Are we missing any clever ideas for floor plans here..?
Hello. We have a section of our house that has 2 bedrooms and a bathroom. We're doing a full renovation and moving one of the walls to extend the bathroom, so we have this layout below. We also have to take down the other bathroom wall for structural reasons, and rebuild it as a stud wall.
We're realising that the bedrooms are actually both quite small. As Bed 1 is the biggest, we were going to use this as the master bedroom (although the views from Bed 2 are nicer as they overlook the back garden). We were hoping to fit a super king bed, but the best we can do is this (with the wardrobe only 50cm deep):
With a king bed, we can just about add a bit more storage, like this, but it's quite tight everywhere:
We can't really move the bathroom much, if it stays between the two bedrooms, due to the floor to ceiling windows either side of it.
We're wondering, is there a completely different layout that we could consider for this part of the house, if we move some of those internal walls and somehow fit the bathroom in elsewhere?
Some restrictions / assumptions:
- Assume we can move the internal walls that currently divide the bedrooms and bathrooms, but that we can't do anything in the red area, because this is needed as landing at the top of the stairs. We also can't extend the bedrooms in any other direction, but can reallocte space within this footprint.
- We could add another window if that unlocked something
- We're on the first floor and can't extend
- The windows are all floor to ceiling, and can't be moved
- We REALLY want the bathroom to be bigger than current, as it's the main family bathroom and we really want the separate bath and shower
- It's okay for one of these bedrooms to be bigger and one smaller - one will be a kids room / guest room
In case relevant, here's the proposed layout for the bathroom:
And measurements:
Thanks so much for any ideas - either on making the master bedroom layout make more sense, or reworking this space as a whole.
Comments (13)
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last monthHeather N
last monthThank you for this. I've got the plans, yes, but this particular "block" of space can't change due to the stairs and change in levels (the house is across 5 levels). So I am wondering if we could do anything within this area, to have one generous bedroom, one smaller bedroom, and one family bathroom. But I fear the windows may make it impossible.
NB - We can't move the main bedroom to the ground floor, as our kids are young and on the top floor.
Here are 4 of the 5 different levels highlighted for ease of view. I haven't shown the top floor, which is the 5th level. We can't change the levels. And we can't extend the footprint of the house any further.
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Comments (3)Hello halt123, One thing I think would be a suggestion is to remove the two walls between kitchen/dining and kitchen/Utility. Have a galley style kitchen (I always suggest these as I like the sleek lines) but it then opens into the dining area of the living room space and could be rather lovely for entertaining.. If you were also to remove the door into garage and that wall and minimise the garage, you could situate a galley along that external wall side. Then you could have another set of double doors where the current kitchen window is.. With part of the garage leading into the current utility and kitchen space all as one open space... it not only gives you more kitchen space but also leads into the living area beautifully.. A double set of french doors or sliding doors could be really fabulous for summer entertaining... You could then perhaps situate dining in the current kitchen and have more space in the living room.. You could also re situate a door going into kitchen from the hallway.. Structural, planning and regulations permitting, should those walls I mention be load bearing. : ))...See MoreTotal refurb and need help with floor plan! (going in circles here!)
Comments (13)Thanks for your help and advice- all really useful and helping me sort the confusion of what I need and want and what is and isn't possible. The skinny space is the kitchen now. It's not ideal as of course is very small and narrow so can't house much. But I like that it's just off the reception room and. It quite in it! The kitchen houses the boiler currently and all pipe work there for oven and sink etc so I know this can be the kitchen but just worried the space is too small. My original plan was to keep the kitchen where it is but rehouse boiler and put washing machine in the toilet. The toilet would go in the bathroom but of course now that's not possible I need to put the boiler and washing machine somewhere and if back in the kitchen then I lose so much space. Could such a small space work? I need to rule out this ideal by speaking to a specially that deals with very small spaces. Any recommendations please?...See MoreLayout dilemma. Have we missed a trick?!
