Thank you pottsy for your detailed thoughts.
...You like your bright colours! I agree about a charcoal fence.
Unfortunately, we offered, got accepted, so we put our house on the market, it sold three days after the first open home but they accepted a cash offer on the property we wanted, 2 days after our open home . Grrrr
So we lost it and now we have no where to go

We may still do a Reno...but they are in the mid 300-400 and then you need 50-100 to spend on them
So we may build again ??
This land is way to dear I feel, we will offer tomorrow and see if they accept our offer ( it's not 220 and I don't want their plan, it's tiny kitchen and tiny land is not that appealing )

https://www.trademe.co.nz/Browse/Listing.aspx?id=1854105795

If they don't we will carry on looking, but thank you for your insights.
I might get you to share some ideas on a house plan !

Bought this

https://rwwhangarei.co.nz/properties/residential-for-sale/whangarei-district/parahaki-0112/house/1979357

Needs up dating...but who cares. Its our 5 th offer on something ( 4 houses, one block of land ) finally someone said yes!!

We settle 15 feb

Well done !

That kitchen is weird haha , but I won't make any suggestions for the inside . The outside , depending what you want to do , would be easy IMO . Rock or bark gardens would look a bit nicer than silage wrap haha , but the house itself is 'unusual' with a charcoal roof , mid red/brown balcony and almost chocolate brown garage doors . Easy step -- do the balcony and garage doors in charcoal two -- makes the rest of the white look sharper . Tidy the palm and do that lower step in charcoal stain too .

BUT I'd do the garage doors and the one beside them , in Sunshine Yellow or Citrus Orange or even a Bright Shamrock Green ( almost the V cans colour ) -- just me ! And I'd probably continue that colour around the balcony top rail and even the lower step rail too .

The inside is liveable -- I'd concentrate on the street appeal as step 1 .

wow...you are mr/ms colour thats for sure!!

can you paint metal garage doors?

you dont like silage wrap? all the rage in nz...not

original plan..some things are already gone,

wall in dining room, shower in main bath, not a U shape kitchen as they have bumped out window, linen is now a space for fridge

and my ideas, reinstating shower and a powder room even if tiny

laundry is the main entrance

so replace slider with a front door and side window

outside heat pump hotwater

I like your charcoal balcony idea

Great job!! Looks fantastic.

Thanks for the tip re paint.

Sounds really doable. Ta

Here is my original plan and my tweaked plan. Any flashing lights?

Being a pro and all.

Front door is laundry...hence putting a normal door in and getting rid of slider

Windows have been bumped out

Easier to see laundry

I'll play the devils advocate here , and throw around some ideas to get you thinking .

Put a gate at the 'right hand' end of the house , forcing people to knock on the downstairs door -- make that your main entrance ? Even if you put in a semi-fake foyer -- knock the downstairs stair wall back 600mm-1mtr into the garage , tile it , put in plants , an artwork . Maybe tile the stairs ( looks like it is carpetted at present ) ? Do the stairs in non-boring , but not overly bright , wallpaper , and at least 1 feature light ?

I like your imagination in closing off the laundry and changing the toilet entrance , but seems like a lot of work for little gain -- you'll end up with a fairly blank space , with some door handles . Leave the laundry as it is , and the ranch slider , add some cupboards above the washer and dryer , and the opposite wall , utilise the space , don't hide it IMO .

It looks like you are trying to do a butlers pantry -- okay , I'm not a fan , but effectively you will be moving water and drainage and power and gas , and adding a wall , to achieve very little -- hard to tell , but I don't even think the kitchen is over the garage , so access is more difficult .

The island is an obvious choice , but here's a couple of ideas -- take out i length ( 2.5mtrs ) of full height window , wall up to 1.2 mtrs , put your sink along there , and use the view , with the stove either against the existing 'end' wall , or the hobs on the island . You could even do a higher breakfast bar to show a clear break between kitchen and dining ?

OR how about ( depending on natural light ) move the whole kitchen back , and have the dining room by those windows -- no need to change windows then ?

Another dilike of mine is toilets facing showers -- I realise that is how it is set up now , but I'd look at the design and space in each bathroom ( generally , showers are easier to re-position than toilets ) -- even changing a toilets 'direction' by 90* makes it look less obvious , rather than looking like a roadsign pointing towards a shower haha .

