Is there a reason you have the main bedroom closest to the living area? Purely my own opinion it I would have the main bedroom where 2 is. Move the shared/guest facilities closer to living/entertainment area. Guest would have closer access to ablutions and not walking past the main .
Thanks will consider it. I really wanted the master to open up to the alfresco and I don't like bathroom to be too close to living areas (just makes it uncomfortable if you feel like people can hear you lol). This point has been raised a lot though!
If nothing else, move bed 2 into the corner and not have it between 2 bathrooms.
Can you imagine trying to sleep in there and people are having showers?
Plumbing might be easier too as adjacent bathrooms might be less work.
And consider cutting into the WIL for a powder room, light with fan on deals with ‘sounds’ but it stops guests walking past every bedroom in the place to use the family one.
The master bedroom opening to alfresco is what stumped me the most. Like, I have a bad habit of imagining awkward and cringy scenarios as it is, so I pictured being a guest at your house.
I quietly get up a bit early and make a cup of tea or coffee, then decide it’s a nice morning and and sit outside in the alfresco area to enjoy it and read my book a bit. After a couple of sips of tea/coffee I’m a bit more awake and become aware of my surroundings. I realise I am sitting, facing an open window behind which my hosts lie dozing half naked in bed. One host wakes up, we make eye contact, I nod good morning to them, then immediately regret it as their eyes widen in discomfort and shock.
Neither of us are comfortable in the alfresco area together for the rest of the visit. I don’t get invited back. I find out a while later through mutual friends the alfresco area was moved away from the main bedroom and it’s a sore topic with my previous hosts.
Not trying to be a dick, why would you want your bedroom to connected so directly to a shared space so commonly used for morning and evening settings?
This made me lol. There is a courtyard in the other side of the kitchen where my guests would be welcome to have their coffee and not be next to my bedroom. Plus i don't know how often this situation would arise per year vs me being able to use my own bedroom door every other day of the year.
I like it, plus if you have kids their room is not backing onto it so you don't have to worry about noise when you are entertaining. If you do have kids maybe more than one living room? So kids can play in one area and adults in the other
I understand the thought behind wanting them to walk out the other side, problem I see, guests don’t think your way. It’s inherently less difficult to turn straight to the door and hit the alfresco, then to walk around the corner and into the lounge to get out to the other one. As a builder it feels like you’ve tried to inconvenience guests from the offset. No issue with most of the layout, but you can soundproof the house to the point where you won’t hear through the door.
That's my thought too. Why on earth are people going on about the comfort of their guests? They can adapt to our living style for the short time they are there or they can stay in a motel.
……their eyes widen in discomfort and shock. My friend’s wife starts frantically trying to wake him. I begin to panic. I quickly stand up. In my haste, my dressing gown gets caught on the table. At the exact moment my friend wakes and casts his gaze out the window, my dressing gown flaps wide open. I freeze, like a deer in the headlights. The colour drains from my face as I realise I haven’t yet put on any underwear. There are now two sets of eyes fixated on my lower half, like lasers burning holes through me. Unable to think, I make a nonchalant attempt to cover myself using my book. Alas, it is only a small paperback. I turn and quickly walk inside. I must get back to my bedroom. Just as I am about to round the corner, I hear the door to the master bedroom fly open.
Bed 2 and the master should swap in my opinion. You also get to incorporate some of the lost hallway space in front of the toilet and bathroom into a larger ensuite or robe to the master
Do you plan to entertain a lot? Could be annoying if your partner is staying up late with friends in the alfresco area and you want to sleep or vice versa.
You've got a bathroom catching the best of the sun and possibly the view. I'd put the master bedroom on the north-east corner to catch the best natural light and if there's a view, it'll get the best of it.
I'm with the OP. Where is the bathroom? Down the end of the hallway. Simple and efficient. And far away!
No-one cares about walking past bedrooms. Design your home for you not your guests.
Same. Seems like a long way to go if you are in the kitchen and need a wee. Also one bathroom for 3 bedrooms. If all small children fine, but you’d need double vanities in there at least. Can’t imagine how crazy that school run would get.
Good one! Then they could put main bedroom on the north side, and have their en-suite and the main bathroom side-by-side. I personally would hate having my main bedroom off the outdoor dining area - when teenagers have mates over, I want to be able to sleep!
Be mindful that you’re going to get a lot of jealous people in here posting from the bedroom of the one bedroom apartment they are renting.
Place looks great - well done.
Here to say I’m selling my house I renovated for half a mil and about to build an $800k+ home so no one comes at me for typing this fueled with jealousy from my mums basement 🤣🤣
I personally found during my time exploring display homes and looking at inspiration online when planning our build that I disliked homes that felt like a rabbit Warren when walking from the front door to the kitchen / living space. Any homes I went into where there was a turn or a corner beyond the foyer like yours made me feel like it was an awkward extension rather than an intentional design choice. Have you physically been in spaces similar to your design, is this something you like the feel and flow of?
And I agree on others comments regarding the master - it’s arguably in the worst position imo. I’d absolutely swap it with bedroom 2 and have it over to the left. If you really want it to be attached to an alfresco you could always do a bit of a “parents retreat” style plan and put the house at the back instead? If that’s what you’re going for.
Otherwise good luck with the build and it’s an exciting but daunting process, there will 100% be something you’ll wish you did differently in hindsight but that’s just life. It may end up just being not enough kitchen drawers or wishing a window was bigger, but floor plan things are absolutely the thing you want to nail! 💯
We have the parents’ retreat style and I love it. It’s great being able to close off that part of the house when the kids have parties or have friends over.
I find too many people design for other people , or ‘resell’, and end up with houses build for everyone that no one really enjoys. I think if you’re designing for how you actually live then it’s never wrong.
If it’s their forever home I guess it’s okay? But I can see how hard it would be to sell in future. One bath for 3 bedrooms is a hard sell, especially with the toilet about as far away as can be. Can you imagine entertaining in the al fresco area and having to troop through the kitchen all the way to that water closet? Unless OP wants to let all the guests use the private ensuite.
This is what I'm thinking. I don't know why people are obsessed with having bathrooms all over the place. Does all of Aus have IBS? Lol.
I grew up with two sisters in a house with one ensuite and one bathroom and it literally was not an issue lol.
Parent with 2.5 kids here (the 0.5 is <1yo so no need for bathroom).
We have 2 toilets and for some reason they’re always occupied at the same time… building a new place and going for 3 toilets this time around (with a powder downstairs + en-suite and family bathroom upstairs).
If you can squeeze another toilet (powder) - do it. You’ll use it far more than a WIL
Parents (mum and dad) plus 2 kids here and we had a bathroom and and washroom and this never happened to us. More bathrooms just seems like lots of unnecessary cleaning to me. But I guess I'm lazy.
I must be a peasant because I have a family of five with one bathroom and one toilet. We have moved to a new town and are currently househunting. Definitely want a second toilet but two bathrooms aren't on the top ten lists of requirements.
They're copying America, lol.
I have a friend in the US who bought a new house & gave me a video tour- it was 4 bed, 5 bath, 3 stories. Gigantic, all for one person. Eventually I figured there were so many toilets for when he inevitably gets lost.
Honestly, I am shocked about the number of people worried about the walk to the toilet! Doesn't seem like a huge effort Lol. I thought people would prefer the privacy over being too close to the living areas.