Comments (16)Hi Lauren, That's probably the biggest utility room I've seen on a house of this size! I think its a bit over kill and being right in the centre of your house it will clog up the flow and make the house feel disjointed. In order to have a functional house with good flow and lots of natural light you are going to have to rethink the whole floor plan. I don't think the split level idea is worth considering unless your ceilings are very low. Random steps in the house look great magazine pictures and in some limited scenarios are useful but they are not practical for kids, prams, elderly, disabled and the poor delivery guy that has to deliver your washing machine and take away the old one! You've just added an unnecessary trip hazard to your home. I would instead consider raising the patio at a later date when finances allow. In a house of this size a single level floor is safer, will make your house feel more open and coherent. So firstly I think you need a new tape measure! I couldn't work with any of your measurements. None of them add up! I had to base the plans on the measurements the architect labelled and work from there. So my solution for your house is a simple one but I think it will have a big impact and that is to change the stairs from straight to quarter turn at the bottom... Now you can utilise the space next to the front door and I would use this space for the wc. The next few steps could be omitted if the budget is too tight but I do think they would really make your house work well for you. I would build a small porch and remove the existing front door and opening. I would place the coat closet/ storage in the porch. I would reduce the size of the living room by extending the hall by the amount of space taken by the WC. This would create a spacious entrance great for prams, school bags, and shopping trips etc. I think the lounge should be small and cosy, used for watching Tv, reading, quiet time etc. I would remove a large section of the lounge wall and replace with a sliding wall or glazed doors. This means you can have the whole house open plan when you want it that way and the lounge closed off when you want a quiet cosy space. I'm not sure why you say you need a side entrance but I've left it in and created a small utility entrance with storage there. I would move the washing machine and dryer under the stairs. (I have made doors are transparent in the drawings to show their location). I would remove the living room window as I think with the bi fold and the huge skylight, the window is unecessary, as it faces a wall so won't be adding much to the light levels in the house. This leaves the remaining area completely open plan and able to accommodate a large kitchen with island and bar stool seating with 8, extending to 10 seater dining table and a comfortable lounge area. The thinking behind this layout was to take all the centralised "utility" area and divide it up and place it along the edges of the house, freeing up the centre for a spacious open plan living area. If you consider the porch storage, side entrance, wc and washer/dryer stack area, you actually have more "utility" area than before, but here it goes unnoticed and doesn't clog up the flow of the house. The sliding wall, along with the spread out utilities would help create a home where you and your husband get what you both want from it. With the sliding wall open, a large spacious home with great sight lines through out and utilities that aren't in your face. And with it closed, the same spacious home with lots of useful storage and utility space, and a nice quiet retreat to get away from it all. Sliding wall closed: Sliding wall open:...See MoreClever ideas to open up kitchen
Comments (16)Hi, Although I am no expert I suspect that the structural changes you are suggesting (because of the engineering involved and expense of glass) may end up costing as much as a small extension anyway. I too think a small glass box extension or similar (lean-to) might achieve what u are looking for. Have you thought of combining this with something similar to the screenshot below (taken from Houzz)? By creating a window like opening between your kitchen and dining area you will create a sociable connection between both spaces without compromising on traffic flow. On my very rough example floor plan I have illustrated how you can achieve this with a small glass box extension/similar. In this proposal I have pushed the countertop into the dining room creating a feature comparable to a kitchen island in an open plan space and have suggested built in bench seating to one side of the table. The kitchen it’s self is freed from the restraint of the galley layout creating a more airy, practical and sociable space to prep & cook food Hope this gives you some ideas :)...See More- PRO
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last monthlast modified: last monthHeather N thanked Piur & Co interior design 
Jonathan
last monthYou could also consider how long the children need to sleep on the same floor as you. Is it possible that you only have another three years before they take bedrooms upstairs (and one of those years could be living elsewhere). In which case consider if it works for you to have a bathroom upstairs, make the bathroom on the same level as your bedroom a shower room and resolve that going upstairs for a bath will be part of their bedtime routine while they are small.
Ps I really like Puirs suggestion to split the upper bedroom in order for you to have the room with the best view. Perhaps by making having a smaller shower room you could gain space in both the master and what will presumably (in a few years) become a guest room.
Heather N
29 days agolast modified: 29 days agoHello, thanks so much both of you for your ideas, really interesting.
There is one this we can't change, which is this area highlighted red - it's the circulation area at the top of the stairs, so we need to keep this clear and can't use this space for the bedrooms or bathroom. We also have two smaller floor to ceiling windows which I think the measurements might have hidden (highlighted blue), which add extra complexity!
It would be lovely to have the room with the best views.Re the kids. They are on the second floor, these rooms are the middle floor. That's fine, I was just mentioning it in case anyone suggested putting the master bedroom on the ground floor, which would be too far away.
Re making the bathroom smaller on this middle floor... We would need to make the second floor bathroom bigger in order to fit in a bath, which would lose space from those bedrooms on the second floor. This is not impossible though, if we can figure out how to fit everthing in those bedrooms if smaller (bed, wardrobes, etc). We could just copy the bathroom layout we have proposed on the first floor to the second floor. It would also mean the 'family' bathroom (i.e. the room with the bath) would be on the top floor between two kids bedrooms, which might be a bit weird for adults...? But then quite handy to have the bath next to the kids' rooms? Very interesting idea anyway...
Heather N
29 days agoHeather N
29 days agoCould we do anything clever with this sort of space, like for a walk in wardrobe or something, if we lost that middle window? Hmmm.
Jonathan
29 days agoOn the middle floor I think it would be a pity to block that window. And since the space is probably only about 1.3m I’m not sure you gain very much.
Given the house has five reception rooms (including the office and annex) and five bedrooms including these four plus the annex, is it possible you could forgo the bedroom next to your bedroom in order to have a better master suite? Also if you moved your bedroom to the top floor would it be easier to plan a long wall opposite the window so that your bed could face the view?
Heather N
29 days agoThank you. Sadly we need the 4 bedrooms in the main house - the annex will be rented out.
We also have floor to ceiling windows at the blue highlights. The best view is out of the one with the star.
Will keep mulling it over!
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29 days ago
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