You'll probably use none of those ideas , but maybe it'll get you thinking of other possibilities ?

Merry Christmas .

At the moment the entrance has an Arrow on wall and a walkway up the side of the house, with a new Boardwalk.
The door downstairs opens to an empty basement and garage. Not pretty , but will do basement up for air BnB and they can access their space by French doors, out to drive and family can enter in that door into garage.
Only people who knock on our door is travelling salesmen and we would have to come up and down the stairs to let them in
May as well make them walk the plank! ( we have no extended family here , )
Once basement is done, then there will be a small foyer, but again...would rather people come up to me rather than me coming down all the time, not that that happens much ! Once a month,...

Wallpaper on every wall...original from 1989, so painting over it but a light fitting yes and there is a floor to ceiling window up stairs
Carpet for now, but wood or something would be nice on stairs. But noisy...near master...

The shower is going into the main bathroom ( instead of shower over bath ) and the loo becomes a powder room, so poo isn't on the handle when you leave and people might actually wash their hands, so for three walls and a door added to side ( re use door) I think a sep shower is worth the building work.
I have 5 kids, this way you can use the loo, wash hands and leave, rather than wait for someone to leave bathroom, or use laundry tub...not going to happen

Yes, laundry behind doors with storage to ceiling, and shelves to right of washing machine for storage ... Water, food, t roll etc
Opp wall nice hooks, a bench for putting shoes on ( u take shoes off in Kiwi houses ) and of course a loo door

Walk in pantry, no sink, so no water needing to be moved, kitchen above basement so access to pipes easy. No gas where we live, toaster and kettle etc stays in pantry, bench at the end wall for stuff like that. 300 wide shelves on the whole wall, floor to nearly ceiling

I have that now and love it, and nothing in breakfast bar, no sinks, no hob etc, just for plating up and eating on


Higher breakfast bar is there now, don't like the view blocked.


If I change the loo in ensuite, I would have to widen the wall...too dear

And I don't like loos facing shower, but to expensive to change direction, but will rip out basin and put double vanity in wir area.
So will feel bigger.

Going to work with the sliding doors in kitchen for now as exy to change,
Happy to have sink on a wall, we put everything in dishwasher even electric fry pan so not much washing up, but dishes get stored near sink so need that on wall with fridge blocking the mess till goes in dishwasher

Hob on new wall being built to house pantry, with a wall oven near it

But I hear what you are saying...and if it was nice downstairs...I would keep it as an entry..but it looks like this below !!
Pretty mank.

My breakfast bar nownow

Behind nz mirror, walk in pantry. Doors ahead, appliance cupboard

So thank you....will get a nice stair light!! Lol

And will paint balcony and garage doors
And a foyer will be built inside the downstairs door. Will get doorbell..incase someone does visit

I'll come down.....

Maybe change that door. It's pretty gross
For a front door.


Thank you !!

Hi Kiwimills , Why don’t you have an intercom doorbell installed downstairs so you can tell the pesky salesmen to go away .Have an automated lock as part of the system so you can let in your tradesmen and friends .

I just let the dog out.......

So builder starts July 8 th,
Here is a plan re kitchen
Pillar at edge of breakfast bar..650mm end
Then angled so you can actually sit!!
( due to Windows)
Thoughts ?
Wilsonart black mirage benches, French oak/ white/ black cabinetry

Pantry.
No gap on right....

Oh and we moved in in February.
Since living here, tweaked a few ideas.
Tried to simplify renovation to make it cost effective
Etc.

Bumped out into eaves
Island will be here. On plan it doesn't show the ' bump'

Hi there, not sure about that floor plan and the pantry when you could just have the pantries facing into the kitchen which will also give you better use of floor space. I also think the Island bench to is angled at the wrong end so that you don;t have the stools next to the cooktop and access into the kitchen and the angle would be better if you made it so that it was at least 200 /300 deep on the narrow end, just some thoughts.

Its 650 deep, you think it should be 200/300 on top of the 650 or instead of?

The stove is on the side wall.

Stools are by the sink. Did you mean sink ?

