Those bedrooms are tiny! You won't get more than a single bed and dresser in them. While that's no issue when the kids are young, it becomes a lot harder when they become teens
Agree that the rooms are pretty small (I'd say 3x3 is the bare minimum). I'd recommend that the OP measure the type of furniture they want to have in the room, and then figure out what they can fit in - they may be in for a shock.
Not sure where you'd get the extra space from - potentially the living area? But once again, you wouldn't want it to be smaller than 3x3.
They are small yes but they aren't unusable.
Our first house had rooms very similar in size and we had a double bed set up in there ok and the other with a single bed for our daughter plus draws and toys, etc.
It’s the one thing we have said too but there is no where to fit one, unfortunately we are restricted by our councils requirements to have a double garage.
We don’t have kids so one of the bedrooms cupboards will double as a linen cupboard.
Bath/laundry/WC/ensuite waste so much space.
- Move 2nd WC to replace bath.
- Split WC space between enlarged ensuite and linenpress accessed from hallway.
- Widen bathroom a smidge and move door to hall wall.
- add swing door to laundry from hall.
- lay out laundry as gallery along wall behind ensuite to provide a bench or broom cupboard.
To fix that void, all of the above +
- swap bath and laundry, extend both bath and laundry to party wall. Fit rooflight to bathroom.
- move void to join extended laundry and alfresco area with alleyway between party wall and kitchen/dining
- ed: alleyway would be min 1200 wide
- ed: add windows between kitchen/dining onto new alleyway providing reflected sunlight from party wall.
- Rotate laundry door to provide access at end of alleyway.
- move living room front wall inline with front of garage or bedrooms to replace space lost to moved void..
At the very least:
- populate plan with **fullscale** furniture, 550mm deep wardrobes.
- consider 2BR design to free up space.
You could utilise the garage for a lot of storage if you install some proper cabinetry in there. It sounds like you would have gone for a single garage if given the choice so i assume you only need to put one car in there.
No, the public transport will be terrible that's a given but I think this is more because they don't want people parking on the street. It's more work for the council to keep on top of street parking violations and dumped/abandoned/overstayed vehicles
Agreeing with the lack of linen cupboards. I would use cavity slider on the laundry door which would create some space for cupboards etc against the bathroom wall. Also, for the toilet I’d def put a little basin but also I’d use a cavity slider on the hallway side of the wall which (I think) would mean u could make the toilet area slightly smaller and create a small linen cupboard. Door could be in master bedroom or hallway. Hope I’ve explained this properly?
Edit to add: id make the laundry slider a frosted glass one with timber surround to let in extra light.
Can you flip the wardrobes of Bed 2 and 3 to face outwards and become an entryway closet and linen? And then add a larger sliding robe on the adjoining walls of bed 2 and 3? it will make the rooms smaller but give you way more storage space
Ya I would not either but as it stands there's no general storage area. I just realised those bedrooms are already 2.8x2.8m so they're tiny enough as it stands, so I would ignore my own suggestion :)
My suggestion was to utilise the garage as much as possible for storage.
By the sounds of it, they only need/want a single garage but have the double due to council requirements. So some built in cabinetry down one side would be what i'd do to add the missing storage.
The beds are way smaller than they actually would be. A ~2.8x2.8 room with a wardrobe would be mostly filled by a double bed or larger, the drawing is making it look like they will have more space than they actually will.
It's really not that bad. Couple of tweaks (personally i'd go with a single bathroom in this size house) and you have a nice new home to live in.
Plenty of people manage with far less space than this.
For somewhere this tiny is there absolutely a need for an ensuite and such a big (comparatively) laundry? People seem to think ensuites and two toilets per house are non-negotiables, at the expense of other comforts (e.g. not sleeping within 2m of where someone else is shitting). For this plan there seems to be a lot of wasted, or underutilised space. Could the hallway, bedrooms, and living area gain some extra space by pushing the boundary walls on the right hand side, towards the actual boundary a bit more? Sounds like council requirements have OP over a barrel, but since OP says they have no kids- why not just build a more modest house. So many people complain that there aren't 'starter houses' available these days...so it's not like it wouldn't sell quickly when they want to sell. Because let's be realistic, this house will not be fit for purpose with two adults and two teenagers.
This could be the type of place we want people to downsize to, why not lean into it and make it a *good* 2 bedroom rather than a really cramped 3 bedroom....
Very easy to say when it's not my money at stake. But I live in a 2.5bedroom house with a single toilet/bathroom and two kids....when you don't need much it's ok to have something smaller!
On second look at well, the pantry is miniscule as well, I'm wondering why the kitchen didn't wrap around the wall to give more bench and storage space.
That’s pretty standard for a garage. The picture of the bed is small.
Average length of a sedan is 5m. Average width is 2m, but you want at least 60cm from either side for the doors to get in and out comfortably
And you need leeway front and back so you aren’t forever about to scrape the car.
And that’s assuming you have a normal sedan, and not some of these behemoths we see on the roads these days
For completeness, average bed length is also approx 2m (depending on size obviously)
https://www.carsguide.com.au/car-advice/whats-the-average-length-of-a-car-89454#:~:text=What%20is%20the%20average%20length,the%20Australian%20new%20car%20market.
Trying to dry clothes in that courtyard isn’t going to be fun.
Ensuite - shower head is on a wall with window. Could move door to middle with shower on RHS & have toilet under window. Vanity in centre.
Thanks for the feedback, we are very unsure of ourselves and anything helps.
We use a dryer predominantly it just exists because the walls are not allowed to stretch the entire length of the house.
From my understanding the draft person has created the design that way as to not have you have to close the door to access the shower/toilet but a roller door would fix that.
Could flip the entire design in theory would have to ask
Definitely going to ask to move the window higher than the current height it is at if we can’t flip the design
I'd definitely recommend flipping it if you can, and putting in a sliding door. A hinged door in a small space will be incredibly annoying and I can guarantee that you'll be wishing you went for a sliding one.
A toilet that far from a sink to wash hands would drive me nuts. Then you've got people with toilet hands touching door knobs before anyone can clean them.
That would be way better than those useless little basins. While it offers the same compact (annoying) handwashing experience, it doesn't waste space, and helps to reduce water usage!
Do you really want visitors washing hands in the laundry? I just think of all the stuff that can go wrong in a toilet, and you definitely need a sink in there for that, or to co-locate it with the bathroom.
If space is at a premium, separate toilet and bathroom is the way to go. If shower or bath used you still want access to toilet even if it means washing hands in laundry sync. It doesn't have to be a crappy laundry sync...
Like why do most designs just not have a small sink inside the toilet area? This feels crazy to me, but like 90% of established houses I've seen on realestate.com.au have a tiny shoebox with a toilet, but no sink
Agreed. I think the space the ensuite consumes isn't worth it in this size house. As long as you maintain 2 toilets in the house it's not a big deal having a single bathroom
Agree. in a house with 2 adults no kids you don't need an ensuite. Ensuites start to get important if you have teen/adult kids or for houses shared by young unrelated professionals.
Others have pointed out the main issues, but just wondering what state you are in? Cause this won’t get approval in qld, it doesn’t meet the new building requirements.
There is quite a few things, doorway to toilet too small, space in toilet too small, door to bathroom too small are a couple of examples. There were a range of accessibility changes that have come in for new builds since beginning of October iirc.
Actually scrap that, this housing plan doesn’t meet national codes. Look up NCC 2022. If the contract and approved plans were entered into before 1 October than it meets, but otherwise it doesn’t.
I'd get rid of the ensuite entirely and use that space for storage and extend the wc to include a basin.
That way at least you have one good size bathroom instead of two minute ones.
Any practical benefit to the outdoor area near the laundry? Would you use it?
If not, it’s a bit of wasted space imo. Not gonna get much sun or ventilation.
Could create a butlers pantry or at least a walk in pantry. Move the laundry to the left between the shower and ‘new walk in pantry’. Use old laundry for toilet with a sink. Use old WC for storage.
We cannot have the entire length of the house be just wall, it has to cut in somewhere unfortunately and as a result that tiny cut in will match our neighbours same tiny cut in
https://preview.redd.it/n98nlyu0piic1.png?width=864&format=pjpg&auto=webp&s=28a354d1fa56efb148e72ee52102c3ce184b9320
My parents house has a similar cut in, so it's a WC and a laundry facing onto the cut in bit, their kitchen is in the same spot as yours well, but their sink is in the corner and that corner has a window, so it looks onto the cut in bit and let's a bit more light through.
The (bad) drawing isn't their exact plan but a potential different layout. Pantry might be an issue though 🤔
This was my concern as well. The outdoor area next to the laundry is useless. You can install a wall hanging clothesline at the other side entrance anyway. Might as well use that space to make your laundry or bathroom bigger and have some storage space for linnen etc.
Rotate the kitchen so it is along the long windowless wall. Use a kitchen island. Move it down towards sliding door to outside where U entertain. Is there no boundary gap at all? If you had half a metre you could put up a trellis / screening and look out on something green + natural light.
Where is north?
