Put a basin in the upstairs toilet room.

@oklouise and @dreamer attached layout with missing measurements. I have looking to build a maximum of 23sq (213 sqm) on a land size which is 256 sqm.

As for the setbacks - yes these are the regulations.

I agree on the comments around the kitchen space/area - really struggling to come up with an ideal combination. Any suggestions ?

The other challenge is the master ensure on first floor - in two minds whether to get rid of the WIR and replace it with ENS (will only fit single vanity), open up the room by freeing up the space currently marked by ENS. Instead of WIR , add a three sliding door rob on one side of the room?

Walk in storage wastes precious space. Laundry needs to be flipped to access full store under stair. Garage is fine, standard dim in vic.
Cab you add the dimensions for master ensuite- and room dimensions wall to wall, forgetting robes

Good to see on second posted plans you have changed swing of laundry door.

This very rough, not to scale suggestion for the upper storey. Placing the two minor bedrooms and bathroom together on the left of stairs, and the master bedroom with WIR and ensuite on the right.

This very rough not to scale suggestion for the kitchen meals area. Delete the peninsula and extend cabinets across the complete wall for a more useful pantry. Install an island, which will give more space for meals area.

@Kate update the floor plan - is this what you mean by flipping the staircase to utilise the store ? I wonder if the laundry plus linen can go under the staircase to widen the family area or am i pushing it? Don't mind getting rid of the store if so.

dimension have been updated as well.

@dreamer updated the kitchen area as below. got rid of the awkward WIP , opened up the island from both ends and managed to add the WIP. Even added the photos - source of inspiration. What do you think ?

@dreamer thank you for suggesting the changes on first floor however preference is to keep the master where it is - gives a bit of privacy by not having recreation area right outside of it?

Challenge is whether to get rid of the WIR and replace it with ENS (will only fit single vanity), open up the room by freeing up the space currently marked by ENS. Instead of WIR , add a three sliding door rob on one side of the room(entrance wall side).

Also, keen to get everyone's view whether it will be possible to add the laundry and linen under one side of the staircase on ground floor with view to widen the family area.

thank you

I think Kate meant to flip the LAUNDRY lay out, so you can access the void space under the stairs. We have done this with out stairwell and can access the void from garage and inside, therefore the full underneath of stairs are accessible.

My floor plan of stairwell for context to above photos.

you are pushing expectations because all the rooms need to have enough room for scale sized furniture and circulation space and your plan doesn't have the stairs lined up on both floors...starting with the setbacks and allowing for wall thickness and maximum 213 sq m my suggestions include...reconsider dual windows on the front facade, omit the alcove near the front door, reverse the door opening to create some privacy at entry, lose direct access from guest room to bathroom, there's not enough head room to push the whole laundry under the stairs (but add side access under the stairs allows access to low storage from laundry side as well as separate tall shallow storage under the stairs accessed from hall...the family room is already suitable for basic sitting area and the laundry wall allows space for bookshelves and TV and that wall space would be lost without the separate laundry ... lose the idea of a walk in pantry and fixed island that needs far more space and use a wall of base and wall cabinets for pantry and study nook and a central moveable island (check Ikea and similar for big kitchen trolleys) would allow enough space for an extendable dining table with proper chairs instead of island stool and no dining table....UPSTAIRS with the stairs properly aligned with downstairs allows more space for a WIW and generous ens with double vanity, comfortable shared bathroom and bedrooms with biw and a sitting room with study area but some minor variations may be needed depending on direction of north to minimize overheating from afternoon sun

@dreamer made the changes to first floor as per your earlier suggestions - is this what you are expecting? The dimensions mentioned in the layout are now most likely incorrect and architect will have to re-draw it.

Also, made changes to the ground floor in the laundry - i assume this is what you and Kate meant?

@oklouise - thank you for the feedback , will definitely take onboard and appreciate you drawing up the plans.

Really liked the suggested layout on first layout however i am not sure how will i be able to fit the master en suite in the marked area with the space available- its assuming 1.8M width that i don't have unless i am missing something obvious here?

As oklouise has said, your stairs don’t line up with bottom to top floor. Your family area is 4000mm to laundry wall then the stairs. Upstairs you have master is 4000mm then the stairs. Therefore your drawings are not correct by the width of laundry.

the reason i have enlarged the ens in that location is because your original plans appear to have the stairs in the wrong position and i have also rotated the master bedroom to make better use of available space

Thank you @oklouise - really liked your first floor suggestions as it gives me everything that i was looking for.

