Young family knock down rebuild fine tune
We’re working on our plans for our knockdown rebuild for our young family with two children in Brighton Vic. I just thought I’d put it out to the group in case anyone had any great suggestions. There’s still a few notes on the plans where we’re extending the garage and kids rooms etc
We’ve got a 750sqm block and the backyard is north east facing.
We’re going to extend the living by 0.6 to allow for a 7x3.5 pool instead of what’s current there. But still not convinced on the whole outdoor area. We’ll still be left with about 12-13m of backyard.
Is the laundry/ mudroom the right configuration? I want to get this right.
Also note we’re unable to move the stairs.
Thanks everyone.
Comments (13)
oklouise
2 years agothis is an excellent plan although it's difficult to be specific without location of north and accurate dimensions and, if you reduce the size of the pantry and laundry, my suggestions include more direct walking path between mudroom and kitchen with easy access to a deep bench for unloading groceries and stocking the pantry, rotating the kitchen island uses less floor space and i've included a more private arrangement for the guest bath but please explain the small space between master ens and upstairs activity?
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Can not live with existing kitchen anymore!
Comments (33)I'd be combining the kitchen and laundry by knocking out the wall between them and concealing the laundry appliances in the new kitchen. Ikea kitchen, nearly new appliances (someone is always selling a new appliance that doesn't fit) and flooring (the new linos look really good or perhaps a laminate floor?) If you had the budget, I'd also turn the bedroom next to the laundry into the dining room so your living area connects to the back deck with a lovely sliding door. Maybe also remove wall between laundry and bedroom to create open plan living? Not sure if this is possible if walls are load bearing, but steel beams can fix that maybe? Dining room then becomes bedroom. I like connecting living rooms to outdoor areas, but that's the Aussie in me. Good luck! P.s. Find a good carpenter who charges by the hour maybe? (I married mine!)...See MoreAdvice on house design
Comments (29)sorry about the drawing, but I quickly just sketched over your plans. I tried to keep the basic design you had just to save on re drawing over, but I would suggest the following as there was a lot of wasted space before. Also keep in mind that you are able to flip the house over (mirror image) if it will be too hot for the bedrooms to be on that side. Following the above drawing I would get rid of all the small hallways and extra doors you have, I would put the activity room directly on the Bed 1 wall and have built in bookshelves around the two walls, this will turn it into a study which will be a better choice for resell value. I would also put a skylight in that room as there are no windows. Entry to Bed 1 will be via the corridor which links all bedrooms, it still gives you dbl doors into the master, WIR and your ensuite. Your ensuite I would move the shower to the end and put floor to ceiling glass and turn it into a dbl shower one side can have dbl vanity and the other the WC and you would also have enough room to install a cupboard which could be a nice decorative on with glass on the top half where you could keep your towels and door on bottom to hide things. I would move Bed 4 in line with the other bedrooms, I did not move the main bathroom but you could move int and have it in the middle between two bedrooms. The main bathroom I would do a wet room which incorporates a bath and the shower behind again floor to ceiling glass. You would still have room for dbl vanity and toilet. By moving the activity room in line with the entry way, it will give you room in the bedroom hallway to incorporate a linen cupboard. By moving the drop zone and putting the PDR room door at that end it allows you to have a bigger laundry. therefore, behind the laundry door you could have overhead cupboards as well as undercounter cupboards for extra storage. Drop zones end up becoming messy and with yours right in the entry way, whenever you had guest your mess will be out in the open. By moving all this around it opens up the main hub of the house; it gives you enough room to extend the kitchen bench a little further down, I would put a large square island in the middle it allows for better flow around the kitchen and it also gives you extra seating, especially for quick breaky with the kids in the morning before running out the door to do school drop offs and work. It also gives you extra cupboard space as you are able to have doors put right around underneath for extra cupboards. Your dining area now has grown and leaves you with extra space along the the new study wall that you can have as a kids zone. Firstly, being little you will want to keep an eye on them secondly as they grow they want their own bedrooms. Your family living area is still the same; I would also wrap the pergola around to the end of the house which enables you to build an outdoor kitchen/bbq area with a table for entertaining and on the other end you could have comfy couches to lounge in when outdoors, have your morning coffee and watch the kids play in the backyard. Hope this helps Good Luck...See MoreDesign ideas for 1970s house