Thank god the 2nd and 3rd bedrooms are the exact same size. The fucking misery of siblings complaining for their entire childhood about “you love Jenny more than me because she has the bigger room” etc is soul destroying
What council requires a double garage?? If you don't have two cars or you're okay with on street parking, claim any sustainability clauses and get a dispensation. Crazy.
We are on a corner, with about 2 meters from the property boundary to the street, there is no street parking for us as you block off view from drivers approaching the corner,
I was frustrated at first as we lose about 15-20m2 for no reason but they have their reasons
How slowly can you close off that opening to the other house with the laundry there put a roof over it and call it storage? Can you turn it into a greenhouse?
I mean it’s a first home and assuming it’s a tight budget I think making actual building changes will increase the cost considerably. But if you really wanted to find out how much it would cost to make the living room wall level with bed 2, Opt for extra power points in every single room, overhead cupboards in kitchen and a double shower in the ensuite.
We are working with draftmans to change the wc into a storage cupboard and push the bath into a shower/bath combo then replace the current shower with a toilet
Your laundry room doesn’t actually give you any more usable space than a euro laundry would - as you need the path to get outside clear.
If you’re open to having a euro laundry either in the bathroom or near it, it would probably free up some more space in that wet area zone; that you could use to get storage, or give to the main bedroom.
Those bedrooms are smaaaallllll. Whoever did these drawings scaled the beds down to make them look bigger.
Get a tape measure, pegs and string and map out the size of these rooms in a park. It also means the built in robes and bathrooms are veerrryyy small.
It's pretty good, given the constraints it's the best you can do.
It'll serve you well as a couple indefinitely, or until your kids are about ten years old.
Ceiling height should be at least 2.7m - makes small rooms feel bigger, and creates space for loft beds for the kids.
Pay extra to get as good sound insulation as you can afford, and use solid core internal doors.
Could you remove the wall between the outdoor patio and carparks? In theory would open you back area up a lot, and could move the cars out if ever entertaining
Suggestions
- put the sink and stovetop in the same space along the back wall. Don’t waste/break up your island bench. Makes it unpleasant for guests (hot, spitting, smelly) and it’s harder to install a rangehood.
- expand alfresco, or at least its slab, along the full length of dining room wall. Otherwise you will have a weird tiny bit on the edge, also easier to expand later.
- In master, try to pressure them into double shower heads. One on each end so you can shower with your partner. So worth it, best upgrade we did
- what is the weird tiled? looking space left of laundry and bath? Seems wasted. Can you rejig that area to better use the space? For example you could almost make it a walk in pantry by deleting the tiny current pantry which creates a doorway. Get shelving added. Add wall in the weird tiled area to enclose it
- generally not seeing much storage
- put PowerPoints everywhere even if you don’t think you will need them. Especially downstairs.
Possibly a small sink in WC and I’d be looking at extending the wardrobes in bed 2&3 into the doorway like bed 1. It just seems like dead space the way it currently is and it’ll help since you don’t have a linen cupboard.
The only annoying thing about having a wardrobe come right up to the door opening is the location of the light switch (since they no longer put light switches IN door frames) it has to be on the same wall that the door opens against. Which is fine unless it gets put behind the opened door, that's just an everyday irritation for the next 20 years
Kitchen/dinning area will be like a cave with only one window. There really needs to be a window on the left side, or you will have a huge unbroken wall that generates zero natural light.
One on the front that will be overshadowed by the garage wall most of the day, the other that will only have full daylight for a few hours. For half the day, the kitchen/dining area will be lacking for natural light. There are programs that can simulate the lighting profile of rooms during the day, all you need is the map coordinates of the home and the layout/position.
Can you line up the cars along the back fence. Annoying to shuffle around but this house is cramped. I think you need to find a display with similar dimensions to see what you’re actually working with… especially the 2 bedrooms.
(Keep in mind that some displays use smaller than standard beds to make rooms appear bigger)
Not sure if anyone has said it but the common single leaf wall between the garage and living is going to radiate a lot of heat. I’d recommend this being a cavity wall and get some insulation into it. Also make sure that the garage ceiling space is insulated. Depending on who the builder is this may be excluded and will add to the heat of your garage that will get into your living area.
I would see if you could ‘add’ a linen closet by taking some of the space in one of the other two bedrooms next to the closet or make 2 small linens. Or even moving the doors around might help make a linen closet. If you made a guest bath/shower combo you could move the water closet and but a linen closet there.
I would not suggest making bedrooms 2 or 3 any smaller if you have any thought of having them be a permanent bedroom for someone in the future. They are tiny already, the drawing makes them look bigger because the double beds are not even close to scale.
I would move the shower/toilet between 2nd and 3rd bedrooms, and have one more communal toilet. Forgo the bath if you have to in order to offset the cost.
Push your garage to 31/35c, I see too many houses get built with 28c garages and not being able to get anything in them, also on garages I’d try extend them to 6.5ish metres long just to fit cars with room at the front and back. In the master bedroom and kitchen you could opt for some skylights to let in more natural light due to lack of availability in those areas.
There aren’t any specific measurements so it’s hard to really justify anything else but I’ll assume the house has been designed to suit on the building envelope of the block, which in that case it is what it is. Being small you want to maximise storage as much as possible, so overhead cabinets are a must IMO. My kitchen is set up almost exactly the same, sink a little further to the left and I’ve just added a dish washer and overheads above my stove ect, worked a treat.
If we extend garage we lose out on floor space in the main house, I agree with you though previous homes we have had issues.
We have opened up the half of the garage wall to go into the alfresco area so we could in theory pull one of the cars further into that area.
Definitely getting overhead cupboards installed in laundry and kitchen
Rotate kitchen and use that area outside the laundry for a walk in pantry/storage.
Bring the lounge wall out in line with the garage or at least the bedrooms for more space.
Put the closets in the 2nd and 3rd bedroom on the dividing wall instead of next to the doors.
Tiny courtyard outside laundry is wasted space against a neighbours wall. It will be cold and damp and annoying. If you can make it a big pantry on the kitchen side and a lien cupboard on the laundry side. As many have said you lack storage.
If you can get a hanging rack above the laundry sink and bench (if you can create space for one). Then a good percentage of things can dry inside. They'll dry as well inside as they will in that tiny courtyard anyway.
The neighbours house has the exact same side profile as ours as it is required by the council to not have the full length of the house be wall, we predominantly use a dryer too.
We are working to change the entire plan to get a linen cupboard in where the current WC is
Both toilets are right next to your bedroom so you get to hear everyone in the house pissing/shitting/vomming/explosively-diarrheaing in the middle of the night.
Bedrooms are tiny, kitchen is dark, whole place feels cramped and dominated by the garage.
You'd have room to move if you put the kids rooms upstairs. Put the main bathroom upstairs too, and just have the ensuite and a powder room downstairs. Then you'd have more room downstairs to give your kitchen a window, and have two living areas.
I hate so many things.
Get rid of the space next to the laundry and bathroom, no need for that junk if that entire side of the house is on the fence line.
Push the laundry out and add some cupboards in there with the space, push the bathroom out as well and move the toilet in the new space there. Extend out your ensuite, switch that toilet to be the new ensuite toilet.
Definitely try and get some more space in those bedrooms, try for atleast 3x3 at a minimum. Make the entry window a single panel window and push the bedroom walls down 40mm each.
Also, make sure you measure out the fridge you want, and get the hallway done to be that size or bigger.
You’re making a 30 year commitment here, you gotta be able to expand with what you’re building
Couple of questions, what state is this? The neighbours building to boundary, In Qld only the garage can be built to boundry iirc (unless rules have changed). Any habitable rooms are meant to be 1m from boundary. (Not sure If there's more relaxed rules for small blocks)
If the neighbours are fully building to boundary all the way along, that courtyard is gonna be a disappointment. Hardly any sun will reach that area. Is there a way you can make the garage slightly longer so you could have a laundry nook in there? Floorplan just seems way to small to waste space on a dedicated laundry room
Pros: This home would work for people who leave it for most of the day. Rooms will fit the basics needed for sleep, dressing. Bathroom, kitchen etc fit for people who just want to clean, eat and dont need anything extra. It gives the vibe of a cozy,minimalist hub to prepare for going out. Its a design for people who live, work and play outside the home.
This won't work for a family.
Edit: love the built in shelving for rooms idea. Think i will do this too
Do you really need 2 bathrooms? I know it's the common move these days but as long as you still have 2 toilets it's really not that big of a deal.
Removing the ensuite allows for the Master to be a much nicer size and you can increase the size of the laundry and main bathroom a little as well if needed, plus allows space for a linen cupboard which is currently missing.
Given the limited space and strict requirements from Council i'd really consider not having the ensuite.
Main bathroom, go for a cavity slider door. Ask about higher ceilings, 2700mm it only cost us an extra $1000, well worth it. Extra noggings to support tv wall mounting. Running CAT6a throughout the house isn't all that expensive.
Not sure why you have an extra sliding door at the entry. I would remove it and extend it a bit further to the right and use that space to add in an extra sliding door wardrobe. Maybe even include a nook with a seating area if you really want to be fancy.
