The WC needs a basin. Change the sliding door in the laundry to a swinging door currently you have an awkward gap between the trough and sliding door. Do a scale furniture layout in the open plan area, it’s an awkward shape to furnish so make sure it works for you. There seems to be a lot of wasted space on the hallways outside the minor bedrooms, you’re paying a lot to construct all that passage space.

Agree. Need basin in wc as previously commented and in ensuite move basins further from side walls for some elbow room. Try and make the back bedrooms the same size.

Is the ensuite window a highlight window? If it’s 1/2 height you don’t have any space for mirrors.

Sorry, hit post before finishing typing. Have you done a walk through in your mind of the kitchen rush hour? Anybody coming in the front door and heading to the minor bedrooms is going to take the quickest way through the kitchen, which will be annoying for anyone trying to prepare a meal. Is the ensuite window a highlight window? If not, you don’t have room for mirrors. In the main bedroom, consider doors on the WIRs. At the moment you’ll be laying in bed and looking at shoe piles and misaligned hangers. Also if you like to watch Tv in bed, there’s no wall for a TV. There’s also no door between the Lounge and the back open plan area. Up to you how you plan to use the rooms. how you live, but you

Agree missing doors as per previous post and wir shii or uld have doors

if north is at the top of the page that makes our previous thoughts less than ideal and i have to agree with others about the unsuitable kitchen which should have more space and a primary location..my suggestions include the alternate kitchen/pantry location and adding furniture helps explain how the rooms would be more fit for purpose without so much wasted space as biw have more storage than the small wiw in the master and minor bedrooms and, depending on WFR needs, the bigger WILs can be used for a variety of purposes including office storage, WIL, broom, prayer and/or mudrooms and there's extra storage near the small bedrooms and the office and more comfortable ens, wiw and bathrooms for sharing

Awesome

Hi @oklouise

Thank you for sharing such a beautiful and thoughtful design, it’s clear you’ve put a lot of consideration into how the spaces flow and function.

We’re building with a volume builder, so while they’re open to changes, those modifications need to stay within the overall footprint and structural boundaries of the original base plan. I’ve attached our builder’s base plan and the draft version we’ve developed from it.

Our key requirement is that all bedrooms remain positioned behind the garage, and the garage itself has to stay on the northwest corner of the block.

We absolutely love your ensuite concept, especially the layout and sense of space — and we’d like to explore whether something similar could work within our plan. You’ve allowed around 2700 mm depth for the ensuite; do you think there’s a way to achieve a comparable layout within the dimensions we currently have?

Also, it might not be feasible for us to relocate the kitchen entirely, but we’d appreciate any advice on how to make the current kitchen zone more efficient and better for storage and everyday workflow.

Thanks again for your time and your incredible ideas.

The original builders plan is better than the changes you show at the start of your post. bUT from the garage/maim bedroom back I’d flip it so the open plan area is on the Nth side.

North is the front door and family/dining are on the east side

my last suggestion is within the original footprint but please add readable dimensions to the builders' original plans and we can try again...the main problem with the plan is that the big rooms are too big, the small bedroom are too small and all the walk in wardrobes waste too much space

Being a corner block the garage needs to be on the North West corner, this means the master is on the Hot West?. What is opposite your block on the Eastern Boundary road side, houses or a view, is it elevated or flat.

Hi @oklouise, This is the clear picture with dimensions. Please review.

i meant dimensions for the original builders' plans to minimize changes to them but i don't think the central kitchen is workable and, if you only want a bigger ens, you could just reduce the size of the master bedroom

Hi @oklouise,

Thanks again for the feedback.

We actually don’t have the original builder’s plan dimensions, only the draft version with the current measurements.

Regarding the master bedroom and ensuite, we’ve been working with the idea shown in the attachment. Do you think that setup is workable, or is there a better way to refine it further?

Would love your thoughts on any improvements that could make it more efficient or balanced.

option 1:

Option 2:

Also, could you please clarify what you meant by “the central kitchen is not workable”? Are you referring to its location, proportions, or connection with other spaces? And do you think there’s a way to improve it while still keeping the same general kitchen position?

Thanks

I don’t think there is a way to improve the kitchen if you want to keep it in the same position as shown in your updated plan. The tweaks and changes to the original floor plan has given you less functionality overall. Does the builder offer any other plans that may be closer to what you’re after?

the small wiw in the master bedroom is not big enough to stand and dress in (check out the average 900-1000 hallway in most homes and you'll see that you can dress or have storage in that space but you can't do both in comfort) ..i think the minimum width needs to be at least 1500 if you intend to access from the narrow end so why not use a biw on that wall and add the leftover space to the bedroom and then make the bedroom slightly narrower and add that leftover space to the bedroom so that you can enlarge the ens ..

i mean "the location, proportions and connection of the kitchen with other spaces" as i think the central kitchen is visible from the front door and will become a short cut from every other room which is dangerous when needing to transfer hot saucepans from stove to sink and where will you use appliances? The best kitchens are designed to make regular tasks safe and easy but, it's not easy to change one room without considering the whole house, and i would start with the best location for kitchen and pantry on the eastern side and then compromise elsewhere... unless there's some unique reason for the giant office and oversized living and family rooms there is enough space for a generous kitchen and pantry as well as more spacious bedrooms and bathroom and plenty of storage as shown in my last suggestions

Also check depth of fridge cavity. Fridges tend to be around 700 or more deep and yo really don’t want it intruding into hall

more ideas to consider

Love this idea! Thank you @oklouise. Much appreciated!

Thank you all for your thoughtful insights @oklouise, @Kate, @dreamer, @bigreader, @siriuskey, really appreciate the time and suggestions. We’ll share these points with the builder and see if they can be incorporated. Your feedback has been incredibly helpful.