Comments (16)attempting minimum changes to the original structure my suggestions use the rumpus for a new master suite, divides the original living into a media lounge and parents' retreat (a narrow hallway would be wasted space and the remaining lounge is big enough for generous furniture arrangement although there could be a pantry and narrow study?), i've sacrificed the original ens in favour of more space for bed 2 and twin biw for bed 1 and 2, moved the biw in bed 3 for easier furniture placement and a bush view, converted the original wiw into a study and added a mudroom (or open verandah?) to connect the garage to the house.. the main feature of this renovations is the new family room , laundry and pwdr with north and bush views ...size of the rooms will depend on angled boundary and north window in the meals area and there's a laundry and powder room with easy access indoors and out ... the kitchen has been rearranged to reduce traffic in the work areas and enlarge the dining room, the old meals storage moved to the other side of the room and the wall behind the fridge and wall cabinets lowered or an opening added to brighten the hallway (creates a wide shelf above the fridge and cabinets accessed from the hall for display?) and consider solar skylights for the hallway and parents retreat... raising the new floor of the extension to the same level as the kitchen/dining would be ideal with a flat ceiling (saves the expense of attempting to match the original raked ceilings an dteh lower ceiling in the family room will be cosier and focus the view outside) a low skillion roof and deep eaves with tall barge to emphasise the horizontal line of the "flat". roof.. OR a gable roof at right angles to the main house AND?OR the family room could also step down from the dining room but that would use up floor space and lose the breakfast bar stools and maybe there's already enough steps elsewhere in the house eg taking parents' washing around to the new laundry already uses three flight of steps so i've added a laundry chute from the ens..and for heating and cooling there should be opaque roller blinds on the most exposed windows and the outside wall of the deck and Reverse Cycle AC for the whole house plus a gas/electric log fire in the family room for visual appeal and the old garage would make a great rumpus, mancave or kids retreat ....hopefully these changes will make a more comfortable modern home without losing any of the original style and we updated our mission brown to a weathered copper that is less red without changing e original colour era and this version includes a pantry...See MoreRenovate or Knock down rebuild?
Comments (20)I'm just trying to work everything out , and what happened when basically . The front seems quite nice , but I'm trying to work out the original floorplan -- I'm wondering if it was originally a 2 bedroom cottage , with the left side of the house ( looking from the front ) as a lounge and maybe kitchen/dining behind , then an outhouse ? Looking at the pictures and the floorplan , where the kitchen is now is in part of the fibre cement 'addition 1' ? It doesn't look old enough to have had a lower kitchen on a concrete slab -- that slab was generally a step down , and often on one side or the other , but I guess it could have been at the rear , but then it would have been likely to have been in brick too . You say the kitchen is 'falling to bits' ( well , not quite ) -- basicaly , I did wonder about 'just' recladding the rear , maybe demolish the rear lounge and laundry and rebuild that , maybe a bit bigger/deeper , and maybe even step it down , so then you could have sliding doors and a larger terrace , even if it is 150mm lower again ( I'm not a fan because of trip hazards , but some designs are better than others ) . BUT to throw a spanner in the works , how about demo the rear , rebuild kitchen/dining/lounge/terrace 30 or 40cm lower , maybe even on a concrete slab , BUT do a couple of bedrooms and family room/office/master and ensuite / whatever upstairs ? Or maybe 2 more bedrooms , ensuite , bathroom , powder room , study , laundry , whatever you want downstairs , and then kitchen / dining / lounge / family upstairs to get the views ? Basically , a character front and modern rear , maybe match some design elements -- I know you've said a forever home , but value wise in your area you'd probably get your $$$$ back and more -- only problem is it won't be cheap . Its like saying that $1 million painting is sure to appreciate -- thats good in theory , but if you can't afford to buy it , it doesn't overly matter haha ....See MoreEm Abbott
2 years agooklouise
2 years agoEm Abbott
2 years agoYeh I’ll have to get him to redraw the laundry chute once the laundry is configured. It might need to go the other side of the activity. Agree it’s too large!!
I’ve just looked at the pool regs for Victoria and it doesn’t say anything about one gate… but something I’ll double check, because yes the toilet was to be accessible for the pool. Yes we’re planning a 7x3.5 rectangle pool, which will allow for 3m wide between the boundary and pool. I’ve marked up another plan with a few more dimensions.
I don’t have all the dimensions for the laundry/mud /pantry…. But will get them.
I think laundry/mud combined is a good idea. And that will be a highly used space, as the kids rooms are upstairs, it’ll be for laying out clothes, school bags etc.
The kitchen is large as it is, so happy to sacrifice pantry over the laundry.
I prefer the kitchen island the other way I think, so when you come from the hallway to a big wide space.
Em Abbott
2 years agoSunfish House
2 years agooklouise
2 years agoEm Abbott
last yearI’ve got our plans!! I’ve just screen shots, so the scale may not be right, but can be worked out from some of the dimensions on the plan.
We’re definitely getting there!!
oklouise
last year
Kate
last yearEm Abbott
last year
oklouise