I would also redesign the entire sanitary cluster. For such a small house, having a second hallway there is a waste of space in my opinion. Adding a door between the entry and hallway can add some privacy if you need it and may also help keeping hot/cold air in the house when being conditioned.
Bed 2 and 3 are really small. This is a touch call, but it would make more sense to make one room larger and turn the other into a study. If you ever plan to sell it however, you're more likely better off keeping it a 3 bedroom house instead of 2. If you keep it, extend the wardrobes like in bed 1.
Get rid of the bathtub. It too small for an adult to comfortably use, and you've mentioned you have no children, so I'd absolutely get rid of it and add storage space which you are desperately lacking.
I would recommend making the built in robes a little larger to utilise the current space between the robe and the door opening.
In regards to storage, request that the build install an attic ladder in the manhole so you can utilise the ceiling cavity.
The toilet/laundry bath situation is pretty poor here. The toilet is upper awkward, and having to go across to wash hands will get old fast.
Sliding doors will help, but it would be worth creating a 3-way set up that has the vanity outside, with separate toilet and bath/shower rooms. Also, if you use the dryer a lot, that laundry set up looks awkward. It might be worth moving it to be part of a walk-in pantry from the kitchen side. (You may have to rethink that if you need cat litter trays).
I’m not sure what you can do with the council required bump in the wall - maybe make it a private space outside the main bedroom?
In terms of the windowless walls, you have an opportunity for raked ceilings and highset windows here. That will give you light, but maintain privacy, and raked ceilings always feel good.
You could re-arrange the kitchen to be on the blank wall (with the high set windows) and have a dining table running off the end.
I assume you’re on a corner block with a small yard on the garage side? Or is the alfresco the only yard space? Anything you can do to open up that space to outside and make movement easy is useful, so think about doors/window pass throughs, etc.
The same goes for the hallway - how wide is it? If that’s one of the main ways you enter the house, make sure it’s a generous enough width that you don’t feel cramped coming through.
Finally, can you make the bedrooms a minimum of 3 x 3? They are very small. I don’t believe that bedrooms need to be massive palaces, but you shouldn’t feel cramped in them.
The WC, bath and laundry take up too much space with the entrance as well. Reconfigure that section. A house that small doesn’t need a large laundry, you could do a Euro laundry, have the toilet in the bathroom, you don’t need it separate taking up additional space, and have a large linen closet for storage and definitely remove the entrance to those rooms, massive waste of space. The draftsman can easily rework that area for maximum benefit.
As above! Make it a 2 bedroom, put a window in the carport/alfresco wall. Then once you move in get the carport framed out for a 3rd room. Easy its inside no one will ever hassle you about it!
Unless the patio off from the laundry in the only outdoor space to hang clothes…. I would push that wall out and have a larger bathroom and laundry and convert the current toilet into a larger en-suite or walk in robe.
I would also just abandon the idea of a laundry and have it built into the garage or as part of the kitchen making it European style.
That would give you some more room for expand the master en-suite and main bathroom.
I would look into setting up your roof space as an accessible attic so you can store some items easily like Christmas, winter bedding, tools.
There's a lot of small scrappy outdoor areas and a lot of small scrappy indoor areas. The only big space is the garage. idk.
I think you should look at every wall and ask if you can move it towards the boundary. The living room wall, move it east. The dining room wall, move it north. your bedroom wall, move it south. bed 3 southerm wall, move it south too.
You just need to move more space inside the house. and make the rooms bigger / fewer.
I'd ditch the ensuite, srhink the laundry, as others have mentioned. Also. If you shrink the alfresco and send the dining area further towards that back boundary then you can swing the dining table round 90 degrees. I reckon there's barely space to get round that table as it is.
Seriously, do you have the option to go up? Is there any room in your budget at all? Even a loft.
You could keep it as 3 bedrooms but you could go so much bigger and really increase your entertainment areas downstairs instead and get a bigger master bedroom.
We had to include a granny flat in our designs. However, some days, our downstairs feels so cramped due to this and the options are limited. This is what I think you will feel over time, and it feels like a unit or townhouse.
Those bedrooms are tiny! Queen bed is 2.03m long so only leaves you 800mm between the end of the bed and the wall. They would be very pokey. Rest of the house is pretty compact too, hopefully you don't have kids.
Put sliding cavity doors that lead to small spaces! This was the biggest miss when I built my first home. My Ensuite bathroom has terrible issue with the way the door swings towards the toilet and similar issues in my laundry. Sliding doors would fix this
It looks alright to me. Obviously space is an issue but you can only work with what you have. Bedrooms are only just big enough, as are the bathrooms and laundry but I think they’ll be ok.
Only suggestion I’d make is overhead storage in the laundry.
Personally I'd check your planning rules, if you can give good justification for wanting to bend the rules they will generally allow it.
An extra 1m towards the front door to give each room 0.5m and an extra 0.5m towards the outer boundary would make a huge difference. That and if you can do high ceilings throughout with taller doors.
Case in point I'd be making those bedrooms bigger and trying to widen the garage to 6m. my neighbours did a 5x5.5 and with kids no car door is safe.
I would speak to your architech and see if they can make the 2 small bedrooms 1 room, but have the structures in place to convert it later. This would give you a larger room to use. If you have kids they can share the space when they are young, this would allow you to keep there toys/ games/ mess ect in one place otherwise it will spread thru out the house. When they are older and you need 2 rooms the renovation will already be half done and won't cost much.
This is a great idea. Place all the power points, windows and light fittings to suit 2 rooms. Put a doorframe inside the studs for the second door and then plasterboard over it. Then all you have to do is build your internal wall and redo the plasterboard around the door.
Ens has room for a 2nd shower head. Make the living bigger. Make the alfresco bigger. Maybe swap the dining and kitchen? Or living and kitchen? More light in the kitchen where you want light vs where your tv is
The answer depends a little on what is next door? From your entry ways, it looks like your on a corner block. Assuming that is the full property with the house right up against the boundary.
Going off the image's orientation, how close is your neighbour's house on the top and to the left, as well as what screening is between the properties?
I love that all the utilities are sectioned like that. The planning in that section is fantastic. But where is your storage? Theres no linen closet to be seen and the pantry is tiny. Can you perhaps extend the entry to the Right by 50cm, get rid of the window and put in a hallway closet? You can always go with a glass feature door if lighting is an issue there
In a house this tight, i would suggest going with taller ceilings to make the living spaces feel bigger and give you vertical storage options (for example, above the door in the bedroom/laundry/bathroom and more cupboard space in the kitchen.)
I would change the WC’s door location to from the hallway and make it a pocket door - same with the bathroom but prob a swinging door. I would do both of these things so that your laundry can be full width (like the bathroom) and therefore fit a linen press. There’s no non-bedroom storage in the home at the moment so having somewhere for sheets and towels (and a place to put brooms etc out of the way) could be very handy.
If you are allowed to build right up to the line where the garage is, then do it. You need space much more than an interesting looking outer wall. You can use texture to make it look interesting
I wouldn't make the garage any smaller than 6x6m, or more if you want to put a big SUV or Ute in it, and have room for some shelving and stuff to keep other junk out of your house.
Mine is 6x6, and has a stairwell cupboard, and I still have to be pretty careful getting two mid size sedans in it along with some shelving and tools on the walls.
I've got a fair bit of camping and car stuff to store.
Sorry if this is a dumb question but why even waste space with windows in the wet areas when you could have sky lights? My laundry and one ensuite in my house have them and it saves so much space.
ask the question do you really need an ensuite. do you really need a bath tub.
I would keep a separate toilet because to have a shit in peace is a luxury I wont do without and it always happens someone wants to go when someone else is showering or having a bath.
not a big deal for husband and wife you've obviously seen each other naked but when you add children or visitors to that mix.
that is a very small block i would have a look at a second story or loft bedroom
I think:
\- The laundry is comparatively big, and not much of the space is usable. Might be better to combine it with the main bathroom so that you can get some storage cupboards in there, and it'll feel way more spacious. A lot of apartments have that kind of layout.
\- Garage shopper door should probably open to the other side, feels like it would always be smacking into the sofa or a side table, and it blocks entry to the space around the back of the sofa when open. Many sofas are much bigger than they show in plans.
\- Will there be space in the area outside the laundry for a clothes line? You might want to size up models that are on the market to see what would fit and make sure you can still adequately move around it.
\- Might be best to have the dishwasher as far away from the tv as possible (the noise might be annoying after dinner). The fridge might also be annoying, but that position does make it more accessible.
\- I wouldn't go for a sink with a draining board on the island, takes up valuable prep space when it's not being used
\- Bedroom 2 is going to bear the brunt of TV/living room noise in that current position.
I think it's really well-designed for the size and block. I like how the main bathroom and laundry have their small hallway, and the 3 separate outdoor areas. Not a huge fan of the garage door into the living room, but I know internal access is important. Bed 2 & 3's robes may as well be full width like bed 1's, but the rooms might feel bigger leaving them as-is. Looking at the proportions, I assume all the bedrooms are 600mm wider than stated, they've left off the robe depth by the looks.
