The design sounds gorgeous. Love the white kitchen with beams and big windows.

What is the intended use for the area labelled "sitting"? At the moment it looks like a big corridor, except it's bigger than either the master bedroom or the kitchen

This is what the designer wrote on the drawing - we are thinking of having a pool table here for hubby and kids, with wall bench seating along the centre partition wall.

The butler pantry he has drawn in is far too large, I think he put it here to try to make use of the partition wall which cannot be removed without major steel structures and $$$$ being added to the reno.

I'm open to any suggestions for layouts if you have any for either the kitchen or the empty area 'sitting' :)

Could you pls post the original house plan?

I personally don't like the bedroom 4 on it's own near the front door. Could it go where the current kitchen is?

Would swop bed 4 and lounge

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Kate, good job.

Is north to the back where you are planning big windows?

it is already a pretty bog house why not just take out the wall between the lounge and family put your kitchen innthis space, make the current kitchen the ”pool room, you could mabye move the wall cliser to the ftont door.

and then extend ypur master bedroom.

We are facing NE at the front. The wall between the kitchen and sitting cannot be removed due to being a structural wall. We are also on a sloping split level house, we have 3 steps to enter into the lower living area. Also the dotted line horizontally across drawing are the beam structures and we cannot move the walls unders these.

B4 is a spare bedroom that is only used when family / friends visit from overseas, which is why we don't mind it being the opposite side of the house, as it has its own sitting area on the lower area behind it and it's own front access door, so they can come and go without disrupting the main house.

can you supply dimensions of the whole new kitchen living dining area

Dimensions of the new area. The green are walls or sections of wall that cannot be removed due to roof beam support. Also the small square in the middle of the room is a column to support another beam.

We have beautiful rear views of the valley and hills and want to utilise these views and have them more visible from within the home / living area as they are so beautiful.

So your big wall of windows will face south west?

Have you had a look at

https://www.yourhome.gov.au/

your aspect has a significant impact on the livability of a home.

Yes we will have south west rear windows. I haven't looked at the site, I will now. Can you explain the impact of the livability - is this due to the summer / winter sun? sorry this is all new to me, so need to ensure that we are not about to make a huge expensive mistake. Thanks

depending where you live, but generally having living spaces to the north is best for light and warmth.

have a look back through posts on here for ideas and explanations.

good luck

On your original plan the study protrudes out past the dining kitchen does this mean you are changing the front of the house as well and has the carport changed

We are not touching the front of the house. It was a misprint on the agents drawing when we moved into the house. Sorry for the confusion.

started reading regarding the south east windows and heating etc. So much I was not aware of and so glad I have had this brought to my attention now, as nothing was said about this in the drawings or providing some overhang to protect from the summer sun. Even more to work out and think of :(

This is so overwhelming, I am starting to understand why people build rather than renovate! We have a great block of land with amazing views and need to be very careful with our design to work within our budget and still have a updated beautiful home to live in.

Estate agents drawings are often wrong. Is the study for working from home or just a study. How may people and age range are you. The same with OS visitors?

The pool needs external access to a bathroom, will the current position of the laundry and bathroom work with this.

In this layout I have left the study area open to the kitchen family for natural light and to enjoy that amazing view, would the whole family use this space.

Going by your plan the support wall is approx 1800, I suggest cabinets on either or both sides in the kitchen and study, with the support beam having the heater incorporated with it..

There's a door from the study to the bedroom bathroom wing. The family bathroom is terribly small and wonder if it would be better to move it into the front living space using the current plumbing, with a separate powder room These are just basic ideas. The old laundry could then be enlarged to include a toilet to service the pool. Where do you plan on having the clothes line and is the carport at the same level as the ground floor of the house. The WIP shows a bifold window to BBQ the Media room ca be used as a rumpus room with the BBQ . A pergola would be ideal for the BBQ area preferably one the ca be open or closed to suit weather

The laundry has a door to the side of the house, and this is the entry that people use for the pool / bathroom run. The study area would be to work from home and would be more ideal to be in a closed off room to ensure have quiet for when in meetings etc.

We are currently a family of 5, 2 older teenage girls 21 & 18(one moving out of home soon), and a young boy 8. Before covid we would have OS visitors once / twice a year for approx 4 -6 weeks at a time. The views are more south easterly.

Our longer goal is on the deck area to the right of the pool will be pergola area with outdoor seating, BBQ area and a bar accessible through sliding doors into the bottom of the room far right. This room will be divided into 2 with a smaller bar area at the bottom accessing the outdoor pergola and the middle interior is currently a craft / hobby / small business room - and changes to a lounge area for OS visitors.

I hope all this makes sense.

I'm now looking at the potential changes for the family bathroom and laundry to be changed, this is a great idea, as yes I agree the family bathroom is very small for the house.

with so many different needs my suggestions include grouping the everyday family living areas and having the guest/study/office/customer spaces upstairs and the guest room near the bathroom ...rooms should be multipurpose eg a sofa bed in the study will provide an extra bed when there's a crowd and the bigger guest room has enough space for a sitting area so the small lounge has multiple uses...lose the extra steps to improve furniture options in rumpus and study and adding an extra doorway into the long hall improves access to the master suite and toilet ..an alternative arrangement for the ensuite allows for a bigger shower and storage cupboard and using the "sitting area" for the pantry and study nook, keeps the kitchen from encroaching on the family room and swopping location of dining and family allows better circulation space and views to the pool and the best way to shade the west facing windows is to consider external adjustable blinds for master, family and dining area and a generous roof over the alfresco and include skylights for kitchen and pantry