The house

the photo shows a rooms with windows at the front of the house but how do they access the garage?...are there any other garages or carports and what is the distance from the exterior of the house to the boundaries and/or a rough site plan showing location of all buildings on the block will be useful

Removing the wall between kitchen and living creating island and moving beach to laundry wall is a great start. You could do large bifold doors onto porch to open up the space. What is the garage used for and accessed. Does the bathroom need gutting? Who uses what bedroom. Is house on stumps

It appears that the front porch along with what was a carport/sunroom are under the flat roof? Has the carport /sunroom flooring been raised to the same level as the porch if so what materials have been used.

Thanks so much Houzzers. We think adding a shower to existing laundry space is an excellent idea. Very easy to relocate laundry to the wall space next door. Trying to avoid complete removal of walls due to load bearing.

To the right hand of the house is part of the garage that previous owners closed in the Floor level is three steps down
I like the idea of removing the wall between the kitchen and living, but I'm not sure how to make that space work to include kitchen dining and living
The bathroom does need gutting
The garage is used for storage. There is a carport elsewhere for cars so cars will never need to go in there.

Thanks so much Oklouise. I really like how you've planned the kitchen , dining , living. We are thinking re budget constraints that for now we may combine bed 2 and 3 and use existing bathroom as ensuite... rejigg slightly as ideally we'd love a bath and shower. By putting extra shower in laundry space we have created a small extra bathroom. Later if budget allows we can utilise the garage for extra living. I'd really appreciate it if you could sketch this concept for me to see if it works in reality.

losing a bedroom and changing to a smaller laundry to create the new master suite and extra bathroom would not be my choice and would probably not cost much less than a master suite in the old garage (and that work can be staged while living in the home)... i've produced your plan as requested but my original suggestion has two living area, 4 bedrooms, two bathrooms and a powder room and your plan has lost two bedrooms and a powder room at what savings in money, materials and disruption while the work is being done??? make sure that you obtain quotes for all the plumbing and electrical and any other work that can't be DIY by your BIL before considering any ideas

Thanks so much for doing that plan…what you suggest does have merit also.appreciate your help.

I like OKL think the master suite would be better moved to the garage which allows your adult son and other family a separate space when needed, believe me I know as we have an adult son living with us and others visiting and staying.

Thankyou siriuskey
Agree it would be very good…..however I think perhaps it would be more expensive to create a bathroom in that space..and the garage would need plastering etc etc?

Talking to my sister, she is warming to OKL plan. Thankyou …we hadn’t thought to utilize that space for a bedroom…and BIL ok with costings.
Do you think a peninsula on the DW wall could work, rather than the island being in line with TV wall?

i think sister and BIL will find a more private master suite a great improvement and the old bathroom can be just for adult son and guest and i would do the new master suite first to give BIL an easier starting point( but they should first check with council and plumber to plan the water pipes and sewerage before starting any other work) but starting with the master suite means that they could live in comfort while the rest of the work is being done and...thinking about the kitchen counters...a peninsula as you suggest would be ok but then there would be three doorways almost side by side between kitchen, living and entry, that wall space is the only option i can find for the TV and the opening at the sink end avoids the dreaded corner cabinet but is also better location for DW and easy access from kitchen to dining and outside...always best to locate furniture and plan where you will walk around.... especially when there's a crowd of grandchildren in and out

I agree with OKL using the garage space as this would give you 4 bedrooms whereas your thoughts reduced you to 2 bedrooms. This also gives you ease to fit out the master suite without intruding on your current living space, and allows for you to do things a you can afford.

I have reduced the master to enable a larger westerly facing space under the flat roof but you could configure to suit.

With a separate master suite I feel the need for a 3rd toilet is not needed so have opened up the WC in the laundry to the existing bathroom

Thanks so much siriuskey for your input. Agree..3rd toilet not necessary …makes better use of old laundry , mud room space. I think she’d still like to put a bath in the family bathroom if possible. Can we squeeze a bit more storage in the new main bedroom

Sorry I overlooked the bath but there should be plenty of room for a tub which would replace the toilet. I also thought that with 4 bedrooms there would be plenty of extra robe space but something as per the following

Wow Thankyou Siriuskey ,Kate and OKL. Together you have given us a lot to think about and fabulous options that certainly will make the house very liveable.we are very grateful.

Contributing another last min option . Good Luck!

I like that.

Thanks so much Jane. Great use of space , very clever. I think I prefer the larger kitchen option.. although they are almost empty nesters a big kitchen is important. Thanks for your input.

Just workshopping the bathroom now and struggling to make it work. We are utilising the whole of the existing garage for bedroom and ensuite. Ensuite will go at the front of the house side. We would love a large stone bath 1700 x 800, a vanity , a seperate toilet and a walk in shower and storage. Ideas and sketches welcome please.

Here's the bath.

this bath is not suitable for an ensuite with limited space as it needs at least 20cms all around to allow for cleaning space..my suggestion includes a built in bath and walk in shower in an enclosed wet room, separate toilet and 1500 wide vanity (with underbench storage and mirror doored wall cabinets) in a separate room to allow for a wide opening to the wiw (with optional sliding doors) to allow for more space in the narrow wiw

Another idea to add to OKL with a possible different door into the master. The ensuite would be best on the Western wall and having to build up the floor inline with the rest of the house will allow for the shower fall. Perhaps because you plan on having a bath in the ensuite you don't need a second in the family bathroom?

another option

Now that you are considering the option to turn the old garage into a Master suite with a bath, you really don't need a bath in the other bathroom plus two toilets should be enough which frees up space for a WIP . You could keep a third toilet at the end of the laundry mudroom if you wanted.