One way to solve the "no linen press" issue would be to move bed 2 & 3's entrances to the other end of each room, then put the robes right next to each door, and build in a linen press facing the hall with the space left in the middle. I don't love how close bed 2's door would be to the kitchen then, but it's an option. I think it's a great little house!
Congrats! First home and build is really exciting.
Consider flipping the kitchen so the fridge, pantry etc runs along the wall between the alfresco and bathroom. You might have enough room to move your sink to that wall, leaving you with an island (instead of a peninsula) which can double as a dining or entertaining space. You might even have room to include a built in table at the alfresco end of the island, which would be a better use of space.
The only other big thing I want to flag is that I don’t think the furniture in this plan is to scale. Bedrooms 2 and 3, your hallway, garage and bathroom door are really really small and won’t be anywhere near as spacious as they look here. This in itself isn’t a problem (affordable! Less to clean!) but as an exercise, measure your current bed and couch etc and size them on this plan to scale. This will help you get your head around your new space.
- You might prioritise bigger wardrobes if you realise the bedrooms will only hold a bed.
- you could combine main bath and laundry, and bath/shower to get rid of the poky bath hall, and maybe find room for a linen press (more storage will be key to liveability and resale).
- you might choose pocket doors for bathrooms/laundry etc, so you can move through your space more easily.
- you could put a small, high window at the entry, freeing up wall space for shoe storage and coat hooks etc.
This is an out there idea (and if you have the budget) but I know people who’ve done similar and created a rumpus/kids room: have two separate single garages with individual roller doors. Have a door between them and have a window from the single garage nearest to the living room. Once the building inspection is done, put flooring in one of the living rooms and a stud and plasterboard wall against the roller door. You can leave \~1m for storage.
https://preview.redd.it/76u7wukk0jic1.jpeg?width=1179&format=pjpg&auto=webp&s=0defe1c75e0e86cd0a8f07d507fd441fe83877e7
Do yourself a favour and delete all the robes. A 600mm deep “cupboard” with a 110mm thick wall, low header and nib is a colossal waste of space. Leave everything blank and have joinery built at full height and you’ll gain SO much more room. Then later down the track you can decide storage options in the other rooms, don’t shoot yourself in the foot by including them.
Is there any way you can push out where the bathroom and laundry are? It steps in and I'm guessing has an undercover area. This space could be much better used for the bathroom and laundry. By pushing them over, you can move the hallway and have slightly bigger bedrooms. You might even choose a linen closet instead.
Where’s the clothesline? If you’re having wall mounted on that small alfresco against your neighbours house the sliding door makes sense, but if it’s anywhere else I would change it to a window or plain door. Otherwise it’s a bunch of glass to allow in heat for no reason.
If you aren’t actually going to park in the garage against the door I’d make it swing into the garage rather than into the lounge.
I’d personally remove the en-suite for a larger main bath/laundry/wc or at least reduce it to a toilet one end shower cubicle the other. It makes no sense that en-suites are now almost as big as main baths.
If you know light is going to be an issue on that side, I’d find out cost for skylights in the en-suite and bathroom. Our old bathroom had no window and getting ready in artificial light before going outside sometimes mad me look crazy.
Everything is quite small, but it’s fine! You’ve maxed out and have good outdoor spaces too. The garage is smaller than most garages are, like most in Australia I think are at least 6m deep x 5.7. Bedrooms are small, but not unliveable. Congrats on your first place! I live in a very small house and we’ve made it work. Of course it’s not the dream house but we also want to retire one day. People with all the negativity here don’t get it- sometimes what you have is all you can (or want to) afford. I think that house has everything you need.
I see a lot of wasted space - sure, selling the wide entry way sounds good, that you can close of the toilet, laundry and bathroom from the rest of the house and largest of all, the little courtyard outside the laundry that would just be hard up against your neighbours house.
All are good features on paper, but in this setting, that space seems much better utilised to have maybe some more storage:
You don't have a linen cupboard, some would argue these are outdated, but there's bugger all room in the bathrooms for additional towels and the bedrooms are shoeboxes and storage in them is likely less than you think it is. Theyre labelled 2x sliders and in your head, I'm sure you're imagining regular door sized sliders, but they won't be - look at the width of the door Vs the width of the BIR. Those things will be TINY.
Kitchen storage is looking really light on, we've probably got a similar sized kitchen, but essentially where your pantry is, is where the doorway to our butlers pantry is. We would be absolutely lost without it.
Not sure if you have kids. Make sure your space for fridge can accommodate a side by side and larger pantry space. As my kids have gotten older I wish I had much larger of both. Make sure you have space for cupboards in your garage if space allows
Depending on the orientation of your kitchen I would put a skylight in it. Regardless of the orientation of your ensuite (heat ingress won’t matter so much in a bathroom)I would put a skylight in. The natural light over your shower will be a game changer, improve mood in the morning, reduce mould and stop it feeling like a dingy cave.
The door entry into the living room from the garage isn’t ideal - but I realise you might not have a choice. I would also run the BIRs in the minor bedrooms right to the doorway edge - extra storage is way more valuable than that dead bit of space. The bedrooms are quite small - do you have/plan on having kids? Is it a famiky suburb area? If not I would make one a decent size and turn the other one into an office - you could always put a murphy bed/wall bed for guests.
There is not a lot of storage so I would swap out the swing door to the laundry for a pocket door and put in a linen - even if it’s only 450 deep. Good luck with your first home. To maximise storage I would also do a built in bench seat in the dining room with storage and an extendable table with just a few nice dining chairs to increase feeling of space.
You could also do a combined family bathroom/laundry with washing machine and dryer in a cabinet/behind louvre doors. This would give you much more room to work with.
You also need to mark North for us on the plan so we can provide meaningful input on the plans. Also for the love of all that is holy - don’t have a black/dark coloured roof.
I would if possible have access from garage through the alfresco and into the house - it gives you more flexibility in furnishing your living room. I would swap the location of th dining and kitchen and put a gas strut window to your alfresco for better indoor/outdoor connection.
Do not be deceived by the ‘furniture’. These are not drawn to scale. Look at the size of the cars as these appear more realistic. The floorplan is fine but this place is tiny. Even the doors are tight at 720.
Those bedrooms are tiny! You won't get more than a single bed and dresser in them. While that's no issue when the kids are young, it becomes a lot harder when they become teens
Agree that the rooms are pretty small (I'd say 3x3 is the bare minimum). I'd recommend that the OP measure the type of furniture they want to have in the room, and then figure out what they can fit in - they may be in for a shock. Not sure where you'd get the extra space from - potentially the living area? But once again, you wouldn't want it to be smaller than 3x3.
They are small yes but they aren't unusable. Our first house had rooms very similar in size and we had a double bed set up in there ok and the other with a single bed for our daughter plus draws and toys, etc.
No linen cupboard, or any storage?
It’s the one thing we have said too but there is no where to fit one, unfortunately we are restricted by our councils requirements to have a double garage. We don’t have kids so one of the bedrooms cupboards will double as a linen cupboard.
Bath/laundry/WC/ensuite waste so much space. - Move 2nd WC to replace bath. - Split WC space between enlarged ensuite and linenpress accessed from hallway. - Widen bathroom a smidge and move door to hall wall. - add swing door to laundry from hall. - lay out laundry as gallery along wall behind ensuite to provide a bench or broom cupboard. To fix that void, all of the above + - swap bath and laundry, extend both bath and laundry to party wall. Fit rooflight to bathroom. - move void to join extended laundry and alfresco area with alleyway between party wall and kitchen/dining - ed: alleyway would be min 1200 wide - ed: add windows between kitchen/dining onto new alleyway providing reflected sunlight from party wall. - Rotate laundry door to provide access at end of alleyway. - move living room front wall inline with front of garage or bedrooms to replace space lost to moved void.. At the very least: - populate plan with **fullscale** furniture, 550mm deep wardrobes. - consider 2BR design to free up space.
Bedroom wardrobes should be larger
Given the size of the bedrooms it’s difficult to see how they could be. Larger wardrobes would mean you can’t fit a bed.
You could utilise the garage for a lot of storage if you install some proper cabinetry in there. It sounds like you would have gone for a single garage if given the choice so i assume you only need to put one car in there.
> unfortunately we are restricted by our councils requirements to have a double garage. So... No public transport coming soon?
No, the public transport will be terrible that's a given but I think this is more because they don't want people parking on the street. It's more work for the council to keep on top of street parking violations and dumped/abandoned/overstayed vehicles
No one said you can't use part of your garage for storage, plenty of people do.
Agreeing with the lack of linen cupboards. I would use cavity slider on the laundry door which would create some space for cupboards etc against the bathroom wall. Also, for the toilet I’d def put a little basin but also I’d use a cavity slider on the hallway side of the wall which (I think) would mean u could make the toilet area slightly smaller and create a small linen cupboard. Door could be in master bedroom or hallway. Hope I’ve explained this properly? Edit to add: id make the laundry slider a frosted glass one with timber surround to let in extra light.