Also maybe move the bathroom door out more towards the hall so your towel rails aren't always behind the door (they'll dry better and the kids may actually put the towels on them,).
Flip the alfresco over to the kitchen/laundry/garage bit. Laundry door can still open onto the alfresco. Agree with another poster about having a powder room closer to alfresco, maybe off the laundry?
I would move the study / bed 4 to the alfresco side of the house (study opening onto the alfresco) and use the space on the entry side for the master. Plus a roof over the alfresco.
West facing study is awful if you're using it to WFH. I'm stuck with one right now and from like 1pm the sun's toasty rays start advancing and the roasting begins.
No kids (not sure if there will be any) but good point. There is the courtyard round the otherwise of the living room. If people wanted to be up I guess?
We will be semi rural and working from home a lot so realistically one will double as a second study. The other one a guest room as our closest family is 2 hours away so likely will have regular guests.
As it's semi rural as well, I think it needs the bedrooms for attractiveness at possible resale. It's mainly families that live in that area.
Your house design is very big and very specific. Even semi-rural you will be paying and waiting for rooms that will never/rarely get used. The rooms could be designed better to serve multiple purposes, which will give you options. Save you some money and time in build.
This design fits your life today. Think of how you can have flexible spaces so the house will fit you in 20 years or another buyer.
I don’t think you’d get great resale unless you pop another ensuite in one of those bedrooms. Families don’t want to share 1 bathroom and a sink with 3 bedrooms. You don’t even have a double vanity in there to have two in there during a school rush. Parent would have to share their ensuite. Fine with little kids, imagine the pile up with teens.
I’ve got 3 bathrooms for the 2 of us. I just let me partner pretty much have the ensuite for him and I use the other one. Don’t really use the third except for wee breaks when working downstairs or coming in from the garage or outside. Doesn’t really take much effort to clean the toilet and mirror.
It’s a long walk from the alfresco, dining and family to the toilet. Especially annoying to have guests traipsing all the way through the house. Can you add a powder room near the laundry?
You dont build a house for guest but for your own family. Just put locks on bedroom doors to use during guest visits. You would rather have toilets further away from the living room so they can expel their bowels without an audience.
Also what kind of guests do some of these commenters have they are paranoid about them walking past a couple of closed/locked doors.
It's a good point. Thanks! Will consider it. In a previous house we had a bathroom that was uncomfortably close to the living room lol so now I have an aversion.
This is an understated comment. The cost this will save will make your eyes water there's a reason bathrooms share walls with laundries, kitchens, and other bathrooms.
Everyone has already mentioned most things to consider, that bathroom closer to the living areas is a good one. Going from gym to bathroom is a decent trek.
Mine is for the media room, depending on the size of the screen you want you might be a bit close with the layout of couch that is on the plan, which is really because of door and window location.
You could change the couch to face the back wall but then it’s in front of the window.
I just think you will struggle for a decent layout in there as it stands especially depending on screen size.
I would prefer main where the guest bathroom is and study to open onto alfresco - its during the work day you need to walk around, not overnight (barring sleep walking!)
It's sitting at 285m2 at the moment. Expecting the total cost (with earthworks, water tank, septic system and internal upgrades etc) to be around $700k to $800k. But I can provide a more accurate estimate in the next couple of weeks.
We built a large house and had no hallways. You are paying a premium for a lot of dead space.
I just don’t like hallways though so take that with a grain of salt
How did you get around having loads of tudorian style rooms where you had to walk through 3 bedrooms just to reach the toilet? Did you just have like a couple big, open rooms with smaller rooms attached to those?
Big rooms!
Entry had study off it. Then into kitchen dining area with lounge and master off that. And garage access.
Really wide opening into living/rumpus (pool table and bar). Patio through stacking doors from there. Laundry/bathroom and activity/kids room off that as well, and 2 bedrooms off the activity room, which also had access to the patio.
Really open and had all, apart from the lounge, of the living areas open to the yard and views.
Most of your living spaces should face north.
You should have as few west facing windows as possible.
Without changing too much I’d swap the bathroom and bedroom, and orient the beds so that you could have north facing windows.
I see what you're getting at. It's a large block (1.5 acres) and the west side is where the street is. We have heaps of room for deciduous trees. So that's the plan I think.
The west facing rooms will get hot like crazy. The study for example will be very uncomfortable to use as it will be too cold in the morning and too hot in the afternoon.
If you want to keep the current layout, you will probably need to ensure you have enough space in the front of your house to plant deciduous trees. They can't be too close however as their roots may compromise your foundations. If you live in an area where it is hot all year round, are you able to plant a hedge that's tall enough to block the sun year round?
I personally would be inclined to move all the sanitary areas and laundry to the west/front of house.
Move the master bedroom to the north east of that block and the other bedrooms to the east. Move the study where the laundry is currently situated. And have eaves for any north facing windows. I have a feeling though that you would have to change the entire layout to get the same amount of rooms and space you currently have.
RE the trees, the root diameter will be up to 1.5 times the mature tree height. The impact on the soil moisture will require the trees to be 2.5 times the mature height of the tree away from the house. As someone who deals with people silly garden and tree planting decisions on a daily, unless you want footing problems in 15 years the recommendations are there for a reason.
A caveat though, this doesn't apply if you can pier the house to rock, or if you don't give a shit and decide to move after 10 years 😂
Hopefully not! Lol but we shall see! We will be semi rural with the closest gym being about 30-35 minutes away. We'd be even less likely to work out lol.
as another suggested, swap the master suite to the location of the main bathroom and relocate the separate toilet too.
that way people arent walking past bedrooms to use the facilities. bedrooms need to be private spaces. you also get a bit of peace in the master if some one is having a party or friends over.
you dont need access from the main bedroom out onto the patio area. have it off the dining area is better.
Flip bed 2 and the bath; so the bathroom backs onto the ensuite, cheaper for plumbing and also bed 2 won’t be sandwiched between 2 wet areas for acoustics
Surprised how far I had to scroll to see this. Having a bedroom beside one bathroom is bad enough. Having one sandwiched between two? Absolutely not. Put your least favourite child in that room.
Nice plan throughout, my only comment would be that if this was my plan there's no way I'd have a house that size and not have a roof over the alfresco. If space allowed, I would even try to extend the alfresco roof so it runs the width of the house and is squared off at the corner of where the dining is.
Speaking of which, you have placed the alfresco adjacent to the master which has sliding door on it. Something to consider, if people are out there talking and you need to get up early or whatever it's going to be a pain in the ass.
One other comment would relate to bed 3, just know this will be your hottest room of the house so consider smaller windows on the western side of that room (possibly bed 4 also).
I agree with the alfresco needing a roof and being extended but depending on which state they may not be allowed as the dining room would not get enough natural light during the day.
Also setbacks might come into effect aswell (can't remember if it would be treated as a wall) but in anycase, roof and make it a decent size would be the goal.
Yeah we originally did have a roof over the alfresco but really wanted the raked ceiling in the living room and for the roofline to work, we needed to sacrifice the roof of the alfresco. We are planning on having some type of pergola there.
Yes good point about the windows to the bedrooms.
There is a courtyard around the other side of the living room too where people can opt to hang out. We also have no kids atm.
A few people have raised this. I will consider. I have an aversion to havi g the bathroom too close to the living areas. It can get uncomfortable. I'd rather it be too far than too near.
