Renovation ideas

last month

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What should we do with this big A frame house?

I'm looking for ideas on what we should do with the staircase? we would like to move it to one side or make it more of a feature, to open the entire living space and kitchen area up to be open plan.

Also we want to add a bathroom upstairs.. what should we do? how can we use rhe space better

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oklouise

last month

there should be enough space to create a shared bathroom upstairs and probably easier above the kitchen water supply

best suggestions for rearranging downstairs depends on how you want to live in the house and what you think are problems created by central stairs but please describe your block of land, any special views, is there a garage and driveway and where do you prefer to sit outside and, i suggest that changing some of the windows in the kitchen dining to full height glass would dramatically improve the feeling in the room without moving the stairs and more photos would help explain the existing living area and location of kitchen cabinets that don't match the plans?

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Comments (22)

dreamer
last month
Please post photos of the staircase, as we don’t know what it looks like now. Will help with making informed suggestions.
dreamer
last month
Which way is the A frame? Do you need the four bedrooms as bedrooms?
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Hi Kate, thanks for your reply. The sliding doors off the current dining leads out to our alfresco and then into the pool so flows really nicely so not sure about messing with it. Also not sure about interrupting the flow of the existing hall as there is a bulkhead that runs front to back and takes your eye to the second cathedral window over our living zone.
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regardless of what we might want there is not enough space for a vanity in a room less than 1200mm - 1500 deep.. assuming standing space of about 900 x 900 and a vanity about 450 deep ...the only way i can see to make enough space for a vanity would be to push out the wall and make a bay window alcove but you may not have enough space outside the wall before you reach the boundary and would probably also need Council approval to change an external wall my suggestion for the moveable island (eg IKEA has big kitchen trolleys and storage tables that might suit) and that can be moved to allow for the dining table to be rotated or extended into the kitchen for more comfortable space for an occasional crowd .. small walking spaces are tolerable occasionally but fixed narrow walkways less than 1m on all four sides of the island will side defeat the goal of making the rooms feel more spacious and i would also be careful about adding extra storage that is hard to reach and would need walk around the island to wipe the whole surface...much more than 90cm deep is too far for most arms to reach ..there are many other options for extra storage eg by adding tall wall cabinets and maximizing the basement storage for seasonal supplies and a proper cold cellar and use the moveable island trolley for most often used supplies and you can improve the corner cabinets by making them 1050x 1050 (ie with double bifold 45cm wide doors) instead of the standard 90x 90 corner cabinets with 30cm wide doors.... BUT i had another look at my first suggestions from last year and i still think that a more generous ensuite stolen out of the basement space would make the most comfortable master suite, moving the bedroom door allows much better location for both the new stairs and plenty of space for wardrobes, king bed and a bedroom chair instead of the tiny master suite and don't forget the low storage wall in the dining room for dinnerware, glasses etc
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And these too https://sculptform.com/click-on-battens/?utm_source=Facebook&utm_medium=CPC&utm_campaign=brand-awareness&hsa_acc=1159187944168684&hsa_cam=23852702490190182&hsa_grp=23852702788570182&hsa_ad=23853108579680182&hsa_src=ig&hsa_net=facebook&hsa_ver=3&fbclid=PAAaa9EPC5ehp2TJ3F-I7OWEV9tq_FUK2-o5ClZ2VPqjEChaUcsFXd_lA5XlQ_aem_AePtx1uKaMMnJNcvIN4QK3Qb4hqU8UTe3i5CMfTsgeiCYZPQFSy6eGOMOjhR7Gr4SeyEOcTj-tiNAqF0OWC7gt4Iw0mxLwZ4NJhR1OCHN7WqZ0B6P3zfcAe7CVdlkJKcOgS9MLVEgrmIjth3UbZtD5Ub
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Jay
Original Author
last month
Yes we would like to keep it 4 bedroom. not sure what you mean by whick way is the A frame?
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Jay
Original Author
last month
Also just added a photo of the stairs- thanks for your interest and advice ☺️
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bigreader
last month
Have you had any advice from a builder? From the pics given it looks like the stairs form part of the spine of the house holding up the roof. It can be moved but won’t be cheap. Some early advice from a builder may save you from making plans that are impossible to achieve.
Jay thanked bigreader
dreamer
last month
Regarding the A frame house. Do the top bedrooms have sloped sides in the room. If so, which side is the slope. Is it the same as this bedroom photo, or are the balcony sides the slope side like the other photo.??
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dreamer
last month
If the walls around the staircase are not structural, then take them down and keep the staircase in its current position. As bigreader has mentioned, you need a professional to confirm what is possible.
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Jay
Original Author
last month
last modified: last month
Yes they have some slope although they start to slope part of the way up the wall. ive added another photo so you can see.

we havent got advice from a builder yet but of course we will.
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dreamer
last month
Depending on lots of things, like height on ceilings etc etc. maybe something like this for upstairs bathroom. Building the bathroom over the stair well, and Making one of the upstairs bedrooms smaller to gain access to new bathroom.
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siriuskey
last month
The floorplan doesn't work with the photo, which shows the start of the stairs opposite the kitchen cabinets.. The photo also shows two long RXJ's which would support the upper floor and roof, and the stairs appear to be floating. Are there any RXJ's above the living space
dreamer
last month
Well picked up Siriuskey. I assume the photo would be correct….??
Kate
last month
I can’t see how the photo and floor plan match at all.
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dreamer
last month
These days, no one knows whether photos are real or AI generated. These photos could be AI. Because, who would have carpet in a kitchen area??? And the beams don’t look real, and the support under the stairs doesn’t look real………..
siriuskey
last month
It could be a Render which is used a lot these days my neighbour still has the 70's carpet in the kitchen, in those days it was like a carpet tile/felt material. perhaps Jay could enlighten us
Jay
Original Author
last month
Yes saldy the carpet is real! the photos have been updated with an AI tool to remove the vendors piles of belongings otherwise you wouldnt have been able to see the position of the stair case. looks like the AI tool got carried away and moved the kitchen too! i didnt notice it as i was focussed on getting the stairs visible. none the less the floor plan is accurate!
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dreamer
last month
As I said, you really can’t trust AI these days…..!
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dreamer
last month
Thanks for the real information. Now oklouises good design of the new bathroom, would not be over the kitchen for plumbing access.
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Jay
Original Author
last month
true alrhough getting plumbing up there will be a pain regardless so we are less fussed about the plumbing challenge more concerned with functionalilty of the bathroom for both rooms.
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bigreader
last month
Do you know which side of the house the sewer line is?
Jay
Original Author
last month
it runs at thd back of the house that is the side with the larger balcony
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bigreader
last month
You will be best placed to have the new bathroom either over the existing bathrooms or kitchen or at least on the side o& the house. While water pipes can be run to the new bathroom with less difficulty the waste water coming out has to get to the sewer. You can run the outlet pipe down the outside of the building but it’s very costly if you need to dig new trenches and lay new pipe from the house to the sewer main

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