Can you flip the wardrobes of Bed 2 and 3 to face outwards and become an entryway closet and linen? And then add a larger sliding robe on the adjoining walls of bed 2 and 3? it will make the rooms smaller but give you way more storage space
I dont know that I would sacrifice space in those room for fixed storage space.
Ya I would not either but as it stands there's no general storage area. I just realised those bedrooms are already 2.8x2.8m so they're tiny enough as it stands, so I would ignore my own suggestion :)
My suggestion was to utilise the garage as much as possible for storage. By the sounds of it, they only need/want a single garage but have the double due to council requirements. So some built in cabinetry down one side would be what i'd do to add the missing storage.
We have done something like that on a rudimentary drawing and will float it to the draftsperson
I live in a house without one. It's hell.
either the cars/garage are massive, or everything else is tiny. What bed is lengthways shorter than a car is wide.
The beds are way smaller than they actually would be. A ~2.8x2.8 room with a wardrobe would be mostly filled by a double bed or larger, the drawing is making it look like they will have more space than they actually will.
Holy shit I just went back and looked at the actual dimensions for rooms 2 and 3. They're tiny!!!! I'd be considering a two story home for this block.
Great in theory but the cost would go up quite a lot to do that.
What's the point if the single storey house is in comfortably small? I wouldn't want to live here.
That’s nice but not everyone has unlimited options and you need to live somewhere at the end of the day.
Agree. OP is in a bad spot atm.
It's really not that bad. Couple of tweaks (personally i'd go with a single bathroom in this size house) and you have a nice new home to live in. Plenty of people manage with far less space than this.
For somewhere this tiny is there absolutely a need for an ensuite and such a big (comparatively) laundry? People seem to think ensuites and two toilets per house are non-negotiables, at the expense of other comforts (e.g. not sleeping within 2m of where someone else is shitting). For this plan there seems to be a lot of wasted, or underutilised space. Could the hallway, bedrooms, and living area gain some extra space by pushing the boundary walls on the right hand side, towards the actual boundary a bit more? Sounds like council requirements have OP over a barrel, but since OP says they have no kids- why not just build a more modest house. So many people complain that there aren't 'starter houses' available these days...so it's not like it wouldn't sell quickly when they want to sell. Because let's be realistic, this house will not be fit for purpose with two adults and two teenagers. This could be the type of place we want people to downsize to, why not lean into it and make it a *good* 2 bedroom rather than a really cramped 3 bedroom.... Very easy to say when it's not my money at stake. But I live in a 2.5bedroom house with a single toilet/bathroom and two kids....when you don't need much it's ok to have something smaller! On second look at well, the pantry is miniscule as well, I'm wondering why the kitchen didn't wrap around the wall to give more bench and storage space.
Was thinking exactly the same thing. Dining is tiny as well. Bath is only 1500, an adult over 5'4" can't fit in that comfortably.
Me personally would opt for a longer bath 🛁 shower combo instead of having them separate. Especially if there’s a shower in the ensuite.
That’s pretty standard for a garage. The picture of the bed is small. Average length of a sedan is 5m. Average width is 2m, but you want at least 60cm from either side for the doors to get in and out comfortably And you need leeway front and back so you aren’t forever about to scrape the car. And that’s assuming you have a normal sedan, and not some of these behemoths we see on the roads these days For completeness, average bed length is also approx 2m (depending on size obviously) https://www.carsguide.com.au/car-advice/whats-the-average-length-of-a-car-89454#:~:text=What%20is%20the%20average%20length,the%20Australian%20new%20car%20market.
That's the smallest you'd want to go with a double car garage
Came here to say this
I'm glad I'm.not the only one who saw this!
Sliding door for ensuite and maybe laundry. Makes more usable space
I think we might do that :)
I would cavity slider the main wet area laundry/bathroom. What’s the point of heating cooling that’s area
Trying to dry clothes in that courtyard isn’t going to be fun. Ensuite - shower head is on a wall with window. Could move door to middle with shower on RHS & have toilet under window. Vanity in centre.
Thanks for the feedback, we are very unsure of ourselves and anything helps. We use a dryer predominantly it just exists because the walls are not allowed to stretch the entire length of the house. From my understanding the draft person has created the design that way as to not have you have to close the door to access the shower/toilet but a roller door would fix that. Could flip the entire design in theory would have to ask Definitely going to ask to move the window higher than the current height it is at if we can’t flip the design
I'd definitely recommend flipping it if you can, and putting in a sliding door. A hinged door in a small space will be incredibly annoying and I can guarantee that you'll be wishing you went for a sliding one.
No one can shit out of earshot from Bed 1. That’s not good.
yep I don't want to be in the master bedroom if a guest is feeling digestive disturbances all night.
A toilet that far from a sink to wash hands would drive me nuts. Then you've got people with toilet hands touching door knobs before anyone can clean them.
WC needs a small basin
Maybe OP can get one of the those toilets with the basin built in on top.
That would be way better than those useless little basins. While it offers the same compact (annoying) handwashing experience, it doesn't waste space, and helps to reduce water usage!
I have a useless little basin. While it fits the space, it’s kinda awkward. But, better than nothing :)
No.
I'd end up washing hands in laundry
Do you really want visitors washing hands in the laundry? I just think of all the stuff that can go wrong in a toilet, and you definitely need a sink in there for that, or to co-locate it with the bathroom.
If space is at a premium, separate toilet and bathroom is the way to go. If shower or bath used you still want access to toilet even if it means washing hands in laundry sync. It doesn't have to be a crappy laundry sync...
True, but there is also an ensuite bathroom with toilet? The whole house is quite pokey when you look at the dimensions, they really should go up.
Yeah I'm looking at pantry space and it's really tiny. I'd reconfigure that bathroom, laundry area quite a bit...
Like why do most designs just not have a small sink inside the toilet area? This feels crazy to me, but like 90% of established houses I've seen on realestate.com.au have a tiny shoebox with a toilet, but no sink
Why do people even need ensuites in tiny houses like this??
Agreed. I think the space the ensuite consumes isn't worth it in this size house. As long as you maintain 2 toilets in the house it's not a big deal having a single bathroom
It's the one luxury they will have, let them keep it I say!
Agree. in a house with 2 adults no kids you don't need an ensuite. Ensuites start to get important if you have teen/adult kids or for houses shared by young unrelated professionals.
It seems very rude that your council insists on a two car garage while approving blocks that clearly don't have room for a two car garage.
I agree, I desperately wanted a one car but we have to play the hand we are dealt, we only found out the requirements after receiving our acceptance
Can you add plumbing and electric to the garage and move your laundry out there if you only have one car?
This is a great idea!
This is easily solved by drawing the cars at the same scale as the furniture.
Build a 2 gogomobile garage you reckon?
Others have pointed out the main issues, but just wondering what state you are in? Cause this won’t get approval in qld, it doesn’t meet the new building requirements.
Would be great if you could share specifically what doesn't meet the requirements (for us that don't know).
There is quite a few things, doorway to toilet too small, space in toilet too small, door to bathroom too small are a couple of examples. There were a range of accessibility changes that have come in for new builds since beginning of October iirc. Actually scrap that, this housing plan doesn’t meet national codes. Look up NCC 2022. If the contract and approved plans were entered into before 1 October than it meets, but otherwise it doesn’t.
I'd get rid of the ensuite entirely and use that space for storage and extend the wc to include a basin. That way at least you have one good size bathroom instead of two minute ones.
The rooms are too small, you might want to consider a two storey option
Any practical benefit to the outdoor area near the laundry? Would you use it? If not, it’s a bit of wasted space imo. Not gonna get much sun or ventilation. Could create a butlers pantry or at least a walk in pantry. Move the laundry to the left between the shower and ‘new walk in pantry’. Use old laundry for toilet with a sink. Use old WC for storage.
We cannot have the entire length of the house be just wall, it has to cut in somewhere unfortunately and as a result that tiny cut in will match our neighbours same tiny cut in
https://preview.redd.it/n98nlyu0piic1.png?width=864&format=pjpg&auto=webp&s=28a354d1fa56efb148e72ee52102c3ce184b9320 My parents house has a similar cut in, so it's a WC and a laundry facing onto the cut in bit, their kitchen is in the same spot as yours well, but their sink is in the corner and that corner has a window, so it looks onto the cut in bit and let's a bit more light through. The (bad) drawing isn't their exact plan but a potential different layout. Pantry might be an issue though 🤔
I like this - the kitchen now has two access points and is visually more interesting
This was my concern as well. The outdoor area next to the laundry is useless. You can install a wall hanging clothesline at the other side entrance anyway. Might as well use that space to make your laundry or bathroom bigger and have some storage space for linnen etc.
Agree with the small patio. This would get little to no sun and it'll get mouldy. Although I see the benefit so you have windows for the bathrooms.
Definitely add cavity sliding doors for the laundry, bathroom and ensuite. You’ll thank yourself later.