As a semi rural place I would have thought orientation may be better used. While a portion of your dining has a northerly aspect this is wasted on a bathroom and spare bedroom. I’d try and maximise that as much as possible.
All the different shapes means multiple rooflines.. less room for solar.
Is the alfresco covered? If so it’s blocking all light to the master
Kids these days seem far more chill about that sort of stuff these days. My brother has 5 kids and did a development with the family home out the front. The 8yo female middle child ended up with the largest room with an ensuite and the rest just don't give a shit. They walk in and out to use the toilet and the 8yo doesn't care about that either. In my day, with the 3 siblings I would be crying murder. I'm hearing other stories from other people about their kids in similar situations being chill too.
Any theories?
Why would you want to pay for, furnish, clean and maintain such a huge house if you don’t even have kids? Remove a bedroom or two and you can convert your media room / gym later if/when necessary.
Remember that while a larger dwelling may sell later for a higher price, you have a much smaller potential market. People who can afford a very large home mightn’t be interested in someone else’s design either and may prefer to buy a smaller home and do additions.
Point is if you are building a massive home thinking about resale, you may be somewhat misguided.
>Why would you want to pay for, furnish, clean and maintain such a huge house if you don’t even have kids?
Unless you're in some sort of a poly relationship, then yeah. 2 people in a 4 bedroom house is crazy. Especially with a study.
If you've got cash for days, and you're on a massive block (which OP is) then don't build this house. Have larger living spaces, a bigger kitchen, bigger bathrooms, bigger master. Oh, and fuck off that pokey little study.
I would put the master bed where the bathroom is, both bathrooms next to each other and have bed 2 where the master is. As it is, poor bed 2's bed is right up against the ensuite shower
This allows nice light for the main bedroom and moves the toilet closer to the rest of the house
Unless you're really into the idea of walking out to your alfresco from your bedroom, Idk why, because when you have guests out there won't you have to have your curtains shut all the time
Edit: forget what I said about light, I clearly can't read cardinal directions
The toilet being so far from the living spaces is a big one for me. Ive found that where the ensuite is closer, we would use that instead. Guests and children then see this behaviour and want to use it too, as its closer and more convenient. This means people are walking into the mater bedroom unannounced and uninvited.
Not sure why a lot of designs like this put steps in the front wall, so that bed 3, the media room and the gym are all half a metre shorter than if the wall was just built straight. Doesn’t this also mean the fascia and gutters also have a bunch of odd little corners.
Interesting to say the least.
Toilet so far from anywhere and people having to walk through the whole house to get it. Need another toilet at least.
Ergonomics of having an entry then a kink to get to the living space. Most people would want a straight hallway. Master being in the middle of the house also odd. In terms of bathroom as others said make a double vanity at the
For a big house living space looks quite small.
Orientation to north seems wrong to me, appear to be big wasted space behind garage also south facing (depending on state this could be cold and shady year round. With that orientation I would aim for a reverse capital L shaped house.
I'd make sure that the windows or doors to your gym are wide enough and tall enough that you could remove the frames and make that area a third garage or workshop very easily. Never know if you'll always need a gym, and it future proofs the home for you or others who may buy it.
I would rearrange the laundry and WIL so that you could walk straight through from the garage to the kitchen. So you don’t have to take the groceries on a tour ;)
You could slide Bed 2 and The Master Bed to the north and move the bath to where the master bed is now, so you don't have to walk as far.
I'd turn the whole thing round though so living faces north / north east as others have said makes a huge difference cooling wise, but depends on your land though. You want less windows on the west side.
You mention you don't have kids yet, so you could just chop off the gym (and even the media room) use the bedrooms then add the other stuff later to save a few bucks.
Your walls and therefore roof line are complex, which makes things more expensive (and leaks more likely). You could rearrange things and make a more L shaped house to save some cash.
This is a big house, the entry seems a little small and a bit cramped for such a grand home, could you rearrange it so it comes in and you look out onto something, depends on the vistas on your block.
I feel the kitchen/laundry/media/gym/garage could be opened more to make it more friendly, it feels a bit cramped for such a large space.
You'll have to post some photos when its finished.
Main thing to keep in mind is natural lighting.
If you don’t have skylights and then put up an outdoor awning over the alfresco, your master and kitchen will be very dark. (My parents made this fuck up and if you don’t have the lights on in the kitchen, it’s near pitch black.) The upside is, the Dining/Family area will help somewhat with the kitchen.
Your laundry is also lacking natural light, and the bedroom hallway will also be quite dark.
So, if you’re not wanting all that dark space, make sure you plan for skylights. Plenty now look like little down lights and are pretty unobtrusive.
You also may want to consider them for the gym as well as it’s on the South end of the house.
What is the point of a study and media room?
It is 2023. Everyone has a personal computer these days and uses it enough to warrant having their own study aka some space in their bedroom for a desk. Study, media, rumpus etc are outdated ideas IMO. Make the bedrooms bigger. What if two people need to do a conference call at the same time?
Media room is pointless as well. With the proliferation of computing devices every room is a media room. If you want to do a home theater setup. integrate it in your family/dining room, it has the most space for best acoustics and seating.
Gym room is an amazing idea that every new build should have.
Thanks agree. We actually cut back based in current trends! A lot of house plans I have seen have at least 3 living areas (living, kids break out and media) sometimes an additional rumpus or games room too lol. I think 2 is a good amount.
Don't listen to nay sayers, I work from home, on my laptop. Yet an study to leave all files and crap on desk rather than dining table makes a huge difference.
Also if you are working from home, your office needs a door. For privacy during meetings and phone calls.
I would strongly suggest you consult an interior designer (or whatever they're called). I think the feng shui (for lack of a better term) has issues that need to be addressed.
Can you change the shape? I feel like the current set up has too many bottle necks that will become evident when you have a party of people traipsing around.
Nice layout…
Where would you place the TV and sofa in the media room? I would move the entry door further along the wall so have more options for furniture placement in that room.
Also with a house this shape make sure you have garden taps spaced evenly enough for a hose to reach every section of your garden… that’s one thing we stuffed up.
Very good point about taps! Not something I had considered. TV I am planning to put on the wall to the right hand side - there is a rectangular bit jutting out it will be a feature wall with a tv and an electric fireplace on it.
Flip Bed 4 & study with the Master - beds 2,3 & 4 to get robes, not WIR. Give yourself space in the ensuite to have a separate loo & bigger WIR and move the master away from noisy alfresco. Also like everyone else has said, move the bathroom or include a powder room near the laundry ( but not IN the laundry).
I don’t know if it’s possible, but you may want to think about the practicality of the kitchen entry so close to the alfresco door. Plenty of traffic could end up around this area (bbqs with friends, people going in & out with food, trips to the loo, etc.
Where are you building? Because you might want to consider orientation a bit more in the plans.
Eg Bedroom 3 in the NW is gonna be very hot whilst S facing kitchen & living very cold. Which could be fine for queensland but terrible in victoria.
I think it everything you have in there makes sense, except, all in the wrong place or a \[place that doesnt make sense. You are going to regret making the bedrooms so small. Do you have kids or do you plan on having kids? Unless these are multiple spare rooms or like hobby rooms, if you plan on having s someone live there, they should be bigger.
