Can you provide some more information about who will be living there and how you see the spaces being used?

For example I note what appears to be the smallest secondary bedroom has a door to the bathroom/wc.and also opens directly into the rumpus room, so there are some issues around functionality and privacy there, as well as possibly furniture layout in the rumpus room. Is there a reason you want that access?

In some ways I like those walk-in closet style studies but I think it depends on how the space will be used. If there is a chance it will be used as a full-time work from home space would you miss having a window?.

Voids have wow factor but hot air rises.

Have you thought about window placement in regard to light and climate control? Is north at the top of the plan? It usually is but sometimes plans get posted turned around so just want to be sure before commenting on that.

I’m not seeing a spare bath upstairs to remove. Master is huge. Overall there seems to be a lack of general storage for linen and other household items. Is there a laundry chute as it’s a long way to laundry. Downstairs the study is not very amenable and there is a privacy issue with entry to bedroom and bathroom exposed to family space.

A family home that large needs a separate toilet upstairs (with a basin).

And the front lounge is not very big and a window seat is specified but it’s not in a bay? Add furniture to all rooms.

The garage is only 5500mm deep and the width has that adding stepped in wall. This is not enough room for large cars/4wd if you have those vehicles. There will be no access around vehicles. Delete door into bathroom in bed 3. As said by others, where is is the “other bathroom” upstairs. Need a separate powder room upstairs. Agree with @Kate, where is the linen, Christmas tree, general storage cupboards? You have said you want the WOW factor, personally this is achieved by the furnishings, personal treasures and the “feel” of the home, not by the size of the house. where is north on your plan?

The laundry is small for this size home. How many people live in the home? Where will your sort your clothes before washing.eg dark/light? Where will the clothesline be? Where is a large linen cupboard. I would actually make the “study” into your linen/storage, and make the front “lounge” into the study.

You have mentioned the width of the home across the block. What is the width of the home? You still require the regulated set backs on the sides, and ideally a 1500mm set back on one side with full access from the garage. This will then enable wheelbarrows, tradespeople etc etc, to access the backyard with out going through the home.

Where are you going to keep your council bins?

Hi Guys @macyjean @oklouise @dreamer @Kate @bigreader, thank you for your comments. Here are the answers:

- We are leaving 1500mm on the garage's side and 1000 on the other side.

- Sun's direction is attached in the photo.

- We are a family of 3 people and might extend to 4

- Ideally, we wanted a jack and jill plan for our house (old plan attached). We changed this because we thought that the ensuites/Walk-ins were becoming small and there was no space for linen

- We want to connect our son's room also with the bathroom upstairs (kind of smaller master)

- We will hardly have anyone upstairs other than our family members so that's why didn't have an extra powder room upstairs

- Clothesline will be in the backyard and there will be a stand to dry the clothes in the area between the garage and the laundry

- Study will be used as full-time office space and most likely the door will be open during work hrs as there will be just 1 person at home

Please pore in your suggestions :)

@oklouise I really loved your plan. Can you please tell me regarding the direction of the stairs on the first floor? Will Rumpus on the other side make the house look smaller?

you need to check with your local council as i expect there must be a 1500 set back on the side with the two storey wall ...not the garage side! the direction of the stairs is the same as your original plan just the wasted extra wide hallways have been changed and the rumpus is much more open at the front of the house and i don't understand what you mean by the rumpus making the house look smaller?? despite reducing the original size by about 5 squares, all the rooms have plenty of space for standard furniture, the kitchen, pantry, laundry, all the bathrooms, wardrobes and storage are more spacious and the three way shared bathroom (including a separate powder room much more suitable to be shared by three bedrooms ...imo it's a mistake to consider only your present needs as families change, children grow and parents age or you may need to sell the house so consider a range of options for all the rooms

Jack and Jill bathrooms have a privacy issue and are not the way to go. If only 3, using okl plan you could add doors to create a wing for your son of the two bedrooms and bath. The extra bedroom can be study or wir or play space.

Will your “ family members” be staying on a regular basis? You are spending a lot of space on extra bathrooms for infrequent users. I’m concerned that a family of three will only be using certain rooms, and the rest of the home will not get used. Is the home size a true consideration of what is required for you and your family members? Taking into account the granny flat included in your plan.

@oklouise The arrow direction in your plan is opposite to the direction I have. In the original plan, the stairs open towards the bathroom and the rumpus is on the left to give the feeling of open space.

I really like the way you have done it as all the rooms become bigger and less space is wasted. Just only concerned about having rumpus on the opposite side of the stairs might make the area look smaller. What do you think?