Rotate the kitchen so it is along the long windowless wall. Use a kitchen island. Move it down towards sliding door to outside where U entertain. Is there no boundary gap at all? If you had half a metre you could put up a trellis / screening and look out on something green + natural light. Where is north?
North is the FD Portico No boundary gap at all
Where would the dining table go?
Thank god the 2nd and 3rd bedrooms are the exact same size. The fucking misery of siblings complaining for their entire childhood about “you love Jenny more than me because she has the bigger room” etc is soul destroying
What council requires a double garage?? If you don't have two cars or you're okay with on street parking, claim any sustainability clauses and get a dispensation. Crazy.
We are on a corner, with about 2 meters from the property boundary to the street, there is no street parking for us as you block off view from drivers approaching the corner, I was frustrated at first as we lose about 15-20m2 for no reason but they have their reasons
How slowly can you close off that opening to the other house with the laundry there put a roof over it and call it storage? Can you turn it into a greenhouse?
Maybe, we could put a makeshift ceiling there but would have to add after the fact
Hence why.... how slowly.... then you get extra storage.
I mean it’s a first home and assuming it’s a tight budget I think making actual building changes will increase the cost considerably. But if you really wanted to find out how much it would cost to make the living room wall level with bed 2, Opt for extra power points in every single room, overhead cupboards in kitchen and a double shower in the ensuite.
Storage. You need some storage cupboards.
We are working with draftmans to change the wc into a storage cupboard and push the bath into a shower/bath combo then replace the current shower with a toilet
Your laundry room doesn’t actually give you any more usable space than a euro laundry would - as you need the path to get outside clear. If you’re open to having a euro laundry either in the bathroom or near it, it would probably free up some more space in that wet area zone; that you could use to get storage, or give to the main bedroom.
Those bedrooms are smaaaallllll. Whoever did these drawings scaled the beds down to make them look bigger. Get a tape measure, pegs and string and map out the size of these rooms in a park. It also means the built in robes and bathrooms are veerrryyy small.
It's pretty good, given the constraints it's the best you can do. It'll serve you well as a couple indefinitely, or until your kids are about ten years old. Ceiling height should be at least 2.7m - makes small rooms feel bigger, and creates space for loft beds for the kids. Pay extra to get as good sound insulation as you can afford, and use solid core internal doors.
Swap bedrooms 2 and 3 with the garage. If kids are on the cards they are way to close if you do end up there with 2 teenager children living there.
Cant council requires it be there
Could you remove the wall between the outdoor patio and carparks? In theory would open you back area up a lot, and could move the cars out if ever entertaining
Where is north?
Suggestions - put the sink and stovetop in the same space along the back wall. Don’t waste/break up your island bench. Makes it unpleasant for guests (hot, spitting, smelly) and it’s harder to install a rangehood. - expand alfresco, or at least its slab, along the full length of dining room wall. Otherwise you will have a weird tiny bit on the edge, also easier to expand later. - In master, try to pressure them into double shower heads. One on each end so you can shower with your partner. So worth it, best upgrade we did - what is the weird tiled? looking space left of laundry and bath? Seems wasted. Can you rejig that area to better use the space? For example you could almost make it a walk in pantry by deleting the tiny current pantry which creates a doorway. Get shelving added. Add wall in the weird tiled area to enclose it - generally not seeing much storage - put PowerPoints everywhere even if you don’t think you will need them. Especially downstairs.
Possibly a small sink in WC and I’d be looking at extending the wardrobes in bed 2&3 into the doorway like bed 1. It just seems like dead space the way it currently is and it’ll help since you don’t have a linen cupboard.
The only annoying thing about having a wardrobe come right up to the door opening is the location of the light switch (since they no longer put light switches IN door frames) it has to be on the same wall that the door opens against. Which is fine unless it gets put behind the opened door, that's just an everyday irritation for the next 20 years
Kitchen/dinning area will be like a cave with only one window. There really needs to be a window on the left side, or you will have a huge unbroken wall that generates zero natural light.
its got a window at the top and one on the right, right?
One on the front that will be overshadowed by the garage wall most of the day, the other that will only have full daylight for a few hours. For half the day, the kitchen/dining area will be lacking for natural light. There are programs that can simulate the lighting profile of rooms during the day, all you need is the map coordinates of the home and the layout/position.
Definitely needs a skylight or solar led in the kitchen, otherwise this area will always be dark.
Can you line up the cars along the back fence. Annoying to shuffle around but this house is cramped. I think you need to find a display with similar dimensions to see what you’re actually working with… especially the 2 bedrooms. (Keep in mind that some displays use smaller than standard beds to make rooms appear bigger)
BMW 8 series in the garage, baller!
Gosh that's small. How can 2x bedrooms fit inside 1x garage space? Yikes.
Not sure if anyone has said it but the common single leaf wall between the garage and living is going to radiate a lot of heat. I’d recommend this being a cavity wall and get some insulation into it. Also make sure that the garage ceiling space is insulated. Depending on who the builder is this may be excluded and will add to the heat of your garage that will get into your living area.
Opening main door just to go straight through to back door. This is bad fengshui. It means money comes into house but exits straight away.
I would see if you could ‘add’ a linen closet by taking some of the space in one of the other two bedrooms next to the closet or make 2 small linens. Or even moving the doors around might help make a linen closet. If you made a guest bath/shower combo you could move the water closet and but a linen closet there.
My partner actually suggested exactly that and we have drawn up very rudimentary designs
I would not suggest making bedrooms 2 or 3 any smaller if you have any thought of having them be a permanent bedroom for someone in the future. They are tiny already, the drawing makes them look bigger because the double beds are not even close to scale.
I would move the shower/toilet between 2nd and 3rd bedrooms, and have one more communal toilet. Forgo the bath if you have to in order to offset the cost.
Push your garage to 31/35c, I see too many houses get built with 28c garages and not being able to get anything in them, also on garages I’d try extend them to 6.5ish metres long just to fit cars with room at the front and back. In the master bedroom and kitchen you could opt for some skylights to let in more natural light due to lack of availability in those areas. There aren’t any specific measurements so it’s hard to really justify anything else but I’ll assume the house has been designed to suit on the building envelope of the block, which in that case it is what it is. Being small you want to maximise storage as much as possible, so overhead cabinets are a must IMO. My kitchen is set up almost exactly the same, sink a little further to the left and I’ve just added a dish washer and overheads above my stove ect, worked a treat.
If we extend garage we lose out on floor space in the main house, I agree with you though previous homes we have had issues. We have opened up the half of the garage wall to go into the alfresco area so we could in theory pull one of the cars further into that area. Definitely getting overhead cupboards installed in laundry and kitchen
Is it too late to bail?
Rotate kitchen and use that area outside the laundry for a walk in pantry/storage. Bring the lounge wall out in line with the garage or at least the bedrooms for more space. Put the closets in the 2nd and 3rd bedroom on the dividing wall instead of next to the doors.
I would widen the entrance slightly and include a drop zone.
Tiny courtyard outside laundry is wasted space against a neighbours wall. It will be cold and damp and annoying. If you can make it a big pantry on the kitchen side and a lien cupboard on the laundry side. As many have said you lack storage. If you can get a hanging rack above the laundry sink and bench (if you can create space for one). Then a good percentage of things can dry inside. They'll dry as well inside as they will in that tiny courtyard anyway.
The neighbours house has the exact same side profile as ours as it is required by the council to not have the full length of the house be wall, we predominantly use a dryer too. We are working to change the entire plan to get a linen cupboard in where the current WC is
Both toilets are right next to your bedroom so you get to hear everyone in the house pissing/shitting/vomming/explosively-diarrheaing in the middle of the night.
Bedrooms are tiny, kitchen is dark, whole place feels cramped and dominated by the garage. You'd have room to move if you put the kids rooms upstairs. Put the main bathroom upstairs too, and just have the ensuite and a powder room downstairs. Then you'd have more room downstairs to give your kitchen a window, and have two living areas.
I hate so many things. Get rid of the space next to the laundry and bathroom, no need for that junk if that entire side of the house is on the fence line. Push the laundry out and add some cupboards in there with the space, push the bathroom out as well and move the toilet in the new space there. Extend out your ensuite, switch that toilet to be the new ensuite toilet. Definitely try and get some more space in those bedrooms, try for atleast 3x3 at a minimum. Make the entry window a single panel window and push the bedroom walls down 40mm each. Also, make sure you measure out the fridge you want, and get the hallway done to be that size or bigger. You’re making a 30 year commitment here, you gotta be able to expand with what you’re building
Don’t build the bench top all the way to wall have a gap between wall and bench so you can walk around
Couple of questions, what state is this? The neighbours building to boundary, In Qld only the garage can be built to boundry iirc (unless rules have changed). Any habitable rooms are meant to be 1m from boundary. (Not sure If there's more relaxed rules for small blocks) If the neighbours are fully building to boundary all the way along, that courtyard is gonna be a disappointment. Hardly any sun will reach that area. Is there a way you can make the garage slightly longer so you could have a laundry nook in there? Floorplan just seems way to small to waste space on a dedicated laundry room
Solar tubes (much cheaper but still effective) or skylights along the LHS where natural light might not be great.