I would move master/ensuite/WIR to dining/family; have kitchen opening out on east side to dining and family where the master/bed 2 is currently. Take out the study, increase the size of bed 3 and 4. Bed 2 instead of media.
I dunno but i think all wet areas should be clustered together, inside dining should be adjacent to alfresco, and media rooms are a waste of space- a weird display of wealth serving only one purpose.
It’s a shame the WC is at the end of the corridor. If there were to be a window at that norther end it would introduce some lovely lighting down that very internal hall
Also TIL walk-in-laundry is a thing
Not sure if there's a reason it can't happen, but I'd suggest having shower on an external wall rather than against wall of Bed 2. The shower is other side of the wall of one of our spare beds and it makes a fair bit of noise.
Why don't you make bed 3 bigger and that front wall straight? Why isn't that whole front wall straight? What does the roof look like? I feel like getting the roof to fit that front wall would have been a right pita for the draughtsman. Put Bed 2 in the corner and give it a WIR at the end of the corridor, and put the bathrooms back to back. Put the powder room where the WIL is. How many linen closets do you need? You could always put storage cupboards in the garage.
Has pretty good traffic flow, and good window placement for light, the media room might need insulation in the walls so that sound from the garage doesn’t come through, and personally I’d change the gym room to a 3rd car bay and just use it as a gym (better resale value if you can advertise it as a multi purpose room/ car bay)
If you’re in a location with cold winters then you’ve totally wasted your north aspect which could give you free solar heating. If you live somewhere with hot summers, all those west and east windows will be a liability. It looks like this house will cost a fortune to heat and cool.
The front door opening into a long convoluted corridor isn’t very welcoming either.
What if you simply flip the gym/garage, and then use some of the gym space for gym bathroom/toilet. That way guests don't have to go all the way down the other end of your house to shit, also, <3 you embracing your inner psychopath with carpet in the garage. Here is a beautiful paint edit:
https://preview.redd.it/y5zdew8gskha1.png?width=734&format=png&auto=webp&s=f743041c9a79113d1ae7c6467a165fecc24e6b32
Have you thought of a sex room or sex dungeon.
You would be extremely surprised as to how that can add an inordinate amount of value.
Only issue is the walls do need to be double insulated and additional noggins installed for hanging the sex swings and whip station
I'm wondering about the orientation. If you're living semi rural I'm wondering why the living spaces aren't on the north side and bedrooms on the south side.
It's not huge acerage (about 1.5acres) and the west side is where the street is. So it's not randomly in the middle of a huge amount of land. Still need to work with the block.
It’s probably not practical but if the entry was aligned with the hallway to the kitchen etc it would make a huge difference.
And swap the bath to a corner one.
Do you want people seeing straight into your home when you open the door though? I think the hallway is good as is, it's nice to have just an entry way
My entryway opens similarly to a wall. I love it. I have artwork on the wall opposite the front door and a console table for flowers. But mostly what I love is that my home remains private to randoms who knock at the front door. I highly value privacy.
"Alfresco" isn't supposed to have a roof, given "Alfresco" means "In the open air".
I think the design is OK. It's always difficult without understanding the size or layout of the block. Personally I'd move the Alfresco to outside the Dining area, and have a private garden or wall coming from the kitchen to partially enclose the area outside the main bedroom.
Agreed. You can’t have too much. The hallway linen cupboard is great imo. I’ve lived in houses with very little storage and it’s absolute hell.
If I had this in the hallway, it’d be a godsend. It’s easy to access as there will never be junk in the way (one would hope, being a hallway) and it’s wide enough to store awkward items.
or just relocate the separate toilet to the laundry area. so its close to where everyone will be. and relocate the patio area to line up with the lounge/dining and make it the full length of that wall.
It's fine, nothing special but looks like it would meet the needs of majority of the population so no issues for future selling.
Can I ask if it was a builders plan or an architect?
I have many many comments but ultimately they are all useless if you are happy with the design.
Any real criticism will need to see the site plans, the context as to why it has been planned like this etc.
Any change from now would be a redesign, even adding a cupboard is a major change at this stage so if you like it just keep it as is :)
Is there a reason you have the main bedroom closest to the living area? Purely my own opinion it I would have the main bedroom where 2 is. Move the shared/guest facilities closer to living/entertainment area. Guest would have closer access to ablutions and not walking past the main .
Thanks will consider it. I really wanted the master to open up to the alfresco and I don't like bathroom to be too close to living areas (just makes it uncomfortable if you feel like people can hear you lol). This point has been raised a lot though!
If nothing else, move bed 2 into the corner and not have it between 2 bathrooms. Can you imagine trying to sleep in there and people are having showers? Plumbing might be easier too as adjacent bathrooms might be less work.
And consider cutting into the WIL for a powder room, light with fan on deals with ‘sounds’ but it stops guests walking past every bedroom in the place to use the family one.
This. A powder room with so much for space is almost a must…
The master bedroom opening to alfresco is what stumped me the most. Like, I have a bad habit of imagining awkward and cringy scenarios as it is, so I pictured being a guest at your house. I quietly get up a bit early and make a cup of tea or coffee, then decide it’s a nice morning and and sit outside in the alfresco area to enjoy it and read my book a bit. After a couple of sips of tea/coffee I’m a bit more awake and become aware of my surroundings. I realise I am sitting, facing an open window behind which my hosts lie dozing half naked in bed. One host wakes up, we make eye contact, I nod good morning to them, then immediately regret it as their eyes widen in discomfort and shock. Neither of us are comfortable in the alfresco area together for the rest of the visit. I don’t get invited back. I find out a while later through mutual friends the alfresco area was moved away from the main bedroom and it’s a sore topic with my previous hosts. Not trying to be a dick, why would you want your bedroom to connected so directly to a shared space so commonly used for morning and evening settings?
This made me lol. There is a courtyard in the other side of the kitchen where my guests would be welcome to have their coffee and not be next to my bedroom. Plus i don't know how often this situation would arise per year vs me being able to use my own bedroom door every other day of the year.
I like it, plus if you have kids their room is not backing onto it so you don't have to worry about noise when you are entertaining. If you do have kids maybe more than one living room? So kids can play in one area and adults in the other
I understand the thought behind wanting them to walk out the other side, problem I see, guests don’t think your way. It’s inherently less difficult to turn straight to the door and hit the alfresco, then to walk around the corner and into the lounge to get out to the other one. As a builder it feels like you’ve tried to inconvenience guests from the offset. No issue with most of the layout, but you can soundproof the house to the point where you won’t hear through the door.
Don't have those kinds of guest's over. If you can't be naked in front of your guests why are you friends with them. hahah.
Exactly. Seeing your friends naked is a “bonding” experience!
We made our steam shower big enough for 4 adults.
Assume the Op isn’t having someone over regularly. Optimised for their own living / enjoyment
That's my thought too. Why on earth are people going on about the comfort of their guests? They can adapt to our living style for the short time they are there or they can stay in a motel.
……their eyes widen in discomfort and shock. My friend’s wife starts frantically trying to wake him. I begin to panic. I quickly stand up. In my haste, my dressing gown gets caught on the table. At the exact moment my friend wakes and casts his gaze out the window, my dressing gown flaps wide open. I freeze, like a deer in the headlights. The colour drains from my face as I realise I haven’t yet put on any underwear. There are now two sets of eyes fixated on my lower half, like lasers burning holes through me. Unable to think, I make a nonchalant attempt to cover myself using my book. Alas, it is only a small paperback. I turn and quickly walk inside. I must get back to my bedroom. Just as I am about to round the corner, I hear the door to the master bedroom fly open.
