Have you considered if in the future the aging person needs to use a wheely walker or wheel chair? Maybe needing wider door ways or Walk in shower etc. Maybe contact a local occupational therapist to ensure accessibility for the future.

I'm not sure I'm interpreting the major dwelling plan correctly but it appears on a rainy day, if you park in the garage you then have to walk around to the entry in order to gain access to the house. If you add an entry door from the garage to the rumpus then you can get to/from your cars without getting wet.

EDIT: Now I am looking at it again it appears there is no wall between your garage and rumpus. So my new advice would be to to add a wall and door so you aren't breathing car stink while you're playing snooker/pool :)

Perhaps another entry to the bathroom in the granny flat, so if she has visitors they don't need to walk through her bedroom.

Thanks Lizzy Lou. The granny flat does have a wider entrance shower for this reason. However, the bathroom, wardrobe and garage doors are all normal width so we might look at this.

Thanks Dan. The rumpus was a late addition as it seems the budget can stretch this far. We expect this to be mostly a place for our kids to hang out with their friends and not disturb us. However I expect there'll be some tense father/son (and mother/son) pool battles too. We've never had garaging for our cars so I have no experience of being in a garage with them - do they smell or are you referring to pollutants etc being in the air? (Genuine question.) We also thought that, with the cars moved out, the garage/rumpus would be big enough to host the occasional party for our kids too.

Thanks Lisa. We went back and forth between having the bathroom off the bedroom or the main living area. However, having two entrances always seemed to make it bigger. Unfortunately, in Auckland, minor (second) dwellings are limited to 60sqm so anything that makes the bathroom bigger means something else has to be made smaller. On top of that, he has very few visitors and keeps his bedroom (and everything else) very neat. So he expects to have the double doors (between bedroom and living) open most of the time to make the place feel bigger.

I would put a wall between the garage & rumpus but maybe you could look at a stackable type door so you can open it for the parties if needed. Having it all open won't feel very welcoming or warm.

I would also remove the breakfast bar on the second dwelling and make room for a dining table. It still leaves plenty of bench space.

In the master bedroom can you move it all 90degrees so you still have a door on both sides of the bed but walk into the WIR first then through a door in the middle to the ensuite. (Hope this makes sense) this way you don't have to have a shower and walk all the way to the other side of the room to get to your clothes.

home owner & real estate agent :)

Thanks Mel. We'll see what we can do to make the rumpus enclosed - it's probably more of a "man cave" at the moment :)

Grandad had a dining table in his current place (which is bigger) and got rid of it because he never used it. He also wants more bench space than he currently has. So, this was a deliberate choice rather than a compromise due to lack of space.

You've reminded me now that someone did warn us earlier in the design process about the back and forth between wardrobe and bathroom becoming annoying over time. We don't currently have an en suite so it feels wonderfully convenient for us by comparison. However, that feeling will change if we realise it could have been even better.

We did have the en suite off the wardrobe in some designs but have been warned this can lead to dampness in your clothes no matter how well ventilated the bathroom is (especially in Auckland's humidity). Would love to hear people's experiences of this configuration - good and bad.

On top of that, there are lovely private bush views to the south so we've tried to make the most of those.

My sister has a new house and their garage is already quite smelly (from the cars, lawn mowers, paint cans, garden products etc). I guess you balance the smell versus the party hosting. A double or triple stacker door might be the answer or even sticking with the original plan if you aren't concerned with the fumes.

Thanks Dan. It seems I should (literally) poke my nose into some people's garages to be sure. Adding a partition wall or stackers after we've built could make it too cramped to play pool comfortably so we should at least allow for it now I think.

Thanks kezzagonzo80. Appreciate the feedback. I'd seen those garage doors before but never thought of putting one there. I imagine it could be fitted later if we felt there was an issue too.

Im not a fan of the distance round the bed to wardrobe/ensuite. I would personally switch it so you walk through the wardrobe to the ensuite. If the bathroom is well ventilated and you keep the door closed it shouldnt cause dampness in your wardrobe. My folks have had this in both their houses and its great and they've ever had issues with dampness in Chch. It also adds a buffer zone for noise if someone uses the loo in the night or showers while the other is asleep.

Always amazed by such plans, complicated to look at, but is actually handy to construct. Everything looks good! Though this has been years ago. - RRH team