Will send this through to the draftee and lets see the outcome.

Thank you all; seriously appreciate everyone's comments/suggestions/ideas!

@oklouise -hi again, just wondering how have you managed to get a 3900 x 4300 family area on the ground floor because the draftee has sent a revised layout (attached) and he is saying that only 3350 x 4510 is possible ?

depends on sizes allowed for hallway and kitchen and your draftee will have the correct dimensions that can't be achieve with my vintage CAD program

Try and have a flat landing on stairs

At 3350mm that is a very narrow space for family. And it is a thoroughfare to a sliding door for outside. Think about your furniture placement. Where would you put your furniture, tv, etc. Mark out this size room with tape on the floor, in your current home. Is it workable? Can the sliding door be placed at the other window area, and the current sliding door become a highlight window for better furniture placement in such a small area.

Draftee has specified stairs that are 40 wider in total (20cm for each flight) than oklouise. This accounts for the majority of the difference.

The stairs in my house area only as wide as oklouise specified; they are a bit narrow, but the house your planning is small.

Otherwise the draftees plans have the family room about 15cm smaller each way than oklouise plan. This is probably due to differences in specified external wall thickness.

Upstairs steal space from hall to add basin in toilet. Or select a toilet with integrated sink for times when bathroom is occupied

And I’ll add bigger plan would be to extend out back to add second bath in a new master using bed 3 and laundry

I'am coming in late with this but I agree with CP that you have a lot of smaller rooms to accommodate your list.

There are too many living spaces which reduces the size of the bedrooms.

By changing things around making the front room Guest/living, will make for a much larger family space. I have added a frosted highlight window to allow light into the laundry.

This may appeal to you and your family cheers

@Kate what do you mean by flat landing on stairs? Any photos for me to have an idea ?

@oklouise@dreamer@jen876 3350mm for a family area is defintely feels narrow , i am hoping i can at least have a 4000mm. Having a bit of deeper look and comparing the oklouise's layout with what my draftee has done - it appears the major difference is the wider size in laundary and stairs in the one from draftee.

What is the minumum width required for a standard laundary and stairs ?

@siriuskey thank you for your views and i do agree that i am trying to fit in a lot of options in a small size house. i feel most of the items are sorted in my layout except for the family area on ground floor which i am somehow trying to adjust to 4000mm+.

The primary requirement is 4bdr and i am not sure about having a bath on the entrance which will also mean no window at the front :-|

A long laundry needs depth of cabinets/washing machine plus door, doors 820 plus trim cabinets 600 Machine 800, I like 1800.

Return stairs 2 x width of treads ,2m plus as show

OKL and my floorplan show flat connecting landing between stair sections, mine is 1m x 2125 I could extend the second section to allow the stairs bit more depth. (I think your Draftee has included some curved stairs in the second section)

Powder rooms are often at the front door for convenience. I have a highlight window facing the garage but you could have it on the front facade which can work what style of house are wanting

4 Bedrooms are a lot for the house size but the Multi function living ,Media, guest room would cover that, plus making the 3 bedrooms upstairs larger takes away the need for an extra rooms as the bedrooms serve this need for the individuals

it's difficult to be specific about the draftees plans without all the dimensions as i wrongly assumed that the draftee would minimise the width of the laundry and stairwell sizes to maximize other areas but size of stairwell has and impact on upstairs and down so please post larger sections of both levels of the latest draftee plans showing all the measurements along the sides

Regarding the stair well landing. Your first plan posted looks like the stairwell had one step on the landing. Oklouise and siriuskey have shown plans with a flat landing on stairwell. Your draftee has drawn plans with diagonal stairs on the turn of stairs. (Therefore no “landing” the steps just continue around to next level) Below are images of a flat landing and diagonal stair turn. It depends on what the length of the stairwell is, to accommodate the amount of stairs required, making sure the steps are to Australian standards. If you note oklouise plan of stairs and your first drawing posted the stairwell length is 3200mm and 3000mm respectively, however the draftee plans look as though they are only 2800mm?

Stairs can be made to fit into different spaces by adjusting the rise and depth of step, mine is shown as 3m which could be a bit shallow but can be adjusted by adding more steps to the second section, these details can be confirmed if the client likes what they are being shown as a suggested floorplan.

I should mention that by making the bedrooms bigger QB's will fit as shown, kids grow and don't readily leave home,

I have done a basic 3D of the front exterior showing how a PWR window would look

This with a better PWR layout with the shower being behind a wall so the PWR is more visually pleasing when looking in from the hallway and only seeing the vanity.