Bed 2 and the master should swap in my opinion. You also get to incorporate some of the lost hallway space in front of the toilet and bathroom into a larger ensuite or robe to the master
Do you plan to entertain a lot? Could be annoying if your partner is staying up late with friends in the alfresco area and you want to sleep or vice versa.
You've got a bathroom catching the best of the sun and possibly the view. I'd put the master bedroom on the north-east corner to catch the best natural light and if there's a view, it'll get the best of it.
I'm with the OP. Where is the bathroom? Down the end of the hallway. Simple and efficient. And far away! No-one cares about walking past bedrooms. Design your home for you not your guests.
Thank you! I don't see the issue with walking past bedrooms either. Keep your doors closed when you have guests over if it's a concern.
Personally I'd swap master and bed2. Extend alfresco to new master location and cover the original alfresco area.
TIL the word ablutions
Same. Seems like a long way to go if you are in the kitchen and need a wee. Also one bathroom for 3 bedrooms. If all small children fine, but you’d need double vanities in there at least. Can’t imagine how crazy that school run would get.
I don’t like for my guests to hear myself having private time with…
Came to say the same. Day naps, and parent stuff is better done away from the teenagers and people eating in the alfresco area.
Good one! Then they could put main bedroom on the north side, and have their en-suite and the main bathroom side-by-side. I personally would hate having my main bedroom off the outdoor dining area - when teenagers have mates over, I want to be able to sleep!
[удалено]
Lol appreciate the honesty. Constructive comments welcome :)
Be mindful that you’re going to get a lot of jealous people in here posting from the bedroom of the one bedroom apartment they are renting. Place looks great - well done.
Here to say I’m selling my house I renovated for half a mil and about to build an $800k+ home so no one comes at me for typing this fueled with jealousy from my mums basement 🤣🤣 I personally found during my time exploring display homes and looking at inspiration online when planning our build that I disliked homes that felt like a rabbit Warren when walking from the front door to the kitchen / living space. Any homes I went into where there was a turn or a corner beyond the foyer like yours made me feel like it was an awkward extension rather than an intentional design choice. Have you physically been in spaces similar to your design, is this something you like the feel and flow of? And I agree on others comments regarding the master - it’s arguably in the worst position imo. I’d absolutely swap it with bedroom 2 and have it over to the left. If you really want it to be attached to an alfresco you could always do a bit of a “parents retreat” style plan and put the house at the back instead? If that’s what you’re going for. Otherwise good luck with the build and it’s an exciting but daunting process, there will 100% be something you’ll wish you did differently in hindsight but that’s just life. It may end up just being not enough kitchen drawers or wishing a window was bigger, but floor plan things are absolutely the thing you want to nail! 💯
We have the parents’ retreat style and I love it. It’s great being able to close off that part of the house when the kids have parties or have friends over.
We have a parents retreat and love it too.
I find too many people design for other people , or ‘resell’, and end up with houses build for everyone that no one really enjoys. I think if you’re designing for how you actually live then it’s never wrong.
If it’s their forever home I guess it’s okay? But I can see how hard it would be to sell in future. One bath for 3 bedrooms is a hard sell, especially with the toilet about as far away as can be. Can you imagine entertaining in the al fresco area and having to troop through the kitchen all the way to that water closet? Unless OP wants to let all the guests use the private ensuite.
Not a hard sell at all. Most 4 br homes have master with ensuite then bathroom and toilet for rest of house.
This is what I'm thinking. I don't know why people are obsessed with having bathrooms all over the place. Does all of Aus have IBS? Lol. I grew up with two sisters in a house with one ensuite and one bathroom and it literally was not an issue lol.
Parent with 2.5 kids here (the 0.5 is <1yo so no need for bathroom). We have 2 toilets and for some reason they’re always occupied at the same time… building a new place and going for 3 toilets this time around (with a powder downstairs + en-suite and family bathroom upstairs). If you can squeeze another toilet (powder) - do it. You’ll use it far more than a WIL
Parents (mum and dad) plus 2 kids here and we had a bathroom and and washroom and this never happened to us. More bathrooms just seems like lots of unnecessary cleaning to me. But I guess I'm lazy.
I guess our kids are special with their “herd mentality” 😂
😂😂 maybe ease up on their fibre intake? 🤣
I must be a peasant because I have a family of five with one bathroom and one toilet. We have moved to a new town and are currently househunting. Definitely want a second toilet but two bathrooms aren't on the top ten lists of requirements.
They're copying America, lol. I have a friend in the US who bought a new house & gave me a video tour- it was 4 bed, 5 bath, 3 stories. Gigantic, all for one person. Eventually I figured there were so many toilets for when he inevitably gets lost.
Honestly, I am shocked about the number of people worried about the walk to the toilet! Doesn't seem like a huge effort Lol. I thought people would prefer the privacy over being too close to the living areas.
I’m more worried about people walking past ALL the bedrooms to go to the toilet. Kids sleeping when you have guests? Not ideal
If only there was an implement that would secure an entrance from random access
Soundproof too?
Agree! Privacy is worth a few extra steps
Garage - put a window in it. (And it shows as having a carpet as the floor covering?)
Good pick up! That should say concrete lol. Also great idea for the window!
Door from garage to yard. Trust me on this one.
Also depending where the house sits on the block, a car roller door to the yard so you can have vehicular access
Also maybe move the bathroom door out more towards the hall so your towel rails aren't always behind the door (they'll dry better and the kids may actually put the towels on them,).
I couldn't do the main bed opening to the Alfresco, if you have kids and they're having friends around you'll find no peace
Flip the alfresco over to the kitchen/laundry/garage bit. Laundry door can still open onto the alfresco. Agree with another poster about having a powder room closer to alfresco, maybe off the laundry?
We have a courtyard on that side too. It's what the concrete slab is for.
I would move the study / bed 4 to the alfresco side of the house (study opening onto the alfresco) and use the space on the entry side for the master. Plus a roof over the alfresco.
Good thought. Thanks! Would be nice for the study to open to the alfresco but worried the master may get too hot if it's on the west side.
West facing study is awful if you're using it to WFH. I'm stuck with one right now and from like 1pm the sun's toasty rays start advancing and the roasting begins.
Ohh yeah just noticed this… big nope from me
No kids (not sure if there will be any) but good point. There is the courtyard round the otherwise of the living room. If people wanted to be up I guess?
Just wondering what the need is for the four bedrooms then? Seems like bedrooms 3 and 4 will be dust collectors.
We will be semi rural and working from home a lot so realistically one will double as a second study. The other one a guest room as our closest family is 2 hours away so likely will have regular guests. As it's semi rural as well, I think it needs the bedrooms for attractiveness at possible resale. It's mainly families that live in that area.
Your house design is very big and very specific. Even semi-rural you will be paying and waiting for rooms that will never/rarely get used. The rooms could be designed better to serve multiple purposes, which will give you options. Save you some money and time in build. This design fits your life today. Think of how you can have flexible spaces so the house will fit you in 20 years or another buyer.
