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 (14)
PRO5 months ago- 5 months ago
Thank 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 (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 MoreFloor Plan Ideas Welcome
Comments (9)Hi David, Jonathan has already given a great layout design. But here is a quick alternative design that I came up with. The idea would be to use up the whole garage as a new entrance and W/C with a utility at the back too. the existing hall and W/C could become a games room, playroom or storage to make up for loss of the garage. Then at the back you could have an L shape kitchen dining living room, with the stairs as a feature. Please let me know what you think? And I wish you all the best with your layout change project!! Phill @Jonathan - I get what you’re saying about utility rooms, but I think some people use them for much more than laundry rooms, such as a boot room, tool storage, garden equipment, cleaning etc. So it makes sense for some people to have it next to the kitchen with a back door too. In an ideal house I think it would be great to have a separate laundry space somewhere nearer the bedrooms as you suggest!...See More- PRO5 months agolast modified: 5 months agoHeather N thanked Piur & Co interior design
5 months agoYou 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.
- 5 months agolast modified: 5 months ago
Hello, 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...
- 5 months ago
- 5 months ago
Could we do anything clever with this sort of space, like for a walk in wardrobe or something, if we lost that middle window? Hmmm.
- 5 months ago
On 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?
- 5 months ago
Thank 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!
- PRO5 months ago
- last month
Just wanted to pop back to say a big thank you. This is the layout we are going with - I wouldn't have got to this without both your input Piur & Jonathan! The family bathroom is now upstairs.
This is the idea for the master bed layout:A = built in wardrobe
B = built in dressing table (next to the window that isn't floor-to-ceiling height)
C = freestanding set of drawers between the two windows
Thank you!
Piur & Co interior design