I have expanded the front room and changed the kitchen to include a walk in food and appliance storage on 300 deep shelves

so i received updated layouts from the draftee which is below. I am really happy with the first floor which is a result of various feedback i received here.

As for the ground floor - i am not entirely sure for the kitchen/family area. A few points:

• i am hoping for a bit of dedicated dinning area similar to what i posted in my previous layout but for some reason draftee isnt able to fit it in within the available space....
• Not sure why the width of stairs have to be 2300MM where as some of you have it between 1800-2000MM. As per draftee this is minimum.
• I am keen to have a guest room on ground floor and lounge at the entrance.
• This is an investment property for rental.

What is your opinion / suggestions ?

Please put a basin in main loo, and when you enter ensuite, you can't close the door, unless you are 26cm wide
Or stand on the toilet
However to reach the loo you need to climb up on to the basins...
I think a cavity slider is in order.

@kiwimills when you basin in main loo - i assume you mean in WC on first floor ? Definitely agree with putting a cavity slider in the master ensuite.

@Kate @oklouise @dreamer all of you have been really helpful in providing very constructive feedback so will appreciate your take on the latest layout and post. Thank you

No probs. Push for a flat stair landing. Add cupboard under stair on ground floor. Ditch the small linen upstairs and add to bathroom. Add basin in 1st floor loo. I’d also move the linen to the study nook and make ensuite bigger.

all great suggestions @Kate and i will take them onboard. Any suggestions for the ground floor specifically around the kitchen and family area to have more space in the family area ?

Here’s the thing you are trying to squeeze in 4 bedrooms and three living spaces resulting in all rooms being minimum size. That works well if you don’t want family all together in any room. So go back to your priorities. What you have will be great for a share house. I’d put a big table in the back area with the kitchen. Squeezing more out of layout. Can you use space under stairs, can laundry be in a cupboard. Do I need an island or will a peninsula do in kitchen. Can table back up to island.

Are you building a home for a family to enjoy living areas together and not separated, or a rental investment property to maximise your own income. You have said it is an investment property, so therefore that is the home you are building. A small block with lots of small rooms. If you are wanting the lower floor to have bigger rooms, then move the laundry to the front , adding in some decent storage facility’s, therefore removing the small lounge room.

To make more space, why haven’t you built over the garage?

there is no point in our suggestions unless your draftee is prepared to either do what you want or explain why it can't be done ..with such limited space there needs to be compromises and imo the original stairs are much too wide and there should be a landing instead of the unsafe uncomfortable winding stairs and there is too much space used in hallways and oversized linen cupboards when the bathroom vanities would have plenty of storage for linen and there's also the understair space with generous extra storage accessed from both the hallway and the laundry. (swopping sides and moving the laundry tub allows a setdown and hanging space when coming in from the garage as well as easier access to more of the understairs)..the new door between bed 4 and ens allows for a bigger shower and helps control privacy and adding furniture shows space for a small dining and family areas and there's a bigger kitchen and more useable pantry storage...upstairs both the ens and bathroom have more standing space and there's a separate vanity and powder room

Okl that’s heaps better. I’d just make the ground floor bath have a pocket door onto hallway and make the front lounge a study. :

Because space is so tight you could have a laundry cupboard plus a powder room under the stairs to free up more space in the bathroom

The kitchen runs across the room with a WIP extension behind the laundry cupboard the full height window will fill that with natural light it would be possible to add narrow shelves on the opposite wall for food stuffs

The sitting area is more spacious with the TV wall having storage shelves added

Entrance from the garage would be into the new Pergola Alfresco and then into the family room kitchen

The Alfresco behind the garage would be protected and could have a BBQ outdoor kitchen and fireplace which will help to extend the living space

You could also have the laundry opening into the WIP some may not like this but if behind doors it would make a difference

The landing part of the stairs can be used for storage in the garage, lawn mower etc.

The possibility of opening up the stairs to the family room will help expand that space,, the stairs can be reversed, my CAD program has shown a hand rai on the back wall of the platform instead of the side!

The end wall in the dining having glass slider doors will help make that space bigger and brighter and without knowing the aspect there could be a clothes line attached to the wall to the left next to the laundry cabinet .

These are all just ideas that you might find helpful, final drawings and dimensions are to be done by your Draftee

I have swapped and built in under the stairs, I actually prefer the stairs opening up next to the kids lounge but it's whatever "floats your boat"