Hi again. I remember, this split level. What if you stole a bit of living to get a decent ensuite.

i also remember this house but the sizes of the rooms are inconsistent and what is the purpose of the new central room with the original steps and why the extra steps? please confirm the sizes of the original bathroom, ens, laundry, toilet, hall and biw

I can understand wanting two toilets. But in a house this compact, is it necessary to have two full bathrooms? I'd prefer one good size bathroom (next to the master) and a decent powder room rather than two reasonably small bathrooms.

Hi guys,

Thanks so much for the feedback.

Kate: Moving the bedroom wall is a fairly significant structural change. And we don't see a commensurate benefit in increasing the size of the ensuite. Moving the wall would also interfere with the prospect of putting in stairs to the basement.

Oklouise: Sorry, some of the writing in the image is a bit small as displayed in Houzz. The new central room is a general storeroom, giving us lots of extra storage capacity in the house. The extra stairs take you down from the lounge room to the basement. Hence we will lose a small amount of room in the storeroom for headspace on the basement stairs.

Ens: 2.20x0.95m

BIW: 1.60x0.95m

Original bathroom: 2.80x1.80

Laundry: 1.80x1.80m

Toilet: 1.80x0.95m

Hall: 1.00x2.80m

Jess892222: We're certainly not against the idea of a bathroom and a powder room only. But don't see how to make that work in our split level house.

why does the central storage room need to keep the old stairs from the lounge when access near the kitchen should be enough and how do you access the basement now and is extra access absolutely necessary as the extra stairs use a lot of space needed for furniture and circulation space

The store room is in the same location as the old bathroom and does NOT contain the old stairs.

The stairs depicted in the new storeroom take you from the lower level, in the lounge, to the under-story/basement, under the upper level. There will be a cellar and additional storage in the basement.

We currently have to go outside to access the space under the house. Access is quite circuitous and not terribly pleasant on a cold and wet night.

Sounds like you are pretty set on your plan and have explored many options. Not sure how we can help further.

the room sizes in your proposed new floorplan don't allow enough space for circulation, furniture and fixtures .eg the new shower room isn't wide enough for a vanity under the window, the king bed means not enough space for bedside tables although you could have a wall hung shelf with lamps and consider a kitchen trolley instead of a fixed island in the kitchen and moving the main bathroom to allow for the basement stairs makes sense but make sure there is a solid door to avoid drafts and keep the original stairs but the new storage space is not wide enough for storage and walking space so better used in the bedroom and study and hopefully internal access to the basement will allow for more storage

Thank you so much Oklouise. You are extraordinarily generous with your thoughts and expertise.

I do take your point on all counts.

We are struggling to find the best compromises and find it very difficult to project how functional various choices will be to live with.

I note, we have consulted with a design professional. Unfortunately, we did not find the outcome to be completely satisfactory.

The rationale for moving the stairs is principally to provide more room at the entryway. Our main entry door is the bottom of the 3 doors to the left of the image. In addition, moving the stairs means we can extend the table more comfortably on occasion and it also provides a little more accessible space in the 'basement'.

Given these benefits, do you still think moving the stairs, as suggested, is a poor compromise?

A moveable island is certainly worth exploring further.

With 60cm deep counters along the walls, a 1.3x1.3m island provides clearances of 1.2m to the bottom, 1.1m to the right and 0.8m to the left. I appreciate that 0.8m is a little tight.

Is 1.1m the minimum clearance you would suggest?

Our thinking was that we could compromise flow on one side of the island in favor of more storage and counter-space in the island.

And finally, if I haven't already exhausted your goodwill, could I change your mind on the vanity in the en-suite if we steal a little space from the closets (see attached)?

You've given us plenty of food for thought in the layout of the guest room/study too.

Thanks again.

We just finished renovating the interior of our small split-level house, and finding the right contractor was a bit of a challenge. We wanted someone who could do a good job, but we also didn't want to spend a fortune. We finally found a contractor who did a great job and was very reasonable. The whole process took about two months from start to finish. We started by painting the walls and ceilings and replaced the eavestrough. We then replaced all the flooring throughout the house. We also replaced all the doors and hardware. The kitchen and bathrooms were the most challenging, but the end was worth it. We are so happy with how everything turned out. We would definitely recommend this contractor to anyone looking for a renovation.