We’re always happy to help. I’d add a word of caution that rarely is a builder the best person for design advice. Sometimes they can be but not often. If your builder doesn’t have a design team as well you may need to formally seek that advice elsewhere.

Volume builders also add a lot of cost to customise a design

Hi @oklouise,

I really loved the latest plan you shared. Thank you again for taking the time to design something so thoughtful and efficient :)

I was thinking of making one minor adjustment to the secondary bathroom area. Instead of the double vanity, I’ve now added a single vanity and used the recovered width to expand the BIW for Bed 3 and convert the BIW for Bed 4 into a proper WIR.

Would love to hear your thoughts on this small tweak.

The WIR option only gains about 40cm of additional hanging space at the expense of the bathroom layout having access to to a basin from the toilet.

changing the main bathroom would be a great mistake for anyone wanting a bathroom meant for family and guests to use...anyone who has ever lived in a home with teenagers and visiting family would appreciate the benefits of the more spacious rooms that allow three or more people to use the bathroom at the same time without compromising comfort and privacy ..the bath area is ideal for bathing small kids as parents can sit on a chair to supervise bathing and drying and the giant shower also has enough space for seating which is ideal for elderly visitors but, if you must have another wiw, consider stealing space off the dining area to add wiw to the guest bedroom but keep in mind that a shallow wiw does not increase storage only adds floor space to this wiw but is not enough for standing inside to dress like the master wiw

@oklouise Thank you. I really appreciate the perspective. You’re right, having a spacious main bathroom makes a big difference, especially when it comes to family, guests, or even future needs with kids or elderly parents.

I can see now that adding a WIW to the guest bedroom the way I was thinking wouldn’t actually be that useful, it’d just take up dining space without offering proper storage or usability. Glad you pointed that out :)

Thanks @dreamer. Fair points. We hadn’t really thought about the toilet being in direct view from the meals area. Also agree on the WIR vs BIW point. After thinking it through, you’re right, a BIW with proper access might be a better use of space, especially in the minor bedrooms.

Some other basic ideas, I am concerned that the kitchen family could be a bit dark, having the Media room moved to the North could allow more light plus ventilation into this space and the Master suite eastern morning sun. The laundry mudroom off the garage will also give access to hanging out clothes on the western side away from the road.

Hi @oklouise @dreamer @siriuskey @dreamer @Kate @bigreader

I was wondering what you think about swapping the entry door to the bedroom corridor with the linen cupboard wall. The idea is that it might free up enough space in the family area to properly mount a TV, especially if we also flip the meals and family zones so the meals area sits closer to the alfresco.

Keen to hear your thoughts. Do you think this tweak could help with the TV wall issue and improve the overall flow of the layout?

the door to the hallway for minor bedrooms and bathroom is better away from the corner to allow for a variety of furniture and tv palcements without compromising walking paths as the natural walking paths are at angles not straight lines close to walls

Thank you @oklouise @dreamer I'm truly loving the suggestions, and honestly starting to fall in love with architecture and design through this process. It’s fascinating how much thought goes into planning every detail. Never imagined floor plan design could be this intricate!

Since I’m building my first home, I’m curious to know if it is generally acceptable in Australian homes for the kitchen or family or television area to be directly visible from the front entry?.

Also attaching a rough sketch I made to illustrate the privacy wall concept. This is not the actual house draft, just something I put together to get your thoughts on the idea and the layout shown.

changing the hallway would make the kitchen much smaller, loses the generous easy access pantry with external window and the changed hallway steals space off the office and is bigger than a bedroom but can't be used for anything else...privacy from the front door can be added with doors across the hallway and this also helps zone noise and heating for office and living area

Hi @oklouise @dreamer @siriuskey @bigreader @Kate

Thanks for all your suggestions and support. We’ve narrowed it to Plan 1 or Plan 2 and will go ahead with one. Both look great and we’re split. If you had to pick, which would you choose?

the two plans are close to the same size different arrangemts make some room bigger in each plan but what does your builder say?? plan 2 has a bigger alfresco, bedrooms and office with smaller family and dining area... best choice depends on your priorities eg do you want to regularly entertain big crowds, what sort of WFH space do you need...can your WFH be achieved with a computer, desk and a bookshelf or do you also need space to meet clients and storage for sales equipment and supplies , what do you need for your prayer space, how much linen and bedroom storage do you want eg plan 1 has 2m of biw for beds 3 and 4 while plan 2 has 3m of biw for beds 2, 3 and 4, do you also need space for a computer nook, coffee machine, exercize equipment or hobbies with speciliased equipment like sewing machine and gardening tools??

Thanks, @oklouise. We need the office to accommodate two full workstations: two desks, two monitors and a bookshelf. We do not need a separate prayer space. We plan to subdivide the lounge with a wall separator and use part of it as a prayer room later, so it does not need to be in the plan.

The remaining issue is the family area. For a house of this size it feels undersized. We are looking for ways to increase the family zone without hurting circulation or light.

Prob the easiest way to get a bigger family area is to forgo the walk in/butlers pantry. Or take a metre off the study and move along.

Hello there, I do not like the internal toilet room in your first plan and the bedrooms look like they could be larger. I really like the idea of going through the robe to the ensuite: it adds another level of privacy to the rooms. Do you really need two robes: can you not share one space? I would want the bedroom on the east ie to the street and the living rooms to the west behind the garage because it is the afternoon that you would normally be enjoying friends; company and outside. morning sun into the bedrooms is lovely and much cooler that afternoon. It is very important to get that right. The plan is ok but does need some tweaking. IMO Cheers Margot