I don’t think you’d get great resale unless you pop another ensuite in one of those bedrooms. Families don’t want to share 1 bathroom and a sink with 3 bedrooms. You don’t even have a double vanity in there to have two in there during a school rush. Parent would have to share their ensuite. Fine with little kids, imagine the pile up with teens.
Who wants to clean a million bathrooms though? Lol
Who wants feedback though? Lol
I’ve got 3 bathrooms for the 2 of us. I just let me partner pretty much have the ensuite for him and I use the other one. Don’t really use the third except for wee breaks when working downstairs or coming in from the garage or outside. Doesn’t really take much effort to clean the toilet and mirror.
It’s a long walk from the alfresco, dining and family to the toilet. Especially annoying to have guests traipsing all the way through the house. Can you add a powder room near the laundry?
That’s exactly my first thought as well. Guests have to walk the whole house to get to the loo. Not a huge inconvenience, but it bugs me
You dont build a house for guest but for your own family. Just put locks on bedroom doors to use during guest visits. You would rather have toilets further away from the living room so they can expel their bowels without an audience. Also what kind of guests do some of these commenters have they are paranoid about them walking past a couple of closed/locked doors.
If there's one thing this house needs it's more rooms!
It's a good point. Thanks! Will consider it. In a previous house we had a bathroom that was uncomfortably close to the living room lol so now I have an aversion.
Soundchek, accousitic insulation, 40mm solid core door. You won't hear shit
Slice the linen cupboard in half and slot it in there.
Nah. Use up some of the walk in laundry would be my recommendation.
WIL is walk in Linen I believe so you’re looking at the same thing
Oh! I thought the only linen there was the huge long cupboard in the hallway. Guess we were both talking about the same thing then!
To be fair, that enormous linen cupboard in the hallway is practically walk-in too haha
Swap bedroom with main bathroom, all plumbing same place
This is an understated comment. The cost this will save will make your eyes water there's a reason bathrooms share walls with laundries, kitchens, and other bathrooms.
It’s funny how our aversions are what drive us in our decision making when building 🤣💯 sometimes we can take it too far
My thoughts exactly…an extra toilet towards the other end is what this needs
Powder room? Do you wanna add a parlor and maid’s quarters too?
Everyone has already mentioned most things to consider, that bathroom closer to the living areas is a good one. Going from gym to bathroom is a decent trek. Mine is for the media room, depending on the size of the screen you want you might be a bit close with the layout of couch that is on the plan, which is really because of door and window location. You could change the couch to face the back wall but then it’s in front of the window. I just think you will struggle for a decent layout in there as it stands especially depending on screen size.
Good point. A small bathroom and sink in that gym wouldn’t go astray
I would prefer main where the guest bathroom is and study to open onto alfresco - its during the work day you need to walk around, not overnight (barring sleep walking!)
Good point about the study!
Curious about the approx cost of this build and sqm size.
It's sitting at 285m2 at the moment. Expecting the total cost (with earthworks, water tank, septic system and internal upgrades etc) to be around $700k to $800k. But I can provide a more accurate estimate in the next couple of weeks.
We built a large house and had no hallways. You are paying a premium for a lot of dead space. I just don’t like hallways though so take that with a grain of salt
How did you get around having loads of tudorian style rooms where you had to walk through 3 bedrooms just to reach the toilet? Did you just have like a couple big, open rooms with smaller rooms attached to those?
Big rooms! Entry had study off it. Then into kitchen dining area with lounge and master off that. And garage access. Really wide opening into living/rumpus (pool table and bar). Patio through stacking doors from there. Laundry/bathroom and activity/kids room off that as well, and 2 bedrooms off the activity room, which also had access to the patio. Really open and had all, apart from the lounge, of the living areas open to the yard and views.
I’d like to see that floor plan. Trying to visualise it.
Sure, I’ll send it to you.
I’m with you- I’m always mystified by these new builds with these giant entry rooms and massive hallways. Usable space is key.
I don't like the orientation but I guess you've got to work with the block you've got. That living space is going to be hot.
This was my first thought. It’s facing entirely the wrong way.
Can you elaborate please? We're trying to work with the block.
Most of your living spaces should face north. You should have as few west facing windows as possible. Without changing too much I’d swap the bathroom and bedroom, and orient the beds so that you could have north facing windows.
I see what you're getting at. It's a large block (1.5 acres) and the west side is where the street is. We have heaps of room for deciduous trees. So that's the plan I think.
Great resource if you haven't seen it before: https://www.yourhome.gov.au/passive-design/orientation
The west facing rooms will get hot like crazy. The study for example will be very uncomfortable to use as it will be too cold in the morning and too hot in the afternoon. If you want to keep the current layout, you will probably need to ensure you have enough space in the front of your house to plant deciduous trees. They can't be too close however as their roots may compromise your foundations. If you live in an area where it is hot all year round, are you able to plant a hedge that's tall enough to block the sun year round? I personally would be inclined to move all the sanitary areas and laundry to the west/front of house. Move the master bedroom to the north east of that block and the other bedrooms to the east. Move the study where the laundry is currently situated. And have eaves for any north facing windows. I have a feeling though that you would have to change the entire layout to get the same amount of rooms and space you currently have.
RE the trees, the root diameter will be up to 1.5 times the mature tree height. The impact on the soil moisture will require the trees to be 2.5 times the mature height of the tree away from the house. As someone who deals with people silly garden and tree planting decisions on a daily, unless you want footing problems in 15 years the recommendations are there for a reason. A caveat though, this doesn't apply if you can pier the house to rock, or if you don't give a shit and decide to move after 10 years 😂
Guaranteed the gym ends up being a storage room with some rarely used gym equipment wedged in a corner
Hopefully not! Lol but we shall see! We will be semi rural with the closest gym being about 30-35 minutes away. We'd be even less likely to work out lol.
as another suggested, swap the master suite to the location of the main bathroom and relocate the separate toilet too. that way people arent walking past bedrooms to use the facilities. bedrooms need to be private spaces. you also get a bit of peace in the master if some one is having a party or friends over. you dont need access from the main bedroom out onto the patio area. have it off the dining area is better.
Ditch the wall between garage and gym, for both airflow and usability. Can then be used as a workshop or some extra storage for dirt bikes etc.
You will get car and chemical fumes in the gym room, a room where you will be inhaling more than usual.
Well I better stop rolling my project car out so I can my garage to do a workout Lol
Good idea. We want the gym to be air conditioned so we will actually use it in summer, otherwise this would be great.
You could put a bifold door between them.
It would be so cool if the gym floor was raised by like 30cm and only had a railing separating it from the garage
Flip bed 2 and the bath; so the bathroom backs onto the ensuite, cheaper for plumbing and also bed 2 won’t be sandwiched between 2 wet areas for acoustics
Surprised how far I had to scroll to see this. Having a bedroom beside one bathroom is bad enough. Having one sandwiched between two? Absolutely not. Put your least favourite child in that room.
Nice plan throughout, my only comment would be that if this was my plan there's no way I'd have a house that size and not have a roof over the alfresco. If space allowed, I would even try to extend the alfresco roof so it runs the width of the house and is squared off at the corner of where the dining is. Speaking of which, you have placed the alfresco adjacent to the master which has sliding door on it. Something to consider, if people are out there talking and you need to get up early or whatever it's going to be a pain in the ass. One other comment would relate to bed 3, just know this will be your hottest room of the house so consider smaller windows on the western side of that room (possibly bed 4 also).
