Please help me with my kitchen floorplan nightmare!
Hi all. My partner and I bought our first house 10 months ago. When we met the new neighbours they were excited to tell us that we'd managed to buy the worst house on the street and they couldn't wait to see what we did with the place! Personally I think we probably bought the worst house in the whole suburb, but also the cheapest, and the absolute only place we could afford.
Everything needs work. There's foundation issues big time, electrical issues, drainage issues, shonky addition issues, you name it we're going to have to deal with it. On top of that, the floorplan is terrible, the aspect is terrible... Again, it's all we could afford and pretty much our only chance to escape being renters forever!
I have so many things I would love advice about, but right now my biggest dilemma is with the plan for the kitchen/sunroom area. I've been using a little electric camp stove for 10 months now and am close to breaking point. I need to sort out the kitchen.
The original cabinetry had to go before I could move in. The house had been basically abandoned for a couple of years, and the original (1930's) kitchen was in a state of disrepair. It was bad, it had to go, and has been replaced by a temporary IKEA cabinetry style kitchen with an industrial style stainless benchtop, and an impractical and frustrating pantry setup. The room is long and thin and without major renovations (we'll save up and hopefully do this... in about 5 years time) it's proving quite a design challenge.
There is an existing original fireplace with exposed red brick along the internal wall. The plan was to keep this for now and put the oven in the space, and fitting the rangehood up into the chimney. And this plan was close to going ahead until we realised the lintel in the chimney didn't leave enough space to put in any style of rangehood and still have adequate space between the stovetop and fan. We were exploring ways of dealing with this, but have realised maybe the best solution would be removing the fireplace/chimney altogether. The mortar is shot anyway, I'm surprised it hasn't already fallen down actually. And my grand future plan has no fireplace, there's really no benefits to keeping it.
I've had a go at drawing a floorplan. There's a small section of wall that can go, and the window hopefully widened, but other than that, I need to work with what's existing for the time being. Cabinetry-wise though, anything goes! It's basically a blank, very hard to configure in a usable way canvas. I'd love to hear any suggestions.
Comments (24)
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Need some creative help for my floor plans please
Comments (23)Hi there Victoria, Just trying to add a few more ideas, with a separate Pantry/Landry cupboard (this can easily be ducted and when the doors are closed very quite). Fridge and appliances all along the wall, the island can be what ever size you would prefer. It would also be nice to have a computer desk next to the kitchen by the window. I would also prefer the living area off the sliding doors to the alfresco area Bedroom 4 could have full height sliding doors coming together at the corner this can be close off or left open for times when extra space is needed for the family. And built in Wardrobes in the master would work best, just have something that blends in and looks special....See MorePlease help me with floor plan design for a small Australian home
Comments (20)OP, OKL's plan is better from an energy efficiency point of view than your plan (your plan wastes the northern aspect with bathrooms). But DON'T just flip OKL's plan, as the orientation would then be all wrong! It's important to get the orientation right, this will greatly effect the comfort of your home & your heating/cooling requirements (& hence your bills). Read this. It's all very useful, but maybe focus on the section about orientation first. http://yourhome.gov.au/passive-design Below are some generalisations. As has been requested, it would be nice to know your general location, as climates vary across our big country, so building requirements change. But generally, you want your living areas (& a large proportion of your glazing facing north). If possible, have a smaller portion of your glazing facing south & east, for cross ventilation, & try to eliminate western glazing. Bedrooms to the south & east (if they won't also fit in the north), & rarely used rooms, like garages, bathrooms & laundries to the west. Your verandah is south facing, good, as it won't shade your home in winter. Hopefully you have north facing eaves & they aren't too large. If they are the right size you'll get sun through your northern windows in winter, but the eaves will shade the house in summer, when the sun is higher in the sky. So can you knock out windows & doors wherever you want? Would be good to know where they are currently, the size of the verandah, the block dimensions & any other structures which will influence shading & privacy. I'd also be looking at some tiny house blogs/websites. 72sqm isn't tiny, but you really want an efficient house that works well, & you'll find some ingenious storage solutions that are used in tiny houses. Well designed built in storage is definitely very important in a small home. Can't see if it all fits now, while using the app on my phone. But I'd aim for something like this. The kitchen in the NE corner, running down the eastern wall (so you get good morning sun). An island bench for dining, separating the living area on the northern wall. Master in the NW corner, with the ensuite on the western wall (if it fits - important not to have the master bedroom window facing west). Minor bedrooms (& windows) on the south wall. Main bathroom or powder room somewhere on the southern wall, in the SW corner would be nice if it fits there. No idea is that all fits, just some ideas. If you're not fussed about an easy facing kitchen, you could flip this all, & have the kitchen in the NW corner, & the master in the NE corner. If you're taking off external or internal cladding, this is a good time to insulate you're walls. Also up insulation levels in the roof cavity of they're inadequate. It will greatly effect comfort, is quite cheap & the walls are very hard to do at other times. Edit: as I got the verandah location wrong, then added to my post....See MoreWhat are your suggestions on this floor plan please help me with this
Comments (18)My gut feeling , as a complete amateur , is that you have 1 room too many crammed in to that space . Lose 1 bedroom , or the Alfresco , or cut down the front lounge and just call it a study . Or add a couple of metres to the end . As far as 2 passages , you effectively have 1 toilet , and the 1 in the ensuite . By adding that seperate passage and trying to create an illussion of a seperate bedroom wing , as soon as someone needs to use the toilet , you spoil that illusssion . That is most likely to be your closer friends . So you are losing 8 metres by 1.2mtrs to impress people you don't know ? There will still be 4 or 5 doors either side down your main passage , just suck it up , have a couple more down the left side , it then is way easier to find the WC , you can add to a couyple of bedrooms and bath , OR realign a bit so that you can pick up an extra metre on the right side of the passage , and guess what that does -- yes , hey presto , a bigger WIR , maybe a bigger pantry if you want , a bigger dining , maybe even a bigger alfresco . You said about the easement , but thinking a bit outside the box , if you move the alfresco to that side of the house , MAYBE you can have an open pergola or even part clear covered , near or up to the boundary -- I have no idea on your rules , and what is classed as permanent structure , but just a thought ....See MoreHelp, confused! Floor-plan feedback needed
Comments (31)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....See More- last month
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