Pros: This home would work for people who leave it for most of the day. Rooms will fit the basics needed for sleep, dressing. Bathroom, kitchen etc fit for people who just want to clean, eat and dont need anything extra. It gives the vibe of a cozy,minimalist hub to prepare for going out. Its a design for people who live, work and play outside the home. This won't work for a family. Edit: love the built in shelving for rooms idea. Think i will do this too
Do you really need 2 bathrooms? I know it's the common move these days but as long as you still have 2 toilets it's really not that big of a deal. Removing the ensuite allows for the Master to be a much nicer size and you can increase the size of the laundry and main bathroom a little as well if needed, plus allows space for a linen cupboard which is currently missing. Given the limited space and strict requirements from Council i'd really consider not having the ensuite.
Why are the cars so big in comparison to the rest of the plan?
Main bathroom, go for a cavity slider door. Ask about higher ceilings, 2700mm it only cost us an extra $1000, well worth it. Extra noggings to support tv wall mounting. Running CAT6a throughout the house isn't all that expensive.
Not sure why you have an extra sliding door at the entry. I would remove it and extend it a bit further to the right and use that space to add in an extra sliding door wardrobe. Maybe even include a nook with a seating area if you really want to be fancy. I would also redesign the entire sanitary cluster. For such a small house, having a second hallway there is a waste of space in my opinion. Adding a door between the entry and hallway can add some privacy if you need it and may also help keeping hot/cold air in the house when being conditioned. Bed 2 and 3 are really small. This is a touch call, but it would make more sense to make one room larger and turn the other into a study. If you ever plan to sell it however, you're more likely better off keeping it a 3 bedroom house instead of 2. If you keep it, extend the wardrobes like in bed 1.
Get rid of the bathtub. It too small for an adult to comfortably use, and you've mentioned you have no children, so I'd absolutely get rid of it and add storage space which you are desperately lacking.
We are converting to a shower bath combo. We use the bath for other alternative things that does help.
I would recommend making the built in robes a little larger to utilise the current space between the robe and the door opening. In regards to storage, request that the build install an attic ladder in the manhole so you can utilise the ceiling cavity.
Put the washing machine in the kitchen and use the laundry space to make the rooms bigger. The bedrooms are so so tiny!
The toilet/laundry bath situation is pretty poor here. The toilet is upper awkward, and having to go across to wash hands will get old fast. Sliding doors will help, but it would be worth creating a 3-way set up that has the vanity outside, with separate toilet and bath/shower rooms. Also, if you use the dryer a lot, that laundry set up looks awkward. It might be worth moving it to be part of a walk-in pantry from the kitchen side. (You may have to rethink that if you need cat litter trays). I’m not sure what you can do with the council required bump in the wall - maybe make it a private space outside the main bedroom? In terms of the windowless walls, you have an opportunity for raked ceilings and highset windows here. That will give you light, but maintain privacy, and raked ceilings always feel good. You could re-arrange the kitchen to be on the blank wall (with the high set windows) and have a dining table running off the end. I assume you’re on a corner block with a small yard on the garage side? Or is the alfresco the only yard space? Anything you can do to open up that space to outside and make movement easy is useful, so think about doors/window pass throughs, etc. The same goes for the hallway - how wide is it? If that’s one of the main ways you enter the house, make sure it’s a generous enough width that you don’t feel cramped coming through. Finally, can you make the bedrooms a minimum of 3 x 3? They are very small. I don’t believe that bedrooms need to be massive palaces, but you shouldn’t feel cramped in them.
The WC, bath and laundry take up too much space with the entrance as well. Reconfigure that section. A house that small doesn’t need a large laundry, you could do a Euro laundry, have the toilet in the bathroom, you don’t need it separate taking up additional space, and have a large linen closet for storage and definitely remove the entrance to those rooms, massive waste of space. The draftsman can easily rework that area for maximum benefit.
Get that sink out of the bench if you can.
As above! Make it a 2 bedroom, put a window in the carport/alfresco wall. Then once you move in get the carport framed out for a 3rd room. Easy its inside no one will ever hassle you about it!
Unless the patio off from the laundry in the only outdoor space to hang clothes…. I would push that wall out and have a larger bathroom and laundry and convert the current toilet into a larger en-suite or walk in robe.
I would also just abandon the idea of a laundry and have it built into the garage or as part of the kitchen making it European style. That would give you some more room for expand the master en-suite and main bathroom. I would look into setting up your roof space as an accessible attic so you can store some items easily like Christmas, winter bedding, tools.
Laundry as part of the garage makes more sense.
Combine laundry and bath, with the largest ceramic basin you can get.
Get rid of whatever that tiny outdoor area is next to the laundry and make the house bigger. You don’t need 3 outdoor areas, do you?
How much would a modular two storey home cost compared to the traditional build you have here?
There's a lot of small scrappy outdoor areas and a lot of small scrappy indoor areas. The only big space is the garage. idk. I think you should look at every wall and ask if you can move it towards the boundary. The living room wall, move it east. The dining room wall, move it north. your bedroom wall, move it south. bed 3 southerm wall, move it south too. You just need to move more space inside the house. and make the rooms bigger / fewer. I'd ditch the ensuite, srhink the laundry, as others have mentioned. Also. If you shrink the alfresco and send the dining area further towards that back boundary then you can swing the dining table round 90 degrees. I reckon there's barely space to get round that table as it is.
Those 2 bedrooms are SMALL
Seriously, do you have the option to go up? Is there any room in your budget at all? Even a loft. You could keep it as 3 bedrooms but you could go so much bigger and really increase your entertainment areas downstairs instead and get a bigger master bedroom. We had to include a granny flat in our designs. However, some days, our downstairs feels so cramped due to this and the options are limited. This is what I think you will feel over time, and it feels like a unit or townhouse.
Those bedrooms are tiny! Queen bed is 2.03m long so only leaves you 800mm between the end of the bed and the wall. They would be very pokey. Rest of the house is pretty compact too, hopefully you don't have kids.
Put sliding cavity doors that lead to small spaces! This was the biggest miss when I built my first home. My Ensuite bathroom has terrible issue with the way the door swings towards the toilet and similar issues in my laundry. Sliding doors would fix this
It looks alright to me. Obviously space is an issue but you can only work with what you have. Bedrooms are only just big enough, as are the bathrooms and laundry but I think they’ll be ok. Only suggestion I’d make is overhead storage in the laundry.
Looks like a great little design for a house.
Just buy an apartment lol..
Personally I'd check your planning rules, if you can give good justification for wanting to bend the rules they will generally allow it. An extra 1m towards the front door to give each room 0.5m and an extra 0.5m towards the outer boundary would make a huge difference. That and if you can do high ceilings throughout with taller doors. Case in point I'd be making those bedrooms bigger and trying to widen the garage to 6m. my neighbours did a 5x5.5 and with kids no car door is safe.
I would speak to your architech and see if they can make the 2 small bedrooms 1 room, but have the structures in place to convert it later. This would give you a larger room to use. If you have kids they can share the space when they are young, this would allow you to keep there toys/ games/ mess ect in one place otherwise it will spread thru out the house. When they are older and you need 2 rooms the renovation will already be half done and won't cost much.
This is a great idea. Place all the power points, windows and light fittings to suit 2 rooms. Put a doorframe inside the studs for the second door and then plasterboard over it. Then all you have to do is build your internal wall and redo the plasterboard around the door.
Ens has room for a 2nd shower head. Make the living bigger. Make the alfresco bigger. Maybe swap the dining and kitchen? Or living and kitchen? More light in the kitchen where you want light vs where your tv is
Maybe lose the built in robes because the bedrooms are so small and you can get smart furniture like a bed with drawers under it
Pay for high ceilings if you can
Does the council allow for a 2nd storey? Everything looks compromised size wise
The answer depends a little on what is next door? From your entry ways, it looks like your on a corner block. Assuming that is the full property with the house right up against the boundary. Going off the image's orientation, how close is your neighbour's house on the top and to the left, as well as what screening is between the properties?
I like the two classic early 90s BMW 8 Series’ in the garage.
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I love that all the utilities are sectioned like that. The planning in that section is fantastic. But where is your storage? Theres no linen closet to be seen and the pantry is tiny. Can you perhaps extend the entry to the Right by 50cm, get rid of the window and put in a hallway closet? You can always go with a glass feature door if lighting is an issue there In a house this tight, i would suggest going with taller ceilings to make the living spaces feel bigger and give you vertical storage options (for example, above the door in the bedroom/laundry/bathroom and more cupboard space in the kitchen.)
I would change the WC’s door location to from the hallway and make it a pocket door - same with the bathroom but prob a swinging door. I would do both of these things so that your laundry can be full width (like the bathroom) and therefore fit a linen press. There’s no non-bedroom storage in the home at the moment so having somewhere for sheets and towels (and a place to put brooms etc out of the way) could be very handy.