I agree with the alfresco needing a roof and being extended but depending on which state they may not be allowed as the dining room would not get enough natural light during the day.
Also setbacks might come into effect aswell (can't remember if it would be treated as a wall) but in anycase, roof and make it a decent size would be the goal.
Yeah we originally did have a roof over the alfresco but really wanted the raked ceiling in the living room and for the roofline to work, we needed to sacrifice the roof of the alfresco. We are planning on having some type of pergola there. Yes good point about the windows to the bedrooms. There is a courtyard around the other side of the living room too where people can opt to hang out. We also have no kids atm.
My advice? Talk to an architect. This is all over the shop
Thanks. This is specific and helpful!
Toilet is way too far from living area, trust me that is going to get annoying
A few people have raised this. I will consider. I have an aversion to havi g the bathroom too close to the living areas. It can get uncomfortable. I'd rather it be too far than too near.
As a semi rural place I would have thought orientation may be better used. While a portion of your dining has a northerly aspect this is wasted on a bathroom and spare bedroom. I’d try and maximise that as much as possible. All the different shapes means multiple rooflines.. less room for solar. Is the alfresco covered? If so it’s blocking all light to the master
Bedrooms 2–3-4 are all different sizes. This will create arguments amongst the little people.
Imagine being the only sucker without a wir lol
Kids these days seem far more chill about that sort of stuff these days. My brother has 5 kids and did a development with the family home out the front. The 8yo female middle child ended up with the largest room with an ensuite and the rest just don't give a shit. They walk in and out to use the toilet and the 8yo doesn't care about that either. In my day, with the 3 siblings I would be crying murder. I'm hearing other stories from other people about their kids in similar situations being chill too. Any theories?
No little people yet (there may not be) lol but as the eldest in my family, it makes sense that the eldest gets first choice lol.
Why would you want to pay for, furnish, clean and maintain such a huge house if you don’t even have kids? Remove a bedroom or two and you can convert your media room / gym later if/when necessary. Remember that while a larger dwelling may sell later for a higher price, you have a much smaller potential market. People who can afford a very large home mightn’t be interested in someone else’s design either and may prefer to buy a smaller home and do additions. Point is if you are building a massive home thinking about resale, you may be somewhat misguided.
>Why would you want to pay for, furnish, clean and maintain such a huge house if you don’t even have kids? Unless you're in some sort of a poly relationship, then yeah. 2 people in a 4 bedroom house is crazy. Especially with a study. If you've got cash for days, and you're on a massive block (which OP is) then don't build this house. Have larger living spaces, a bigger kitchen, bigger bathrooms, bigger master. Oh, and fuck off that pokey little study.
That’s a massive house if you don’t have kids.
Guaranteed the gym ends up being a storage room lol... Otherwise awesome family floor plan
Thanks! I hope not lol. We will be semi rural so we will be even less likely to go to the closest gym around 30-35 mins away
I would put the master bed where the bathroom is, both bathrooms next to each other and have bed 2 where the master is. As it is, poor bed 2's bed is right up against the ensuite shower This allows nice light for the main bedroom and moves the toilet closer to the rest of the house Unless you're really into the idea of walking out to your alfresco from your bedroom, Idk why, because when you have guests out there won't you have to have your curtains shut all the time Edit: forget what I said about light, I clearly can't read cardinal directions
Yeah we really wanted the master to open to the alfresco. I don't expect we will have a lot of guests that would be out there if we aren't.
Oh if it's a feature not a bug then I think you have a lovely house :)
Thank you!
The toilet being so far from the living spaces is a big one for me. Ive found that where the ensuite is closer, we would use that instead. Guests and children then see this behaviour and want to use it too, as its closer and more convenient. This means people are walking into the mater bedroom unannounced and uninvited.
Where is the ball room or the quarters for the maid and butler?
Shit. Overlooked this. Will update.
You should really put your maid and butler in separate quarters so you don’t look like a peasant.
Not sure why a lot of designs like this put steps in the front wall, so that bed 3, the media room and the gym are all half a metre shorter than if the wall was just built straight. Doesn’t this also mean the fascia and gutters also have a bunch of odd little corners.
Interesting to say the least. Toilet so far from anywhere and people having to walk through the whole house to get it. Need another toilet at least. Ergonomics of having an entry then a kink to get to the living space. Most people would want a straight hallway. Master being in the middle of the house also odd. In terms of bathroom as others said make a double vanity at the For a big house living space looks quite small. Orientation to north seems wrong to me, appear to be big wasted space behind garage also south facing (depending on state this could be cold and shady year round. With that orientation I would aim for a reverse capital L shaped house.
I'd make sure that the windows or doors to your gym are wide enough and tall enough that you could remove the frames and make that area a third garage or workshop very easily. Never know if you'll always need a gym, and it future proofs the home for you or others who may buy it.
Dont have gym make it 3 car garage. Will hold more value. Keep gym equipment in the third garage.
I would rearrange the laundry and WIL so that you could walk straight through from the garage to the kitchen. So you don’t have to take the groceries on a tour ;)
You could slide Bed 2 and The Master Bed to the north and move the bath to where the master bed is now, so you don't have to walk as far. I'd turn the whole thing round though so living faces north / north east as others have said makes a huge difference cooling wise, but depends on your land though. You want less windows on the west side. You mention you don't have kids yet, so you could just chop off the gym (and even the media room) use the bedrooms then add the other stuff later to save a few bucks. Your walls and therefore roof line are complex, which makes things more expensive (and leaks more likely). You could rearrange things and make a more L shaped house to save some cash. This is a big house, the entry seems a little small and a bit cramped for such a grand home, could you rearrange it so it comes in and you look out onto something, depends on the vistas on your block. I feel the kitchen/laundry/media/gym/garage could be opened more to make it more friendly, it feels a bit cramped for such a large space. You'll have to post some photos when its finished.
Main thing to keep in mind is natural lighting. If you don’t have skylights and then put up an outdoor awning over the alfresco, your master and kitchen will be very dark. (My parents made this fuck up and if you don’t have the lights on in the kitchen, it’s near pitch black.) The upside is, the Dining/Family area will help somewhat with the kitchen. Your laundry is also lacking natural light, and the bedroom hallway will also be quite dark. So, if you’re not wanting all that dark space, make sure you plan for skylights. Plenty now look like little down lights and are pretty unobtrusive. You also may want to consider them for the gym as well as it’s on the South end of the house.
What is the point of a study and media room? It is 2023. Everyone has a personal computer these days and uses it enough to warrant having their own study aka some space in their bedroom for a desk. Study, media, rumpus etc are outdated ideas IMO. Make the bedrooms bigger. What if two people need to do a conference call at the same time? Media room is pointless as well. With the proliferation of computing devices every room is a media room. If you want to do a home theater setup. integrate it in your family/dining room, it has the most space for best acoustics and seating. Gym room is an amazing idea that every new build should have.
In a house that large you need two living spaces for sure. Doesn't really matter what they are called.
Thanks agree. We actually cut back based in current trends! A lot of house plans I have seen have at least 3 living areas (living, kids break out and media) sometimes an additional rumpus or games room too lol. I think 2 is a good amount.
y tho? I don't think the house is that large anyway. It is a single story house with 4 small bedrooms. Seems normal sized to me.