@dreamer No it will be mostly 3 of us or 1 more addition to the family

@Kate I like your idea and it will solve our purpose as well. Just not sure where to add a door in the bathroom as @oklouise plans look so perfect

re reading your post about the location of rumpus room ....the upstairs central hallway including the stairs is 2.2m wide and 7.4m long with doors opening to the balcony so no risk of feeling small and a skylight might help light the area more but i made the bedrooms and rumpus the same size to allow the rumpus and any bedroom to be swopped over BUT opening up the rumpus to the stairwell makes the space more open but sacrifices the privacy of the bedrooms as there will be downstairs and rumpus room noise closer to the bedrooms while the rumpus at the front allows that room to be used as a parent's retreat without disturbing sleeping children

Given the garage is the biggest thing about the house I would imagine finding any "wow" factor is going to quite challenging.  Prioritise your people over your vehicles. Fewer small rooms.

Just a point of interest. The bathroom upstairs is over the dining area in your plan. Depending on what suspended flooring you are having the following may be an issue. Timber suspended flooring, every time the toilet flushes or water from shower is coming down the drains, it might be heard when seated at the dining table. Or if concrete suspended slab, the ceiling on lower floor may need to be dropped to allow for plumbing. Check with builder.

For me, the three car garage has plenty of 'wow' factor. The idea of having room for a boat, caravan, workshop, or just for the teen-ager to park their car, is fantastic!

I agree with dreamer that beautiful fittings and furnishings can add a wow factor inside the house.

I love the tweaks oklouise had made to your plans

I like Oklouise's plan too.

Are you still trying to include a door directly to the bathroom? Is there reason?

What about Kate's idea?

The problem with a door direct from a secondary bedroom, two problems really, it means whoever is using the bathroom needs to remember to lock both doors, and it reduces wall space for towel rails. So of you want to do that it's best to think about whether the advantages for your particular lifestyle outweigh drawbacks.

I’d have a sliding door to close offf kids bedroom wing. Move linen entry to main hall. You can flip bathroom if you want entry more private

You could also add a door between bed 2 and 3 and your son could use those rooms. Okl plan is great as so flexible for growing family or resale.

The wow factor can be achieved in many ways. You have a big parcel of land at 700sqm. At the moment you have a big box as your house plan with, in my opinion, too many rooms for only 3 occupants. You obviously have a decent budget, so look at a plan that has multifunctional rooms, that will offer the same use but not vacant rooms not being used. You have 5 bedrooms and 3 bathrooms and 4 living areas, for 3 people. Do you have a view, will you ever actually sit at the balcony or just have to sweep it when dust accumulates. Build smart not necessarily big. Are you needing a house with all these rooms, or are you trying to impress friends and family. We all want to impress our friends and family, but a nice looking home with a wonderful FEEL and the WOW factor doesn’t have to be lots of rooms that may not get used.

Based on wow... i like the idea of study enclosed in glass, could be a future wine room lol '?' Is open , bar/ appliance/ pull out pantry/ wall oven etc. 'DFP' double sided fire place.

My thoughts on adding Wow is to the reverse the stairs and move the Void to open over the stairs which will add light to the middle of the hallway, with a narrow library on the landing next to the Living Media which connects to the bedrooms.

I have positioned the Office off the kitchen /family with a laundry mudroom when entering from the garage, no need for laundry chutes, just throwing the bed linen and towels over the banister they will arrive outside the laundry

I was trying to have windows in all the rooms/bathrooms. Do you guys think it should be ok we that's not the case?

Hi Megs, If you are referring to my floorplans, yes all liveable rooms must have windows I just haven't marked them all, I was just trying to see if you like my suggestions or not, before spending anymore time, cheers

all windows need to be sized and located to suit the orientation and outlook and the final plans will also have to consider BASIX and neighbouring properties ... my plan only shows windows for rooms where there is no better alternative and every main room and bathroom has external walls and potential for suitable windows and rooms without external walls like halls, storage and mudroom can have solar skylights added to improve lighting ..

Another thought is to swap the reversed staircase to the garage wall, doing this allows a large opening into the front living room this with an open staircase with a void over makes your entrance light and expansive.

I have added and made other changes as well, one is to consider a large tall window in the WIP foregoing any wall cabinets which makes this space light, bright and open.

Upstairs I have widened the Library, this will also make moving furniture more accessible.

Your designer will advise you on any possible window, building over looking over shadowing situations, this is all much easier if you build before your neighbours

View both ways