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)
2 years agoRelated Discussions
What do you think of this floor plan for our new home?
Comments (19)Unexpectedly to me, due to it's location on the crest of the Great Dividing Range at an elevation of around 700m above sea level, Toowoomba has a climate more similar to Sydney than Brisbane. With average summer highs of only 28°C, & average winter highs of 17°C (lows of 7°C & cold wind, as has been mentioned). It's located in Climate Zone 2: Warm Temperature, the same climate zone as Sydney, not Brisbane. Though this climate zone is very varied, so care must be taken to cater for local conditions. As has been advised a few times, have a good read of the Your Home site. Read this section, Designing for Climate, for zone 5: warm temperate. http://www.yourhome.gov.au/passive-design/design-climate Along with having cooler temperatures than Brisbane, the fact that Toowoomba is inland means it has greater variation between daytime highs & nighttime lows (diurnal temperature range). This means that unlike Queensland coastal climates, some thermal mass in the home will be appropriate, so a lightweight structure isn't needed. Although a lightweight structure, on a ground-coupled slab (with polished concrete or tiles in North facing living areas) would be a good idea. As the temperature is so much cooler than tropical Queensland climates I'd advise against going too overboard with a pavilion style house. As I think it would be too cold in winter. Maybe something like two off-set rectangles, joined in the centre. Kinda like dreamer's inspirational picture, without the middle section, the two rectangular sections joined. Or just go for a more traditional rectangular house. In any case, like just about all Australian climates, you should try to build a house that is generally rectangular, the long sides facing north & south. This will give an opportunity for northern sunshine to enter home in winter, while the shorter eastern & western sides will limit the effect of hot summer western afternoon sunshine. Though I guess this house shape won't look great from the western road, as it will look very narrow from here. You could fatten it's street frontage a little bit, by having the garage to the south of the rectangular house. With such a large block you'll be able to build something that works for you. But as OKLouise said, don't just pick a plan for an average narrow block. The plan you picked is not really suitable for your block. I'd also recommend you do a lot of research yourself. As has been shown with the plan you've received, you can't rely on the builder to design a plan that will work best for you, that is appropriate for your location. So read up on the Your Home website. It's an invaluable resource when it comes to building a comfortable, energy efficient home....See MoreHelp! We need floor plan advice for our family home
Comments (33)Appreciate the thoughts and this may be a solid option elsewhere in the country but in my circumstances I don't plan to be moving from this property any time before the kids are 18. It is located in Sydney's inner west, and in a specific high school catchment I plan to take advantage of when the kids are older. Stamp duty to buy the property was close to $100k and if moving out even in ten years to a larger property; that averages $10k a year spent on stamp duty. I know 115m2 internal is tight, as is the fixed layout due to existing bedroom walls, ceiling heights, wet areas, and the like - but there has to be a way to make this work... I have read that 4 bedroom apartments should be 102m2 or bigger. I am willing to make compromises where possible but I really want to create that extra separate room "Multi-purpose room" which can double as a study/work area/kids play area/media room/ad-hoc sleeping accommodation". Paul Di Stefano: I don't think these changes essentially equate to 'rearranging a sock drawer' - this is my PPOR so I am not too concerned what other buyers want or resale value if I plan to hold the property for 10-20 years +... (any trends we design for now may well be outdated by then anyway). Many buyers highly value indoor-outdoor integration. By moving the kitchen to centre, it opens up the rear and creates indoor living->outdoor living link. If I get IKEA flatpack kitchen and DIY as much as possible - have a friend reroute the water/drainage/+his licenced electrical friend...hopefully this work would cost sub-$20k. Adding the sliding door to rear is $2.5k. Ensuite, bathroom and laundry I believe I can fitout for $10-15k all up- let's say 15k (again, tiling, raise flooring, showers/fixtures/flat pack laudnry cabinetry install all done in-house without tradies). The only thing I really need professionals for is to move the gas line in kitchen, BIR installs, stone benchtop, and maybe a few adhoc wall demo/construction/doorway moving - lets call that 10k. All up ballpark that is 47.5k? Sirius- If I go with your style plan then I lose the potential 4th bed space and have no where for relatives to stay, babysitter, nanny; etc :( Maybe it is a possibility that the main living space be used for lounge room and kitchen, we can always put dining table in the Multi-purpose room, then when that room is needed for sleeping accommodation, the dining table be moved to the side and kids can eat dinner on island bench bar; lounge or outside table... ? those doors to each side of the fireplace as you suggest - this space is very cramped outside (2.45m width) and potentially would be used to store trailer or garden shed, there is an old terrace built on zero-boundary there and they have a DA to go 2 storeys; which will shadow the whole area. This is why I planned to make the rear south corner a raised deck and try to channel house activity leading out the existing glass french door to that deck, or the rear sliding door. See photo-(my house is on the left, terrace zero boundary on right, and front on is a wooden dividing fence which on the opposite side is the driveway/1 car park and front street....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- 2 years agolast modified: 2 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.
- 2 years ago
- 2 years ago
- 2 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 - 2 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 - 2 years ago
- 2 years agolast modified: 2 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 
2 years ago
Chris