Between the pillar and window is 900, so not too much room if you have more bench, stools and a person. But I may have miss understood you ....

Sorry!

Do you mean that there's a support post beside the 650 end of the island?, 900 between it and the cooktop cabinets isn't very much , 1 m to 1.2 would be better. Also is the angle on the Island for appearance as 900 deep island gives more seating space

If you go up 5 posts, there are photos of the kitchen and pillar. The glass windows etc. Its 950 between end of island and cook top cos of said pillar.

1200 between fridge and island

Its very tight.

3600x3900 are the 2 walls.

But sliding doors/ windows on 3rd wall and diningspace

Runs into the

Lounge.

do you have a floor plan?

Yes it's just above with a few different layouts that I've had a play with, but here it is again. The house was extended out under the eaves which doesn't show on plan. No wall between dining and lounge either now
And the cupboard is where their fridge was in real estate photos
Which I will keep in same place.
So original plan is a little different.
But we have 3900 X 3600 square shape to play with.
Haven't included the space in front of Windows , as that's where stools can go and we can't put units there. Only included the two solid walls

I'm opening the square opening from fridge all the way to edge of the stairs..as a waste of light and space.
The walk in pantry has a wall ,,,it's not open to the back.
The kitchen drawings just show a gap so it makes it easier to see.
They won't be facing into a hall!!

Your floor plan doesn't have dimensions, including width and depth of the bump out wall.

You plan on using the Laundry as entrance to the house?

600 deep and you have drawn the length correctly.

The laundry is the front door so will put the laundry into a cupboard, and make the entrance a bit more appealing.

These things aren't there or are slightly different to original plan. There is also no door from laundry to hall. Bath over shower and they bumped out the eave from wi to

From Wir to ensuite loo.

where does the 3900 finish and are you moving the laundry downstairs ad what's down there in this house. What do you mean from WIR to ensuite Loo

And mark dimensions to the post

24/12 post shows garage and empty basement downstairs
Laundry staying upstairs, going into a cupboard. European laundry.
They bumped out eaves by wir and ensuite...you know..built it out, made it bigger like they did in kitchen.
So wir and ensuite are 600 mm deeper than on plan

Pillar is 3600 from opening where fridge is . 950mm away from window .
3900 is opening to wall where hob is. See kitchen plan for dimensions of the wall space we have to use
I don't want an island being wrapped around pillar as don't want laminate seams
I need the pillar left alone.
But only have so much space to work with cos of said pillar.
And no, not moving it.

Plan for basement studio with a kitchenette and washing machine.

Post in blue. My idea for master

popped pushed out eave on!

Just read your broken post re WIR to Loo, There are dimensions on the plan but are too small for me read and zooming makes them unclear, and it's no fun guessing,

Yeah, the phone keeps jamming. So you think the pantry should face the windows?

so the 3600 wall is plus the width of the bumped out windows?

Yes. Which is another 600mm

Distance from cook top wall to post?

3900

A very simple layout keeping the floor space within the kitchen, the WIP takes up a lot of space with not much gain, The broom cupboard could be moved to the Laundry/entrance, narrow.

If the wall has been bumped out to the eaves on the deck side giving an extra 300 depth to the kitchen you could make the island 2700 x 1200 and all drawers.

The wall of narrow pantry will hold all pantry needs and more, no deep cupboards to dig into. cheers

Thank you, I appreciate your time and talents ...that is very kind of you to draw me up an alternative design, and would make the kitchen feel more spacious .
Would the pillar be part of the island or next to it?

The Windows behind stools are just Windows. Sliding door ( one only ) is where you have 300..and left of their dining table
So Island can be pushed closer to Windows ..just saying !!
But thank you so much!!!

Your house is all about that VIEW, I have just recently finished helping a friend with the design of their kitchen which has a support . There are lots of photos online they can look great. It depends on what size you would like to make the island as to how the island and post go together.

It really is! Great view. Very lucky for the price we paid.

We have replaced the orange glass.
So now even more view!

I don't want the pillar in the way, or being wrapped into the island, or blocking seating at the island , so it needs to be next to it, but not ' in it' as not using stone, so seams can't be buffed out.

Your island is fine, just shrink it

Meaning, I'll just shrink it !