciated. We've been working on this for years and putting it on hold until the time is right. Hopefully it will go ahead next year!
Comments (14)
4 years agoRelated Discussions
Floor-plan feedback/ideas needed -What do you think of this floor-plan
Comments (51)siriuskey, Yes, the courtyard is open to the sky (no roof over it), I assume this is what you mean by double story. Ref. below photos, I would love to get this look, especially the first and last photo, where you can see family living space from the first floor. I can't achieve this in my plan as it eats a lot of floor space upstairs. The referred plan (photos) has a very big void combining staircase, hallway and dining area. I know it is not easy with cooling and heating when you have such a big void. So, I explored a few ideas (with my limited knowledge on this topic) before achieving the current floorplan. I have also thought about, in my current plan, extending the void on the staircase to the dining area (it is more like L shape) but i wasn't sure if that makes any difference. keen to hear your thoughts....See MoreYour floor plan and facade ideas please
Comments (6)For me, the very first thing that sticks out like a sore thumb, is the driveway running right past the front of the house, interrupting the indoor outdoor flow and so dangerous if you have small children. Guests currently drive past your entrance, then have to walk back down the driveway to traverse the small stairs to get to your front door. I have to question why you want to move the front door even further down the deck, to centralise it? You would be better off, moving the front door to the corner or short side of the lounge nearer the current garage. HOWEVER, if it were me, I'd relocate the garage and the front door to the dining room end of the house. The main steps to the verandah are already in place, waiting for your guests and the window that I see in the photo could easily become the front door without too much expense. That would free up your front lawn to allow for some beautiful outdoor entertaining options. I would turn the dining room into a small cosy guest or family lounge. I would then reconfigure the kitchen, so your breakfast bar becomes an island bench running along the front. The walkway between rooms is where the sink currently is. The kitchen sink window and the current front door would then be replaced with big french doors leading to your new entertainment lawns. I would relocate the dining area into the lounge space. This would allow good space for your very large dining table to have the presence that you wish it to have. Lastly, I would seriously consider re purposing the old garage so that it becomes your new lounge. The plans show that it is attached to the house, but the photo appears to show that it sits lower than the main floor. You would need to weigh up your options/budget to decide how to best achieve this [step down or raise the floor and roof heights] but I believe you should not rule out the added value and pleasure the extra space would provide....See MoreFloor Plan HELP!! Raising/Building In Under Queenslander
Comments (19)i have a problem with the awkward location of stairs that wastes the sunroom, makes the rumpus room difficult to furnish and the front door has a view of the toilet ...beginning with central stairs and potentially modifying doorways to allow for the stairs without having to walk across the rumpus or upstairs living room attempts to avoid the big wide hallways affect without useful locations for furniture ..the rumpus room now has space for comfortable furnishing and private access to a full bathroom and good sized laundry...using the old sunroom for a compartmented bathroom retains the original walls and windows and includes space for a bathtub and shower with big views.. we should always include real scale sized furniture to establish the best walking paths across rooms and my suggestions also retain the size of the original kitchen to keep more of the original walls and ceilings and retains the proportion of the bay window and allows space for an alternate access to bed 3 (preferable the linen cupboard would remain in this location) and consider avoiding the enclosed pantry (would the door ever be closed?) in favour of a more open space for better light and ventilation and maybe a herb garden window box in the bay window with external blinds to exclude western sun.. there's a fridge closer to the outdoors, stacked wo and MW to define the pantry and only a small sink in the island for more useful set down space for shopping and serving meals...See MoreFloor plan ideas for raise and build under of Queenslander
Comments (8)i was wondering about a downstairs front door but then how would you use the upstairs entry and what about potential loss of the grandparents' bedroom and space taken away from the garage and storage... different internal stairs meant enlarging the whole downstairs floor area (and changing the roof) and sacrificing space needed for the new upstairs deck and future pool (and extending further into the yard encroaches on the neighbours' views) but the old front stairs can be lengthened to maintain the original look of the house and you'll find that friends and family will more likely come in through the garage or rumpus room and the old front stairs will be used for only very enthusiastic sales people and photo ops but you do need to confirm all the dimensions on the original floor plan as the room sizes are inconsistent and an accurate original floor plan (including exact location of doors and windows) will help ensure that my suggestions could fit with the least amount of alteration to the existing structure and may also invite different suggestions from other HOUZZERS and happy to redraw your plans if you can correct this copy...See More- 4 years agolast modified: 4 years ago
Hi oklouise! The wall in bed 3 is angled from a previous renovation (already done before we purchased). I'm actually not sure why it is angled though. I'll dig out the plan with dimensions and post below.
- 4 years ago
- 4 years ago
- 4 years ago
approximate dimensions suggest a possible alternate location for the stairs that creates lots of other possibilities and unless there's some major structural or boundary reason for the angled wall this might the opportunity to correct that problem although it could be a location for placement of a feature wall, fireplace or TV in the family room
Morgan Treacle thanked oklouise - 4 years ago
moving the stair doesnt help the existing upstairs if your plan is to not change much. the living area would reduce from 3.5 to 2.5m width and would limit options unless you want to use this space as office/playroom. the existing door would have to be relocated to bed 1 and the green line is an existing beam which looks to be tight on the 12th stair down which is usually the minimum head height clearance.
Morgan Treacle thanked Chris - 4 years ago
- 4 years agolast modified: 4 years ago
just realised that i accidentally posted two copies of downstairs plans...still may not work.. but always worth considering another option with different stairs
Morgan Treacle thanked oklouise 
4 years ago
Chris