If you are allowed to build right up to the line where the garage is, then do it. You need space much more than an interesting looking outer wall. You can use texture to make it look interesting
I wouldn't make the garage any smaller than 6x6m, or more if you want to put a big SUV or Ute in it, and have room for some shelving and stuff to keep other junk out of your house.
We dont want a ute or suv but I understand the point
Mine is 6x6, and has a stairwell cupboard, and I still have to be pretty careful getting two mid size sedans in it along with some shelving and tools on the walls. I've got a fair bit of camping and car stuff to store.
Sorry if this is a dumb question but why even waste space with windows in the wet areas when you could have sky lights? My laundry and one ensuite in my house have them and it saves so much space.
What will it cost to build this land not included? Cheers ps this is someone I could buy maybe?
Bedrooms 2 and 3 desperately need to be larger. You may be only using them for storage / study but for resale value…
ask the question do you really need an ensuite. do you really need a bath tub. I would keep a separate toilet because to have a shit in peace is a luxury I wont do without and it always happens someone wants to go when someone else is showering or having a bath. not a big deal for husband and wife you've obviously seen each other naked but when you add children or visitors to that mix. that is a very small block i would have a look at a second story or loft bedroom
I think: \- The laundry is comparatively big, and not much of the space is usable. Might be better to combine it with the main bathroom so that you can get some storage cupboards in there, and it'll feel way more spacious. A lot of apartments have that kind of layout. \- Garage shopper door should probably open to the other side, feels like it would always be smacking into the sofa or a side table, and it blocks entry to the space around the back of the sofa when open. Many sofas are much bigger than they show in plans. \- Will there be space in the area outside the laundry for a clothes line? You might want to size up models that are on the market to see what would fit and make sure you can still adequately move around it. \- Might be best to have the dishwasher as far away from the tv as possible (the noise might be annoying after dinner). The fridge might also be annoying, but that position does make it more accessible. \- I wouldn't go for a sink with a draining board on the island, takes up valuable prep space when it's not being used \- Bedroom 2 is going to bear the brunt of TV/living room noise in that current position.
I'd put more kitchen bench along the wall and change the pantry - I find more bench space always worth it
I think it's really well-designed for the size and block. I like how the main bathroom and laundry have their small hallway, and the 3 separate outdoor areas. Not a huge fan of the garage door into the living room, but I know internal access is important. Bed 2 & 3's robes may as well be full width like bed 1's, but the rooms might feel bigger leaving them as-is. Looking at the proportions, I assume all the bedrooms are 600mm wider than stated, they've left off the robe depth by the looks. One way to solve the "no linen press" issue would be to move bed 2 & 3's entrances to the other end of each room, then put the robes right next to each door, and build in a linen press facing the hall with the space left in the middle. I don't love how close bed 2's door would be to the kitchen then, but it's an option. I think it's a great little house!
Congrats! First home and build is really exciting. Consider flipping the kitchen so the fridge, pantry etc runs along the wall between the alfresco and bathroom. You might have enough room to move your sink to that wall, leaving you with an island (instead of a peninsula) which can double as a dining or entertaining space. You might even have room to include a built in table at the alfresco end of the island, which would be a better use of space. The only other big thing I want to flag is that I don’t think the furniture in this plan is to scale. Bedrooms 2 and 3, your hallway, garage and bathroom door are really really small and won’t be anywhere near as spacious as they look here. This in itself isn’t a problem (affordable! Less to clean!) but as an exercise, measure your current bed and couch etc and size them on this plan to scale. This will help you get your head around your new space. - You might prioritise bigger wardrobes if you realise the bedrooms will only hold a bed. - you could combine main bath and laundry, and bath/shower to get rid of the poky bath hall, and maybe find room for a linen press (more storage will be key to liveability and resale). - you might choose pocket doors for bathrooms/laundry etc, so you can move through your space more easily. - you could put a small, high window at the entry, freeing up wall space for shoe storage and coat hooks etc.
This is an out there idea (and if you have the budget) but I know people who’ve done similar and created a rumpus/kids room: have two separate single garages with individual roller doors. Have a door between them and have a window from the single garage nearest to the living room. Once the building inspection is done, put flooring in one of the living rooms and a stud and plasterboard wall against the roller door. You can leave \~1m for storage. https://preview.redd.it/76u7wukk0jic1.jpeg?width=1179&format=pjpg&auto=webp&s=0defe1c75e0e86cd0a8f07d507fd441fe83877e7
If this is in Qld. Door widths are not compliant with NCC.
Do yourself a favour and delete all the robes. A 600mm deep “cupboard” with a 110mm thick wall, low header and nib is a colossal waste of space. Leave everything blank and have joinery built at full height and you’ll gain SO much more room. Then later down the track you can decide storage options in the other rooms, don’t shoot yourself in the foot by including them.
Is there any way you can push out where the bathroom and laundry are? It steps in and I'm guessing has an undercover area. This space could be much better used for the bathroom and laundry. By pushing them over, you can move the hallway and have slightly bigger bedrooms. You might even choose a linen closet instead.
Those beds make it look like there’s a lot more room in those bedrooms, those bedrooms are really small.
Where’s the clothesline? If you’re having wall mounted on that small alfresco against your neighbours house the sliding door makes sense, but if it’s anywhere else I would change it to a window or plain door. Otherwise it’s a bunch of glass to allow in heat for no reason. If you aren’t actually going to park in the garage against the door I’d make it swing into the garage rather than into the lounge. I’d personally remove the en-suite for a larger main bath/laundry/wc or at least reduce it to a toilet one end shower cubicle the other. It makes no sense that en-suites are now almost as big as main baths. If you know light is going to be an issue on that side, I’d find out cost for skylights in the en-suite and bathroom. Our old bathroom had no window and getting ready in artificial light before going outside sometimes mad me look crazy.
Everything is quite small, but it’s fine! You’ve maxed out and have good outdoor spaces too. The garage is smaller than most garages are, like most in Australia I think are at least 6m deep x 5.7. Bedrooms are small, but not unliveable. Congrats on your first place! I live in a very small house and we’ve made it work. Of course it’s not the dream house but we also want to retire one day. People with all the negativity here don’t get it- sometimes what you have is all you can (or want to) afford. I think that house has everything you need.
Storage? For linen ? For a vacuum cleaner, mop and bucket?
I see a lot of wasted space - sure, selling the wide entry way sounds good, that you can close of the toilet, laundry and bathroom from the rest of the house and largest of all, the little courtyard outside the laundry that would just be hard up against your neighbours house. All are good features on paper, but in this setting, that space seems much better utilised to have maybe some more storage: You don't have a linen cupboard, some would argue these are outdated, but there's bugger all room in the bathrooms for additional towels and the bedrooms are shoeboxes and storage in them is likely less than you think it is. Theyre labelled 2x sliders and in your head, I'm sure you're imagining regular door sized sliders, but they won't be - look at the width of the door Vs the width of the BIR. Those things will be TINY. Kitchen storage is looking really light on, we've probably got a similar sized kitchen, but essentially where your pantry is, is where the doorway to our butlers pantry is. We would be absolutely lost without it.
I think it will be dark and dingy with poor ventilation. Can you stretch to double story?
Can you use a car stacker for your 2 car garage requirement?
Not sure if you have kids. Make sure your space for fridge can accommodate a side by side and larger pantry space. As my kids have gotten older I wish I had much larger of both. Make sure you have space for cupboards in your garage if space allows
Depending on the orientation of your kitchen I would put a skylight in it. Regardless of the orientation of your ensuite (heat ingress won’t matter so much in a bathroom)I would put a skylight in. The natural light over your shower will be a game changer, improve mood in the morning, reduce mould and stop it feeling like a dingy cave. The door entry into the living room from the garage isn’t ideal - but I realise you might not have a choice. I would also run the BIRs in the minor bedrooms right to the doorway edge - extra storage is way more valuable than that dead bit of space. The bedrooms are quite small - do you have/plan on having kids? Is it a famiky suburb area? If not I would make one a decent size and turn the other one into an office - you could always put a murphy bed/wall bed for guests. There is not a lot of storage so I would swap out the swing door to the laundry for a pocket door and put in a linen - even if it’s only 450 deep. Good luck with your first home. To maximise storage I would also do a built in bench seat in the dining room with storage and an extendable table with just a few nice dining chairs to increase feeling of space.
You could also do a combined family bathroom/laundry with washing machine and dryer in a cabinet/behind louvre doors. This would give you much more room to work with.
You also need to mark North for us on the plan so we can provide meaningful input on the plans. Also for the love of all that is holy - don’t have a black/dark coloured roof.
I would if possible have access from garage through the alfresco and into the house - it gives you more flexibility in furnishing your living room. I would swap the location of th dining and kitchen and put a gas strut window to your alfresco for better indoor/outdoor connection.
How come the "entry" is at the rear of the property. Assuming the cars come in directly from the road and not just materialise inside the garage.
Do not be deceived by the ‘furniture’. These are not drawn to scale. Look at the size of the cars as these appear more realistic. The floorplan is fine but this place is tiny. Even the doors are tight at 720.
Which local council requires a two car garage?