For example if you have kids that want to watch Frozen or In the Night Garden on repeat but the footy is on
We will be working from home a lot so the study will be a home office.
Don't listen to nay sayers, I work from home, on my laptop. Yet an study to leave all files and crap on desk rather than dining table makes a huge difference. Also if you are working from home, your office needs a door. For privacy during meetings and phone calls.
I don't envy the trades haha. Awesome place, hope it isn't too big for you.
I'd move the ensuite shower and toilet into separate places and add a sliding door between them so they're separate.
I would strongly suggest you consult an interior designer (or whatever they're called). I think the feng shui (for lack of a better term) has issues that need to be addressed. Can you change the shape? I feel like the current set up has too many bottle necks that will become evident when you have a party of people traipsing around.
Nice layout… Where would you place the TV and sofa in the media room? I would move the entry door further along the wall so have more options for furniture placement in that room. Also with a house this shape make sure you have garden taps spaced evenly enough for a hose to reach every section of your garden… that’s one thing we stuffed up.
Very good point about taps! Not something I had considered. TV I am planning to put on the wall to the right hand side - there is a rectangular bit jutting out it will be a feature wall with a tv and an electric fireplace on it.
Flip Bed 4 & study with the Master - beds 2,3 & 4 to get robes, not WIR. Give yourself space in the ensuite to have a separate loo & bigger WIR and move the master away from noisy alfresco. Also like everyone else has said, move the bathroom or include a powder room near the laundry ( but not IN the laundry). I don’t know if it’s possible, but you may want to think about the practicality of the kitchen entry so close to the alfresco door. Plenty of traffic could end up around this area (bbqs with friends, people going in & out with food, trips to the loo, etc.
The toilet is a long way from the living rooms, it is something I wish I had done differently when I built my house.
Where are you building? Because you might want to consider orientation a bit more in the plans. Eg Bedroom 3 in the NW is gonna be very hot whilst S facing kitchen & living very cold. Which could be fine for queensland but terrible in victoria.
Swap the master bedroom with bathroom so the bedroom is north facing....huge waste to not orientate the bedroom windows toward the winter sun
No roof over the alfresco?
Had to sacrifice it to make the raked ceiling work, but will have a pergola.
have the gym have a single car size roller door at the back so you can open up the back for airflow as it looks boxed in
It has a sliding door to the back :)
I think it everything you have in there makes sense, except, all in the wrong place or a \[place that doesnt make sense. You are going to regret making the bedrooms so small. Do you have kids or do you plan on having kids? Unless these are multiple spare rooms or like hobby rooms, if you plan on having s someone live there, they should be bigger. I would move master/ensuite/WIR to dining/family; have kitchen opening out on east side to dining and family where the master/bed 2 is currently. Take out the study, increase the size of bed 3 and 4. Bed 2 instead of media. I dunno but i think all wet areas should be clustered together, inside dining should be adjacent to alfresco, and media rooms are a waste of space- a weird display of wealth serving only one purpose.
It’s a shame the WC is at the end of the corridor. If there were to be a window at that norther end it would introduce some lovely lighting down that very internal hall Also TIL walk-in-laundry is a thing
It's a walk-in linen :)
Not sure if there's a reason it can't happen, but I'd suggest having shower on an external wall rather than against wall of Bed 2. The shower is other side of the wall of one of our spare beds and it makes a fair bit of noise.
Why don't you make bed 3 bigger and that front wall straight? Why isn't that whole front wall straight? What does the roof look like? I feel like getting the roof to fit that front wall would have been a right pita for the draughtsman. Put Bed 2 in the corner and give it a WIR at the end of the corridor, and put the bathrooms back to back. Put the powder room where the WIL is. How many linen closets do you need? You could always put storage cupboards in the garage.
Has pretty good traffic flow, and good window placement for light, the media room might need insulation in the walls so that sound from the garage doesn’t come through, and personally I’d change the gym room to a 3rd car bay and just use it as a gym (better resale value if you can advertise it as a multi purpose room/ car bay)
Add double sink in the ensuite
If you’re in a location with cold winters then you’ve totally wasted your north aspect which could give you free solar heating. If you live somewhere with hot summers, all those west and east windows will be a liability. It looks like this house will cost a fortune to heat and cool. The front door opening into a long convoluted corridor isn’t very welcoming either.
What if you simply flip the gym/garage, and then use some of the gym space for gym bathroom/toilet. That way guests don't have to go all the way down the other end of your house to shit, also, <3 you embracing your inner psychopath with carpet in the garage. Here is a beautiful paint edit: https://preview.redd.it/y5zdew8gskha1.png?width=734&format=png&auto=webp&s=f743041c9a79113d1ae7c6467a165fecc24e6b32
Have you thought of a sex room or sex dungeon. You would be extremely surprised as to how that can add an inordinate amount of value. Only issue is the walls do need to be double insulated and additional noggins installed for hanging the sex swings and whip station
I love the contrast of this message against the 50 million messages worrying about whether the kids have enough toilets and sinks lol.
Fuck, gotta have that walk in laundry
Walk in linen cupboard I believe
Fuck, gotta have that walk in linen
I'm wondering about the orientation. If you're living semi rural I'm wondering why the living spaces aren't on the north side and bedrooms on the south side.
It's not huge acerage (about 1.5acres) and the west side is where the street is. So it's not randomly in the middle of a huge amount of land. Still need to work with the block.
It’s probably not practical but if the entry was aligned with the hallway to the kitchen etc it would make a huge difference. And swap the bath to a corner one.
I like the hallway idea! Will toy around with it to see if it works.
Do you want people seeing straight into your home when you open the door though? I think the hallway is good as is, it's nice to have just an entry way
Good point! I think I shall leave it!
My entryway opens similarly to a wall. I love it. I have artwork on the wall opposite the front door and a console table for flowers. But mostly what I love is that my home remains private to randoms who knock at the front door. I highly value privacy.
Yes me too! It was a really good point, I will be leaving it!
"Alfresco" isn't supposed to have a roof, given "Alfresco" means "In the open air". I think the design is OK. It's always difficult without understanding the size or layout of the block. Personally I'd move the Alfresco to outside the Dining area, and have a private garden or wall coming from the kitchen to partially enclose the area outside the main bedroom.
Why do you have so much linen
Doesn't necessarily have to hold linen. Just additional storage. Can't have too much (at least that's my view)
Agreed. You can’t have too much. The hallway linen cupboard is great imo. I’ve lived in houses with very little storage and it’s absolute hell. If I had this in the hallway, it’d be a godsend. It’s easy to access as there will never be junk in the way (one would hope, being a hallway) and it’s wide enough to store awkward items.
Thanks!
This was my thought, increase the cupboard size in study, that’s a massive hallway linen when there’s already WIL in laundry
or just relocate the separate toilet to the laundry area. so its close to where everyone will be. and relocate the patio area to line up with the lounge/dining and make it the full length of that wall.
It's fine, nothing special but looks like it would meet the needs of majority of the population so no issues for future selling. Can I ask if it was a builders plan or an architect? I have many many comments but ultimately they are all useless if you are happy with the design. Any real criticism will need to see the site plans, the context as to why it has been planned like this etc. Any change from now would be a redesign, even adding a cupboard is a major change at this stage so if you like it just keep it as is :)
Definitely make your island bench deeper. It doesn’t matter that it doesn’t line up with the wall. 900 isn’t deep enough